This has been such an interesting thread....

Lately I've been learning more about Monsanto, and their reach up here to Canada, and how they could affect my efforts to save seed, not to mention how many types of seed are no longer available to buy BECAUSE of Monsanto. Lobbyists, interest groups, politics... they should all stay out of our food! The government is directly and indirectly responsible for the price of your food, because they are the ones driving the price of gas as high as it is (ever figure out how much of the at-pump price is taxes?). So my answer to this is to grow food at home. Well, this isn't the answer for everyone, I recognize that. I live in an apartment, in Ontario, on the shady side, and I can't even get peas to grow past 3" high without dying! I don't think there is one answer, maybe there just isn't, but we, all of us on both sides of the border need to do SOMETHING!
So here's a couple of things we can do.

*Get all activist on our governments, local and above. Can you have small livestock in your town? You know, rabbits, chickens and maybe a goat or two if you had the room? You may not want them right now, but think about this...CAN you have them? Are you ALLOWED? If not, why not? Get out there and make connections with people, start a community garden. Lobby your local politicians (no matter what side of the border you live on) to change the laws to allow folks in your town to be able to raise chickens or rabbits. educate yourself, then them. Be reasonable and be sane, but be firm. This is YOUR future and your RIGHTS we're talking about!

*Learn about foraging. What is it? How do you do it? Do you have a local group? We can supplement our diets with "wild" food that tastes good. try it, you'll feel better for it.

*Find your local gardening association, group or guild. Groups of this nature often have speakers. You can learn a bunch from someone who comes in to talk about bio-intensive gardening, or square foot gardening or saving seed. Educate yourself and you'd be surprised what solutions might present themselves.

*Get creative!
There is a collective in new York that has designed a hydroponic system made from 2L pop bottles and tubing, and they grow veggies in windows on the 15th floor of a high rise. Creativity, determination and stubbornness can go a long way.

And while you're busy with all that...write to your local government and ask them to explain why gas is so high, and why food is so high, and why they aren't doing more to feed their constituents. They are there to work for YOU. Make them do their job!