Detroit's Capuchin Soup Kitchen is doing something about this dilemma. The 2-acre Earthworks urban farm is producing 6,000 tons of healthy fruits and vegetables.

"Our food system is broken," says Lisa Richter, an Earthworks spokeswoman. "At the same time, people are craving to reconnect with the land, and to reconnect with their community.

"One of the big misconceptions about Earthworks is that we just grow food. We're trying to inspire food system change, to reach the root causes of hunger and poverty."

Volunteers from the neighborhood help out, including Youth Farm Stand students who receive lessons regarding what urban farmers describe as "sustainable agriculture." Eight neighborhood residents receive training stipends for regular work through the Earthworks/Capuchin Soup Kitchen partnership with the Gleaners Community Food Bank, and through the Southeast Michigan Equitable Agriculture Training program.

"It's an inspiration for us to show what is possible with small-scale agriculture, and through increasing accessibility to safe, healthy food," Richter says.

The Earthworks urban farm demonstates that green activists aren't just college students and young urban professionals. They can be found everywhere.

Capuchin Soup Kitchen was ahead of its time in 1998 when Earthworks was established. At the time, Detroit had about 60 community farm gardens. The number has exploded beyond 800, says Mayor Dave Bing. Bing says farm gardens can provide a three-way boost in food security, community spirit and economic development. Green-collar jobs most commonly are associated with alternative energy, bur urban farms also create employment potential.

"Earthworks has always been a labor of love, founded on the Franciscan vision of universal sister and brotherhood of all creation," states the Earthworks website. " We hope that this humble effort of love and desire to reconnect ourselves with the natural world we inhabit will remain part of the beacon of hope for all peoples and for all times."

Protecting the environment is so important and vital to life. However, there are many things people do every day without realizing how harmful they are. Sporting gear and equipment can not only be wasteful, but a large  portion of it is made in sweatshops. These are overseas factories in which employees may be under-aged, overworked, under-compensated, and even all three. Imagine all the rubber, fabric, metals, and wood that gets wasted every year on sports. There are green sustainable options available for every aspect of sports.

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Walk Score recently released its list of America's 40 most walkable cities, but what does that mean to you? For those who want to make the Green choice of driving less and walking more, you now have a list of cities that will support that decision. If you don't live in one of those 40 cities, there is a growing list of online resources to help you make changes in your community.

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