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Homegrown.org: Social Networking for Dirt Lovers

The website Homegrown.org, created by the Farm Aid organization, attempts to bring together all sorts of people who love food, farming, and the land. homegrownAccording to the Philosophy section of their website:

This web site celebrates all of us who pioneer a HOMEGROWN way to live, eat, grow, and express ourselves. We connect to the land and to each other. HOMEGROWN.org is a place where we can learn from each other, share our questions, and show off how we dig in the dirt, grow our own food, work with our hands, and cook and share our meals - all things that we call HOMEGROWN [...]

Farm Aid founded HOMEGROWN.org with the mission to create a place where our love for food and the land evolves, deepens, and becomes something more fulfilling. A place where we can hear and appreciate the bigger stories that our food has to share – and connect to the source of our food: the land and the grower: The family farm. Where we see the connections between good soil, good farmers, good taste, and good times. Where the source of our food doesn’t feel like a stranger, but a fun and friendly neighbor.

homegrown1It's a fantastic idea, and a Homegrown.org is off to a good start. The site is beautiful to look at (although a bit hard to navigate), and manages to feel both professional and earthy. There's an obvious bent towards food that is local, sustainable, and organic, but there's also lots of fun and silliness, in the form of videos, photos contests and the like. There's an area where anyone can blog about local food and farming, and several discussion groups that will get better and better over time. I've created my own Homegrown.org profile page, complete with my favorite music and the best, most recent local meal I've made (hamburgers made from Thousand Hills Cattle Company grass-fed beef and cage free eggs). Check it out when you have a chance. I'd love to know what you think.