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In 1981, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a spiritual leader from India, and thousands of his disciples moved to Wasco and Jefferson counties. On what had been the Big Muddy Ranch, the sannyasins set out to build a new city, a utopian community in the desert Rajneeshpuram.

Thousands of people from around the world gathered here to celebrate life. They worked hard and transformed the landscape. And more than a few hoped to spend the rest of their days at this place. But by 1986, they weregone.

If you live in the country you kinda like the country to remain the way it is, said Bernie Smith, a former Wasco County DistrictAttorney.

Many of the Rajneeshees came from overseas, and most from urban backgrounds. They were vegetarians, now living among ranch people and small-town retirees in Central Oregon cattle country. The two cultures were foreign to each other and ultimately theyclashed.

I think there were a lot of masters and maybe doctors degrees out there. It didnt mean they had any horse sense. They were pretty illogical about a lot of things, said Margaret Hill, former mayor of nearby Antelope,Oregon.

As the Rajneeshee planners began to slog their way through the rules and regulations of local government, problems arose. As the new people encountered the slow-grinding wheels of bureaucracy building codes, zoning restrictions and other land-use regulations the sannyasins patience grew thin. Confrontation and rude behaviorfollowed.

The Rajneeshees took over the town of Antelope. Their leadership declared the local people to be bigoted and threatening. And Bhagwans open disdain for Christianity did not play well in the new conservative, Christianenvironment.

At some point, people stopped talking and they just started screaming. Nothing is going to get done in that environment, and nothing got done, said former news videographer MiltRitter.

In the span of four-and-a-half years, Bhagwans people invested more than $50 million in Rancho Rajneesh. They made substantial improvements to the land. Many found real joy in being close to their spiritual master and part of the Rajneeshpuram community, but they ultimately walked away from it all.

Twenty-five sannyasins were convicted of crimes ranging from arson and wiretapping to immigration fraud, election fraud and attempted murder. Ten served time in prison.

At the end of it all, Wasco County Judge Bill Hulse predicted (correctly) that somebody would write a book about what had happened there: The people who read that book, he said, will think itsfiction.

Resources

Books

Kirk Braun, Rajneeshpuram: The UnwelcomeSociety

Max Brecher, A Passage to America e-book: http://maxbrechersbookstobuy.com/, 1993, revised and updated2013

Devananda Day, Revise Priorities Ahead! Life on a SpiritualPath

Articles

A Reporter at Large: Rajneeshpuram I, Rajneeshpuram II, by FrancesFitzgerald

The New Yorker, Sept. 22, 1986; Sept. 29,1986

Utopia and Bureaucracy: The Fall of Rajneeshpuram, by CarlAbbott

Oregon Pacific Historical Review,1990

Averting Apocalypse at Rajneeshpuram by Marion S.Goldman

Department of Sociology, 1291 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR97403

Second-Chance Family by Marion S.Goldman

Oregon Humanities magazine, Summer2011

Websites

Oregon HistoricalSociety

Special Collections, University of OregonLibraries

Osho International, publishing headquarters for Oshoswork

Rajneeshpuram wikipediasites

Rise and Fall of Rajneeshpuram A film by JustinWeiler

OregonLive: Rajneeshees inOregon

Broadcast Date: Nov. 19,2012

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Rajneeshpuram . TV | OPB

In 1979, Bennington College freshman Dara Burrows traveled to India over her winter break. She would never return to the school. In a postcard to her mother back home in New Jersey, Dara wrote: Im not coming home. Im happy and Ive become a sannyasin. A disciple.

Burrows had joined a cult. But not just any cult. The 18-year-old had become a follower of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and started wearing Bhagwans photo around her neck. Over the next few years, Dara and thousands like her would travel to rural Oregon with Rajneesh, and build a sprawling commune in his name. The lure of the cult would fracture Daras already fragile family, and even now, some 33 years after I first met them, they are still healing.

On the surface a happy place with a Zen Connection bus terminal, Zorba the Buddha Rajneesh Deli and something called Nirvana Grove, Oregons Rancho Rajneesh metastasized into a dangerous organized crime ring. As Rajneesh indulged a fetish for diamond-studded watches and a caravan of Rolls-Royces, his hand-picked goon squad went to war with local detractors. Commune leaders sprayed salmonella on salad bars in a nearby town, poisoning at least 700 people in the largest bioterror attack in U.S. history. They plotted the assassination of the U.S. attorney for Oregon. And they organized countless fraudulent marriages to harbor foreign-born Rajneeshees, followers of the religion, in the U.S.

This outrageous yet underreported episode of American history is finally getting its due. On March 16, Netflix dropped a captivating six-hour docuseries called Wild Wild Country, directed by brothers Chapman and Maclain Way, with brothers Jay and Mark Duplass executive producing. The series, ambitious but flawed, has unearthed hours of home movies that the cult members shot themselves, in the fevered belief that they were building a true nirvana in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

Dara Burrows and hundreds of former cult members around the world are binge-watching now. On the pages of fan websites still dedicated to Rajneesh he died in 1990 and is now known as Osho the reviews are pouring in.

Watched four parts already. Even worse than I thought, former sannyasin Dorothee Bull writes on a pro-Rajneesh Facebook page. Bhagwan was a politician playing the power game.

As with most media coverage of the Ranch, this series seems to skip like a rock over water, landing briefly on the most controversial events ... former sannyasin Roshani Shay writes at OshoNews.com. Viewers of this series can learn a lot about how not to behave from its episodes.

Not often you get to see a sannyasin confessing to attempted murder on TV. I was left thinking that quite a few people running the show on the Ranch really did lose their minds in the worst of ways, an observer named Lokesh posted on the Sannyas News website.

