Back To The Land

Back-to-the-landers have often been viewed as nostalgic escapists or romantic nature-lovers. But their own words and those of their readers reveal a more complex story. The return to the farm, Dona Brown finds, means less a going-backwards than a going-forwards, a way to meet the challenges of the modern era. In seeking their rural roots, Americans strive above all for the self-sufficiency they associate with the agrarian ideal.