We are facing increasing toxicity in the environment and our food supply is not exempt. PCB in salmon, lead and mercury in seafood, pesticide residues in grains (don't worry), rocket fuel in salad, genetically modified growth hormone in cow's milk, chemical treatment for seeds that kills the bees and fast food masquerading as "nutritious". The problems seem to be immanent in our system, in the "chemical" way we chose to increase yields in agriculture. Nitrogen-based fertilizers are preventing plants from attaining a proper mineral content. Pesticides kill not only pests - they have other, unintended victims, including the pests' natural enemies. Herbicides leach into our drinking water. Antibiotics given as a "preventive" to livestock breed resistant strains of bacteria, and just recently, the UN has been suggesting in all earnest that we vaccinate chickens to eliminate another problem: bird flu. The problems we are facing stem directly from our chemical and pharmaceutical approach to agriculture, food and health. What are the alternatives? One of them is called Community Supported Agriculture. The overall philosophy ... evolved from some of Steiner's ideas spelled out in his anthroposophical writings. Some of the farms key ideas are: New forms of property ownership ”The land is held in a common by a community through a legal trust. The trust then leases its property long-term to farmers who use the land to grow food for the community. New forms of cooperation ”A network of human relations replaces old systems of employers and employees as well as replacing the practice of pledging material security (land, buildings, etc.) to banks. New forms of economy“ (associative economy). The guiding question is not "how do we increase profits?" but rather "what are the actual needs of the land and of the people involved in this enterprise?" See this article by Steven McFadden, forwarded through (thank you!) Jennie Gorman: (2/6/2004 11:25:03 AM)