Go local, go green: the new food movement

 A movement is starting. It's not just what you eat but where it's grown, and local restaurants are starting to take notice. It started as a way to bring fresh produce to families and reduce their monthly grocery bill.

But the Victory Garden initiative has caught on and now, 2,500 gardens later, they're installing them for people of all walks of life.

\"I think people are maybe fed up with the food that they're seeing in general. They want something different. They want clean food, they want it to be high in nutrients. And they want to trust it. They want to feel like it's safe and healthy,\" said Gretchen Mead, executive director of the Victory Garden Initiative.

And the best way to do that is to watch that food grow right in your own backyard. A movement the group \"The Victory Garden Initiative\" is setting in motion, one four by eight garden at a time.

\"Its very grassroots and very neighbor to neighbor, promotional of a different way to live,\" said Mead.

But this movement isn't just in your backyard. Local restaurants, like The Colour Palete are catching on and using local fare.

 When we get into the middle of the summer we figure we can be 70 to 80 percent locally grown produce,\" said Chef

Their menu changes with the season.

\"Growing season here is under four months but something grown here locally you wouldn't think of beautiful bock choi,\" he said.

A cost saving measure for the restaurant, but also those who have a garden at home.

\"No transportation cost associated, no packaging, we keep the nutrients in it and maybe we don't need vitamins for example that are not natural,\" said Mead. 

Some of the gardens may not look like much now. But soon they will  be blooming with enough food to bring the neighborhood together.

\"95 percent of the people who had our gardens had shared it with family or neighbors,\" said Mead.

Something Mead hopes will add  a much needed soft touch to Milwaukee's harsh exterior.

\"I think its hard to have angry thoughts when you're in a garden with your hands in the soil and enjoying the weather and community with other people,\" said Mead.

If you'd like to sign up to volunteer with the Victory Garden initiative, visit this link: http://www.victorygardeninitiative.org/