A dynamic, community-based and regionally-integrated food-systems concept. In contrast to current linear production-consumption systems, the food circle is a production-consumption-recycle model. A celebration of cycles, this model mirrors all natural systems and is based on the fact that all stable biological systems function as closed cycles or c [..]

Eating food products produced within a 100-mile radius of where the consumer lives.

The capacity of actors in a system to manage resilience, either by moving the system toward or away from a threshold that would fundamentally alter the properties of the system, or by altering the underlying features of the stability landscape. See http://www.resalliance.org/ to learn more.

Agriculture cooperatives involve the pooling of resources by multiple individuals in order to accomplish a shared goal which often includes the sharing of labor, machinery, and/or land with the objective of increasing positive outcomes for all involved.

Agriculture is the science of farming, which includes the cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products. It also refers to the production of crops, the raising of livestock, and farming in general.

A system of aquaculture in which the waste produced the by farmed fish, or other aquatic animals, supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water.

Generally, these terms mean that the product was made by hand with great care and high-quality ingredients. They are most frequently applied to items like bread, chocolate, cheese, vinegars and jam.

Biodynamic farming uses organic practices such as crop rotation and composting, with special plant, animal and mineral preparations. Production practices are done according to the rhythms found in nature.

Based on the work of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, this method of farming is rooted in a holistic understanding of nature. It involves treating the farm and the soil as living organisms that need to be nourished and replenished, as well as used for their resources.

Cage-free birds live in large houses in flocks up to several thousand. While they might never go outside, they are able to walk around, spread their wings, and lay eggs in nests. There is no regulated definition of this term.