Organic Farming

ANLONG, China - This small village on the Zouma River - inside the municipal boundaries of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province - is the site of a fascinating effort to fight one of China's biggest problems: the dangerous levels of pollution in its rivers and streams. "In the last 30 years, China's economic miracle has helped pull millions from poverty, but has put tremendous pressure on its ecosystems," said Ma Jun, whose 1999 book China's Water Crisis has been compared to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring . "Sixty percent of our rivers are polluted," and "300 million rural residents have no clean drinking water.

Sometimes, modern technology doesn't keep up with the past. Chris Petersheim, an Amish farmer from Lancaster, proved that common sense can beat modern technology when it comes to fighting ecological disasters. His farm was unaffected by the drought last summer. As an organic farmer, Petersheim uses no chemical fertilizers or pesticides on his 4 1/2 acres of land. He also works with horse-drawn plows instead of tractors and doesn't use electricity. But he still produces more than 32 different crops.

Organic farming can yield "real and significant" environmental and health benefits, but the jury is still out on whether it pays farmers to adopt such a strategy, two analysts write. More research "designed to increase the profitability of alternative agriculture deserves serious consideration," according to Pierre R. Crosson and Janet Ekey Ostrov. Farmers "receive few of the environmental benefits of alternative agriculture because many of these, such as improved water quality, occur off the farm, or like improved wildlife habitat, cannot be captured in economic terms," they wrote in a newsletter of Resources for the Future, a Washington- based environmental policy research organization.

Hal Taylor has a bachelor of arts degree in physics from Haverford College, a master's degree in meteorology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in physics from the University of Iowa, but the degrees aren't the reason Jonathan Snipes has signed on as Taylor's assistant this summer. Taylor is not working as a physicist or meteorologist. He heads a local business that's been around since 1720 - exactly the type of business that Snipes, 33, a management consultant from Falls Township in Bucks County, wants to learn.

In Ken Muckenfuss' case, Mother knows best. Mother is Sandy Muckenfuss, who started growing sweet peppers, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions without chemicals at the family farm in the early 1960s, long before most consumers knew anything about organic farming. More than 20 years later, Ken Muckenfuss has found that organic farming yields gold from the vegetable patch and fields of Mill Creek Farm in Medford. Well, not gold, said the younger Muckenfuss, but enough fruits and vegetables to satisfy the likes of Tony Chigounis, the owner of the Greenbrier in Cherry Hill who is featuring the produce from the farm during a summer-long culinary spotlight on organically grown New Jersey products.

To Ralph Nader, there's not a lot of difference between apples and automobiles, at least from the standpoint of symbolizing larger problems with an industry. Nader, the consumer rights advocate who made his mark with Corvairs, was at Delaware Valley College last week debating the safety of spraying apples with a chemical called Alar. "Alar is the proxy to be concerned about what's happening with our food supply," he said, "just as the Corvair was the proxy for which the nation became aware of auto safety.

Foot-and-mouth disease does not affect human health. But the epidemic striking animals in Europe is unsettling stomachs in other ways: The sight of thousands of burning animal carcasses may be inspiring more people to eat vegetarian and stirring up interest in organic food. Already, nearly four million of Britain's 60 million people eat "veggie," according to the U.K.-based Vegetarian Society. In the last month, phone calls to the society's hotline have doubled, hits on its Web site are up 20 percent, and the demand for more vegetarian recipes is way up, press officer Su Taylor said.

Pennypack Farm and Education Center in Horsham sponsors its third annual film series aimed at engaging neighbors in discussion about environmental issues. Each movie delves into a different aspect of sustainability with a focus on how small changes can make a big difference to the world. All screenings are at the nonprofit Ambler Theater, 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler 19002. Tickets are $10 each. 215-345-7855 or amblertheatre.org/pennypack Doors open at 6 p.m. for a community expo, highlighting local organizations.

You may have heard of a kind of super-organic farming called biodynamics. It's based on ideas developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), for a course given to a group of farmers near Breslau (which was then in the eastern part of Germany and is now Wroclaw in Poland). The course was developed in response to farmers' observations that soils had become depleted following the introduction of chemical fertilizers at the turn of the century. A basic ecological principle of biodynamics is to conceive of the farm as a unique organism.

10 for the Road 1. Cape May Food & Wine Festival. Cape May. Sept. 18-26. Winery tours and tasting, a five-course beer-tasting dinner, seminars, classes, and the People's Choice Chowder Contest. 609-884-5404; www.capemaymac.org/food_wine/index.html . 2. Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. Manheim. Weekends and Labor Day Monday through Oct. 31. The medieval festival features jesters, jugglers, jousts, a human chess match, and Good Queen Bess herself. 717-665-7021; www.parenfaire.

