In every corner of the country, from Austin to Minneapolis and Brooklyn to Portland, people are gathering to swap homemade, homegrown, and hand-foraged foods. Cooking Up A Story recently created an inspiring video about the Portland swap – where they had everything from raw honey to canned wild elk – plus some resources to help start a swap in your own community.

As explained by Cooking Up A Story:

A Food Swap is part silent auction/part village marketplace/part fun-loving open house where your homemade creations (breads, preserves, special concoctions, canned goods, etc.) become your own personal currency for use in swapping with other participants. It’s an open exchange and barter — no financial currency is allowed — of one's own unique treasure troves of canned and prepared foods, and other handcrafted goods.

We think it sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate and build community! Along with the video are links to information about starting your own swap, plus Facebook pages for swaps in Brooklyn, Austin, Portland, and Minneapolis. (In fact, I was inspired to start a new Los Angeles Swappers group.)

• Check it out: Food Swap!

Related: Bartering for Food: Would You Do It?