the world -- and you do not need any GMOs, industrial farms, or any other technological gimmicks to guarantee everybody's got enough food to eat," writes Leonid Sharashkin, editor of the English version of the The Ringing Cedars series, a book collection that explains the history behind this effort to reconnect people with the earth and nature. ( http://www.ringingcedars.com/ ) The backyard gardening model is so effective throughout Russia that total output represents more than 50 percent of the nation's entire agricultural output . Based on 2004 figures, the collective value of all the backyard produce grown in Russia is $14 billion, or 2.3 percent of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) -- and this number only continues to increase as more and more Russians join the eco-village movement.