Chiron Communications

Chiron Communiqué

Author's Occasional Newsletter

from Steven McFadden

Vol. 9- No. 1

February, 2004

Clean, Healthy Food in a Time of Concern:
The Essential Story of Community Farms (CSA)

We are in the early stages of what may turn out to be a global food crisis -- a crisis initially about quality and safety, but a crisis that may eventually come to bear on quantity.

In the context of recent news about Mad Cow Disease, toxic farm-raised salmon, and the Avian flu that is causing the destruction of millions of chickens, it is a good time to consider the quality and safety of your food.

Where does your food come from? Who are the people who raised the food? In what ways have chemicals been used to grow, process and preserve the food? Has the food been exposed to irradiation as it passed through industrial-scale processing? Has the food been handled industrially, or genetically engineered? Most people have no idea about the true nature of the meat, vegetables, fruit and grain they are putting in their mouths.

I have just finished researching and writing a two-part magazine article about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for "The New Farm," an online publication of The Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. Here is a direct link to part I of the story and the photographs that illustrate it, published Feb. 2, 2004. Part II of the story will be published later this month.

Community Farms (CSAs) are one viable alternative for people everywhere in the world to insure the safety and quality of their food. Now, as the corporate and industrial models of agriculture continue to dominate and to falter badly, its an excellent time for farmers and communities to explore the creative and sustainable possibilities of CSA in depth.

When I interviewed Lincoln Geiger of the Temple-Wilton Community Farm in New Hampshire, he summed the entire issue up in one sentence: "Much is at stake, and we are the keepers of the Earth."

I agree wholeheartedly with Lincoln’s observation. Agriculture is the foundation of our modern civilization. It will remain so in whatever ages are yet to come. Without a steady supply of clean, life-giving food, we have neither the leisure nor the energy to develop other aspects of life, such as industry, science and art.

Through two books Trauger Groh and I have sought to emphasize the fundamental importance of farming, and to explore some of the sustainable possibilities in theory and in practical detail. Here are links to two essays on these themes:
Farms of Tomorrow Revisited

Community Farms: Outside the Box, but Inside the Hoop

Spring is around the corner, and soon planting will begin. May all that is cultivated this season bring forth goodness.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Chiron links

In times to come, more to come...

* The Chiron Communique is now published as a blog on the Chiron Communications home page.