Summer, even in these lean times, has a sense of abundance, in large part because the fruit and vegetables growing at this time of year are quite literally ripe for the picking. At our house, dinners outside with family, neighbors and friends often include a bounty my husband picked up at the local farmer’s market combined with herbs and tomatoes from our own back yard. And our fruit bowl is full – and I mean full – of grapefruit picked by my next-door neighbor and hand-delivered, in a rather enormous shopping bag, to my front door.

Freshly grown food is the very essence of home, if you ask me (an Iowa girl who now resides in fruit-filled California). And sharing the extras from one’s garden -- or one’s grapefruit tree -- is the definition of community.

That’s why I was so thrilled to discover Veggie Trader. It’s like the Craig’s List of fruit and vegetables – a 100% free trading post for people who have a little extra of this and will trade it for your little extra of that. It’s about sharing food because we can, and because we feel good knowing someone else is enjoying our extra grapefruits when we have more than we could possibly consume.

I think it would be great to see the whole world run like this. But for now, I’ll sign up for Veggie Trader. Because if food is home, and sharing food from home builds community, then with a few little clicks we can start creating a better world to live in.

[Main image: veggtrader.com]