Ten Things You Can Do Right Now—and Feel Better!

1. Enjoy food fresh from the farm.
Buy directly from family farmers, look for family-farm products and encourage your local grocery stores and restaurants to do the same. To find local foods near you, visit www.localharvest.org and www.sustainabletable.org.

2. Vote your values with your dollar (and fork!).
All of our consumption, savings and charity choices make a huge impact. Find out where your bank, university, or pension invests and talk with them about choices that promote the health of workers and the planet. Learn more at www.socialinvest.org and get inspired by successful campaigns at www.ran.org.

3. Eat a sustainable and whole-foods diet.
Support farmers raising produce and animals sustainably and in the process eschew the factory-farming that contributes to air and water pollution as well as global warming. Learn more about organic foods at www.organicconsumers.org. Find meat raised sustainably at www.eatwellguide.org.

4. Support fair trade products and worker rights.
Fair trade ensures farmers get a fair price. We can now buy fair trade coffee, tea, fruit, and more and bring fair trade into our local cafés and restaurants, hospitals, and schools. Find out more at http://www.transfairusa.org and get involved at www.globalexchange.org and www.tradematters.org.

5. Transform the buying power of your community.
We are all part of institutions–churches, hospitals, workplaces, schools, city councils -– that we can encourage to make purchases based on shared values. For instance, to find out more about bringing fresh, local, and organic foods into your school or other institution, visit www.foodsecurity.org.

6. Create “brand-free” zones.
Advertisers spend billions every year to tell us what to eat, wear, and believe in—ads that bombard us in the classroom, doctor’s office, even public bathrooms. We can create “brand-free” zones in our kitchens, schools, medicine cabinets, and more. Visit www.adbusters.org and be inspired.

7. Get a diverse media diet.
Although six corporations control most of the major media, we can tap a vast, independent network for diverse information. See www.indymedia.org, www.gnn.tv, and www.freepress.net to get involved in bringing media democracy to life.

8. Get involved with the issues that matter to you.
We can make our voices heard by joining advocacy groups, writing our elected officials, and getting involved with groups in our communities. Learn more about the issues that you care about, and find out how people are organizing to make a difference. To learn more about food, farming, and trade policy, visit: www.foodfirst.org, www.publiccitizen.org, www.maketradefair.com, and www.iatp.org.

9. Host a teach-in, study group, or gathering.
See www.moveon.org for creative ideas about gatherings, events, and local organizing around causes that matter to you and visit eatgrub.org for ideas about creating community-building dinner parties.

10. Vote!
Clear and simple. Join www.indyvoter.org or other groups getting out the vote and building democracy—locally and nationally.