A chapter from "The Party's Over" by Richard Heinberg. Heinberg has provided us a a sober analysis of the state of the world oil supplies and the possibilties inherent in alternative energy as we consider the impact of oil depletion in the coming decades.

Four brief chapters from "Home Place: Essays on Ecology" by Stan Rowe. Rowe is a Canadian ecologist famed for his plainspoken words about the environment - and for his puns. A thoughtful look at what it means to live on the prairie and the role of agriculture in a place like ours.

A chapter in "From the Farm to the Table: What All Americans Need to Know about Agriculture" by Gary Holthaus. Here is an inside look at the results of globalization, current free trade agreements and negociating goals for future "free trade" agreements.

A chapter from "Sustaining the Common Good" by John B. Cobb, Jr. Cobb is a historian and theologian who offers careful analysis of the idea of community and what it takes to create a profound sense of it.

Ken Meter is a scholar and consultant who has done important work in Minnesota, helping us understand the dynamics of the economics of our food systems. Click the title "Finding Food in Farm Country" above, then select "Economic, Environmental and Social Connections in NW MN" The document provides a summary of the data and analysis.