The popular "local foods movement" has grown strong roots because it offers consumers an alternative to the low quality, industrially produced, food that is so readily available in our society today.  Moreover, the negative impact that industrial agriculture and transcontinental distribution is having on global water and air quality can be greatly lessened when a society participates in a more localized model of production and consumption.  Permaculture is a system that amplifies this positive effect by fully integrating food systems into communities, landscapes, and institutions.