Page 18 RAPvI June 1982 Older and More Manure New Developments In Rural Information by Steve Johnson In 1974, the year that RAIN started, a fledgling group called Tilth hosted a Northwest regional,conference on alternative agriculture. Held in Ellensberg, Washington, the conference drew over seven hundred people. Some planned and many more spontaneous workshops were held. There were few experts and, relative to now, very little technical information; but it didn't matter because it was clear that just sharing what information existed and communicating about experiences and problems made the conference worthwhile. Since then conferences as a means to share information and create communication networks have become a tradition, and the techniques for convening them an art form. Since then, too, new ideas as well as revitalized old ideas have emerged to meet the information and communication needs of rural communities. Directories of individuals listing skills, resources, and needs have been published; formalized networks have been created; and information and communication network-oriented journals such as Smallholder have been started. Political associations have emerged, and resource centers, community centers, book lending services, traveling energy roadshows and bookmobiles have been tried. There is no doubt that the movement which started out as a back-to- the-land movement has matured, leaving most vestiges of its naive beginnings behind. There have been changes of perception among these new age homesteaders about what it means to drop out, the relationships between their personal lives and the larger political world, and their relationship to rural and urban areas. The ideas, technical information, and structures for organized resource sharing, marketing, trade, arid political analysis are mature institutions and processes that have had a tremendous (if not completely transformational) effect on rural life. Information based on careful research is more available to new settlers, and communication networks (often informal) tie individuals together, linking up the watersheds in a region. In the State of Washington, thanks in some degree to the now defunct Appropriate Technology Small Grants Program, several rural resource centers and libraries have been formed, including the NEWACT Resource Center (P.O. Box385, Republic, WA 99166). The Resource Center recently published a catalog of current publications useful for small farms and others interested in sustainable agriculture and appropriate technology ($1.00). The Tilth Information Service (P.O. Box 7094, Olympia, WA 98507), is a mail-order book service for sustainable small farmers, urban gardeners, and suburban permacul- turists. The book selection is sizable and carefully selected. The catalog, which costs $1.50 ppd., is a good read by itself. Food for Thought Books (67 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002, 413/253-5432) is a non-profit, collectively-run storefront and mail order book service with an excellent selection of energy and social change titles, including many hard to find "out of print" books — their catalogs are good reading, too. If you become a member ($15-$30/ yr.), you get a free book of your choice (up to $10 value) and 10% off on anything in the store for a year. Volunteers get a 20% discount. The Earthworks Lending Library (P.O. Box 556, Har- ' mony, PA 16037) is a national mail-order rental library system, specializing in self-sufficiency do-it-yourself titles. A $5.00 membership fee gets you in, and ^.00 per title (which can go toward the purchase of the book) gets the title of your choice sent to you. A new challenge for the movement occurred in 1978 when Control Data Corporation announced its Rural Venture program for small farmers, a computer-oriented service whose purported goal was to help small farmers attain information and technical assistance. It is difficult, at this point in time, to see the proper place for electronic information and communication systems in the small farm or alternative food production movement. Some would venture to say leave it alone; unfortunately, as with other battles, there is no place to hide. We've passed the watermark; it's too late to turn back. Another, more positive way of looking at this growth of new electronic technology is to take a step forward: pro-acting, seeking ways to use the technology to further the goals of sustainable agriculture and sustaining the established communication networks. For example, rising fuel costs may eventually limit the frequency of interactions between communities. Without inexpensive transportation, valleys and mountains may once again take on their old qualities of husky physical boundaries. Mass transit and elaborate information and communication technology will allow for continued information exchange in the cities, but communities more exclusively dependent on automobiles might become more isolated. Fortunately, micro-computer networks and interactive cable-TV systems that can sustain communication are now available. Computer-based networks are already being used for sharing research findings, matching skills and needs on electronic bulletin boards, and accessing tremendous stores of knowledge available through other large computers. In the late 1970s new information services were developed for use on interactive cable-TV, starting with
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