About The Green Fox

Welcome to The Green Fox Magazine.  Within the contents of our
magazine, you will find four main themes:  local, handmade, homegrown,
and sustainable.  Let us explore these topics individually
.
Why Local?
  The naked truth: major corporations are constantly moving their
operations overseas in search of cheaper labor and reduced
regulations.  Since 2008, millions of Americans have lost their jobs
due to corporate downsizing.  The national unemployment rate has
soared and is still hovering above 8%.
  In spite of the doom and gloom, there are still healthy communities
in this country, some which boast unemployment rates as low as 2.6%.
What sets these communities apart?  They have strong local economies.
Over the past 17 years, small businesses have generated 65% of net new
jobs, gave 42% more in charitable donations, and returned twice as
much of their revenue to local economies than larger corporate
companies.

Why Handmade?
  Many artists and artisans are actually small businesses in
themselves.  By supporting your local artists, you are ensuring the
evolution of culture and creativity within your community.  Culture
rich communities are not only more enjoyable places to live, but also
entice more tourism.
  Oftentimes, the quality of handmade products far surpasses their
factory made counterparts.  In general, artists and artisans put their
creativity and virtue into each piece they create.
  The typical department store mostly features factory made products
imported from overseas.  Many of these products are created at low
wages in factories without pollution regulation, then shipped
thousands of miles before sold.  Buying local handmade products takes
most of the wasted energy and inefficiencies out of this equation.

Why Homegrown?
  Buying locally grown food can have quite an impact on the
environment.  Considering the average food item travels over 1500
miles before it ends up on the consumer’s plate,  eating more locally
produced food is not only good  for the local agricultural economy, it
reduces inefficiency in fossil fuel usage.
  Accoring to LocalHarvest.org, only 18 cents of every dollar goes to
the farmer when food is purchased at a large supermarket.  82 cents go
to middlemen.  Buying local produce direct from the farmer ensures
your local growers keep more of their money, allowing them to
contribute further to their local economy.
In addition, there have been many cases of deadly bacteria-laced
produce transported from huge factory farms within the past few years.
 Knowing where and how your food is produced is becoming a necessity
in today’s society.  Get to know your local farmer.

Why Sustainabiliy?
  According to epa.gov, “Everything that we need for our survival and
well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural
environment.  Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions
under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that
permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of
present and future generations.  Sustainability is important to making
sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and
resources to protect human health and our environment.”
 In order to work toward a sustainable community, we need to inform
people how the decisions they make in their daily lives can have a
positive impact on their environment.  We need to inform people of the
steps their community is taking to become more sustainable.  By these
methods our community can achieve its greatest efficiency, and ensure
future generations can also prosper in our society.

by Kate Krajnik