Dear Green American,

We're nearing the end of the growing season here in Green America's East Coast hometown, with delicious fresh apples, fall squash, and kale replacing summer's tomatoes, berries, and more delicate greens at my neighborhood farmers markets.

At lunchtime, my colleagues here at Green America are comparing notes on our plans for good eating in the winter: canning fruits and vegetables and soups and sauces, and storing root vegetables in a cool, dark place, to keep tables filled with as much local, organic produce as possible.

We'd like to share with you some of the resources we gathered from our "Good Food Gone Local" issue of our magazine, the Green American. Some of our how-tos, like canning your own vegetables, are perfect for right now. Others, like how to start a home compost bin, are good for anytime; and still others, like starting your own organic garden will help you plan for spring. Check out our "9 Ways to Go Local With Your Food" list, and other resources below.

And here's #10: Right now, our allies at the Right2Know March are leading a march from New York City to Washington, DC to draw attention to GMOs in our food supply, and to demand truth in labeling. The march arrives at the White House on October 16, so there's still time to join the ending rally, if you are in the area. (And you can learn more about the campaign overall on their Web site.)

And finally, our online editor Andrew Korfhage brings you this month's Faces of the Green Pages interview with Native American Natural Foods. A strict vegetarian for almost 17 years, Andrew tells me that he was surprised to feel so inspired by a food company whose primary product incorporates grass-fed, responsibly raised meat.

"Native American Natural Foods is working to restore the buffalo population, and restore the American prairie, while providing good jobs in an underserved area of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation," he says. "For those who need to, or choose to, incorporate meat into a sustainable diet, the difference between how these buffalo are raised versus the appalling practices at conventional industrial farms couldn't be more stark."

P.S. Supporting members of Green America already received the complete issue of "Good Food Gone Local." To get the next issue of our Green American magazine delivered to your mailbox at home (or to your e-reader or handheld device), please join Green America. You can choose paper or digital delivery (or both), and your membership supports all of our green-economy work. Please join us today.

9 Ways to Go Local With Your Food

Our list of "9 Good Food Things to Do" from our recent Green American is posted online, and is also available as a printable image to keep you inspired to take action for sustainable food. Find tips and links for starting your own garden, making your own organic soil, finding local farmer's markets, joining local food clubs, and even investing in community-development projects that bring healthy food into underserved communities.

Click for the online list »

Click for a printable list »

More articles from this issue »

Meet Mark Tilsen of Native American Natural Foods

To restore the American prairie and the dwindling buffalo population, Mark Tilsen and Karlene Hunter started a green business that would encourage growth in the buffalo population to supply the raw materials for their protein-rich snack bars. Based on a traditional Lakota recipe for a dish called "wasna" the protein bars combine organic cranberries with free-roaming, grass-fed, prairie-raised buffalo.

"We understand that buffalo restoration is prairie restoration," says Mark. "The buffalo and the Great Plains were made for each other. No species is more suited to the huge prairie ecosystems than the buffalo. We seek to restore this indigenous species by creating markets for its products. As a result of increased buffalo production, we also seek to restore prairie ecosystems, which are the most imperiled in the United States."

Mark and Karlene find additional markets for the parts of the buffalo that don't go into their bars, just as generations of Native farmers and hunters did. And get this: Because the remote reservation location of their headquarters doesn't offer recycling services, they save their recycling and carry it with them on trips to Rapid City, 90 miles away.

Read Mark's complete interview »

Good Food Gone Local -- Resources from the Green American

We've posted some special feature articles from our summer Green American, "Good Food Gone Local," to our Web site. Check out "Lifting Up Food Deserts," which tells the story of the Growing Power urban farm and education center, which brings local food to underserved communities in Milwaukee and Chicago. And check out our online-only slide show from Green America's Web developer Shireen Karimi, who grows local food as a member of Common Good City Farm in Washington, DC.

Don't miss out! We're working on the next issue of the Green American, all about how to purge plastics from your life. Our editors are putting the finishing touches on articles covering:

• 21 plastic things you didn't know you could recycle
• What those numbers on plastic products really mean
• Just how bad the plastic-bag problem really is
• An FAQ on plastic recycling, and
• 12 easy ways to purge plastic from your life
  
  (and more)

Get the full issue of our next magazine delivered to your home, or to the inbox of your laptop, tablet computer, or handheld device when you join Green America. Choose print publications, digital only, or both. Thanks so much for joining with us to support our green economy programs.