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Local food is fresher and tastes better than food shipped long distances from other states or countries. Local farmers can offer produce varieties bred for taste and freshness rather than for shipping and long shelf life.

Shipping food for thousands of miles not only loses freshness and its related health benefits, but it increases use and dependence on petroleum for transportation -- which affects air quality, and soil and habitat health.  Local production of consumables is common sense, and this online local food locator can help you make buying local and fresh food practical.

The Buy Fresh Buy Local Campaign, a project of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, helps consumers find and choose local products while building relationships between growers, food artisans, farmers' markets retailers, restaurants, and institutions.

Buy Local Buy Fresh:  http://guide.buylocalca.org/

The therapeutic benefits of peaceful garden environments have been understood since ancient times. In the 19th century, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and considered to be the "Father of American Psychiatry," reported that garden settings held curative effects for people with mental illness.

Rehabilitative care of hospitalized war veterans in the 1940's and 1950's greatly expanded the practice of HT. Today, HT is recognized as a practical and viable treatment with wide-ranging benefits for people in therapeutic, vocational, and wellness programs.

Horticultural Therapy is now taught and practiced throughout the world in a rich diversity of settings and cultures.

The Secret of the Garden

The American Horticultural Therapy Association is a champion of barrier-free, therapeutic gardens that enable everyone to work, learn, and relax in the garden. Horticultural therapists are skilled at creating garden spaces that accommodate people with a wide range of abilities. People with physical or mental disabilities benefit from gardening experiences as part of HT programs, and they learn skills, adaptations, and gardening methods that allow for continued participation at home.

• Some techniques include:
• Constructing wide, gently graded wheelchair accessible entrances and paths.
• Utilizing raised beds and containers
• Adapting tools to turn a disability into an ability
• Creating sensory-stimulation environments with plants selected for fragrance texture and color
• Utilizing accessible greenhouses that bring the garden indoors for year-round enjoyment

RESOURCE: American Horticultural Therapy Association

Los Angeles County has over 10 million residents, and many of these individuals benefit from the services provided by Community and Senior Services (CSS). Through many diverse programs, community and senior centers provide services that have far reaching effects, and in many cases, make a difference between positive and negative aspects in people's lives.

Every senior center or community center offers differnt programs but here is a list of some of the wide variety that just might be available in your local center of vitality:

• Alzheimer's Day Care    
• Adult Protective Services    
• Community Centers
• Congregate Meals    
• Dietary Support Services    
• Dispute Resolution Program
• Domestic Violence Services    
• Elder Abuse    
• Elder Care
• Employment Services    
• Enhance     Family Caregiver
• Health Insurance Counseling    
• Health & Wellbeing    
• Home (In-Home) Care
• Home-Delivered Meals    
• Integrated Care Management    
• Traditional Legal
• Long Term Care Ombudsman    
• Mediation Services    
• Nutrition
• Senior Centers    
• WorkSource Centers    
• Youth Services

Many senior center programs are free, and special events such as tours or trips might have a modest cost.  Call or check the website of your city and county governments to find listings of the senior centers close to you.  But don't overlook specialized programs that might be offered across town...or just a short ride from your neighborhood.  Carpooling can solve that minor problem... and bring you great riches for spirit and community!