Pennypack Farm and Education Center in Horsham sponsors its third annual film series aimed at engaging neighbors in discussion about environmental issues. Each movie delves into a different aspect of sustainability with a focus on how small changes can make a big difference to the world. All screenings are at the nonprofit Ambler Theater, 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler 19002. Tickets are $10 each. 215-345-7855 or amblertheatre.org/pennypack Doors open at 6 p.m. for a community expo, highlighting local organizations.

10 for the Road 1. Cape May Food & Wine Festival. Cape May. Sept. 18-26. Winery tours and tasting, a five-course beer-tasting dinner, seminars, classes, and the People's Choice Chowder Contest. 609-884-5404; www.capemaymac.org/food_wine/index.html . 2. Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. Manheim. Weekends and Labor Day Monday through Oct. 31. The medieval festival features jesters, jugglers, jousts, a human chess match, and Good Queen Bess herself. 717-665-7021; www.parenfaire.

Starting a lavender farm was Patti Lyons' idea, though she describes it more as a vision that came to her in the car. Whatever its origins, the idea took hold - and for 10 years, it's flourished: Patti and her husband, George, now host about 10,000 visitors a year at their Peace Valley Lavender Farm outside Doylestown. Lavender farms and festivals are popping up all over the country, especially in the Pacific Northwest. It's the result of a growing web of interest - in fresh herbs and herbal remedies, homemade crafts, aromatherapy, and organic farming.

This small village on the Zouma River - inside the municipal boundaries of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province - is the site of a fascinating effort to fight one of China's biggest problems: the dangerous levels of pollution in its rivers and streams. "In the last 30 years, China's economic miracle has helped pull millions from poverty, but has put tremendous pressure on its ecosystems," said Ma Jun, whose 1999 book China's Water Crisis has been compared to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

ANLONG, China - This small village on the Zouma River - inside the municipal boundaries of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province - is the site of a fascinating effort to fight one of China's biggest problems: the dangerous levels of pollution in its rivers and streams. "In the last 30 years, China's economic miracle has helped pull millions from poverty, but has put tremendous pressure on its ecosystems," said Ma Jun, whose 1999 book China's Water Crisis has been compared to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring . "Sixty percent of our rivers are polluted," and "300 million rural residents have no clean drinking water.

Judy Wicks went to a diner for breakfast the other day. Reading the fine print, she set the menu down, appalled. "Bummer," Wicks said, sighing. "I can't eat the eggs. They're not cage-free. " It has been one month since Wicks sold the White Dog Cafe. For a historical change in an iconic city eatery, the handover went down with surprisingly little fanfare. No flags lowered to half-staff. No tearful loyal customers stopping by for one last plate of organic salad with goat cheese from a local farm and a burger made from humanely raised cattle.

When Susan and Sam Gish signed on as subscribers to an organic farm last spring, they had visions of receiving plump heirloom tomatoes, ruby-hued beets, and crisp green lettuces. The Gishes, who run a casting company in Old City, had had a rapturous experience years ago with community supported agriculture, or CSA. They expected the same bounty when they paid $570 for a share of this season's harvest from Vollmecke Orchards CSA. But because of a freak May frost followed by a summer of drought and heat, the weekly deliveries from the West Brandywine Township farm have been meager.

Foot-and-mouth disease does not affect human health. But the epidemic striking animals in Europe is unsettling stomachs in other ways: The sight of thousands of burning animal carcasses may be inspiring more people to eat vegetarian and stirring up interest in organic food. Already, nearly four million of Britain's 60 million people eat "veggie," according to the U.K.-based Vegetarian Society. In the last month, phone calls to the society's hotline have doubled, hits on its Web site are up 20 percent, and the demand for more vegetarian recipes is way up, press officer Su Taylor said.

You may have heard of a kind of super-organic farming called biodynamics. It's based on ideas developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), for a course given to a group of farmers near Breslau (which was then in the eastern part of Germany and is now Wroclaw in Poland). The course was developed in response to farmers' observations that soils had become depleted following the introduction of chemical fertilizers at the turn of the century. A basic ecological principle of biodynamics is to conceive of the farm as a unique organism.

Deep in the woods of Winslow Farms, a fence made from the wood of an old telephone pole encloses most of the 900 acres hidden beyond the busy thoroughfares. Behind that fence lies what many residents here have called a mystery - a piece of property so large that it takes a 10-mile drive to see it all. For five years, rumors have circulated about what the property would become: a theme park, condominiums, a Disney complex. Henry S. McNeil Jr. said they were all wrong. "You've got to laugh when you hear these rumors," said McNeil, owner of the land and heir to the Philadelphia-based McNeil Pharmaceuticals, makers of Tylenol.