Introduction

The production of food in the West has, become an energy-intensive industry, dependent upon a vast system of refinement and transport. This, in turn, has resulted in pollution, environmental degradation and decreased land fertility, all as a consequence of systematic application of various chemicals. The chemicals require large amounts of energy to produce, and so farming, as it has developed in the West, particularly since the last World War, has come to ultimately depend upon consumption of large quantities of energy whether on the farm or in the factory. A number of groups and individuals have experimented with other methods of farming, i.e., alternative to those that use energy-intensive methods which rely upon pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc. Most discussions of alienation and anomie are bound up with assumptions about human nature and the interaction between it and society. There is a wide divergence of views about these matters.