I happily powered my way through all six hours of Wild Wild Country this weekend, too. In 1984, as a rookie reporter in Trenton, New Jersey, I convinced my editors to send me to Rancho Rajneesh on assignment. At the time, the Rajneeshees were slipping into Trenton and other cities and enticing hundreds of homeless men and women to move across the country to Bhagwans Oregon paradise. With promises of free food, free beer and a life free of crime, the Rajneeshees explained that they were just humanitarians helping to address Americas shameful homeless epidemic. In reality, as later reporting and the Netflix series revealed, the cult was simply importing the homeless to pack local voting rolls and control local elections.

In the winter of 1984, Rancho Rajneesh was bustling, with a private airport, a teeming shopping center, the 145-room Hotel Rajneesh and enough heated A-frame cabins to accommodate thousands of red-clad sannyasins. The Rajneeshees had selected this spot carefully, purchasing 100 square miles of rugged Oregon rangeland for the privacy and protection the former Big Muddy Ranch provided. Everywhere, the propaganda and groupthink was overwhelming. The Rajneeshees celebrated the coming of dawn and dusk by bowing to Bhagwan and singing for him, as he slowly cruised by in one of his 90+ Rolls-Royces. In the evenings, thousands gathered in rapt attention to watch two-hour-long videotapes of Bhagwans hypnotic discourses. His photos were plastered everywhere, and, in the commune bookstore, only one authors works were on sale.

I was escorted around the well-armed property by an outgoing spokeswoman, Ma Dhyan Rosalie, formerly Rosalie Rosenberg of Scottsdale, and allowed to interview formerly homeless New Jersey transplants. Soon after, I set out to locate Dara Burrows, the one-time Bennington College co-ed.

Just before my reporting trip, Daras mother, Sandra, sat with me in her historic home outside Princeton. Her story was devastating. First, her husband, David Burrows, left her. He had been a tenured literature professor at Rutgers University, and the couple had four children together. David met Rajneesh on a trip to India in 1978, and the experience was profound. Back on the Rutgers campus,David began dressing in orange, wearing a beaded necklace with Bhagwans photo on it and insisting that he be called Swami Das Anudas. University life soon lost its hold, and Davis moved to India to be with Bhagwan full-time.

Just as Sandra was recovering from that shock, David gave his daughter, Dara, a collection of Bhagwans speeches. Dara was hooked immediately by his promise of a new way of being, his rejection of the institutional, rigid ways of society, and she booked a trip to India to meet the guru.

Her father gave her the money. It just kind of happened, kind of quietly, without me being privy to the decision, Sandra told me, as I recounted in a New Jersey Monthly Magazine feature story in 1986.

Mere weeks later, the terse postcard arrived back home. Dara, the Princeton Day School graduate, had become Ma Prem Dara and joined her father in the cult. All through my childhood I thought I was the odd one, Dara told me back then. When I met Bhagwan he was just saying everything I was feeling all my life. It was like I could breathe ...

Sandra banded together with her two younger children, and especially her teenage son, Jamie. But she knew Dara was gone. It was a terrible shock. I wanted her to go back to school, if not Bennington then somewhere. But there was no way I was going to influence her, she said.

For five years, the Burrows children resigned themselves to the loss of their father and oldest sister. Then, in the summer of 1984, 22-year-old Jamie accepted an invitation to visit Rancho Rajneesh, where Dara and David had moved. Improbably, the Burrows youngest son also fell under the spell. When I interviewed Jamie, Dara and David together at the commune in 1984, Jamie was wearing the traditional Bhagwan mala necklace and introduced himself to me as Swami Anand Brahma. The all-American family, one sannyasin quipped, as she passed by our table.

Back home, Sandra was emotional, weeping at the dining room table, a family friend recalled. In desperation, Sandra called a cult psychologist to win her son back. I didnt know what I could do. Hes not a child. He hasnt been kidnapped, she told me for the New Jersey Monthly article.

Less than nine months after my visit, the cult imploded. Bhagwans top aide, the vicious Ma Anand Sheela, quit and ran off to Europe under a cloud. After a three-and-a-half-year period of self-imposed silence, an enraged Bhagwan gathered the media to denounce her. Sheela and her group tried to kill three people, Bhagwan said. These people are absolute criminals. Fearing arrest himself, Rajneesh boarded a Lear Jet and tried to flee the country. He was arrested and jailed, and pleaded guilty to immigration crimes in exchange for a big fine and deportation. State and federal investigators rushed in, and once-loyal insiders easily flipped. As The Oregonian reported in a 2017 series, Rajneeshees piled into court, admitting criminal conduct on behalf of the sect. The charges included attempted murder, assault, arson, immigration fraud, wiretapping and conspiracy. Sheela and the worst of the offenders did federal prison time.

Back at the commune, the residents of Rancho Rajneesh glumly packed their bags. The Rolls-Royces were auctioned off in Texas, and Jamie, Dara and David Burrows began planning for an uncertain future.

I reached out to the Burrows family last month, and all the old wounds still seemed fresh. I learned that Jamie works in finance now and didnt want to discuss his brief time at the commune. Dara married, raised a family and for 22 years has served as a senior editor for a scientific nonprofit. Shes made peace with her mother, for whom the abandonment is hard to forget. Ive come back into the fold, but she always fears I could leave, Dara said in a recent interview. Im making a really strong effort to be in constant contact with her and show her how much I really love her.

Dara agreed to talk for the first time in three decades because, she said, she has nothing to hide. When we spoke last week, she said she was looking forward to watching Wild Wild Country, but added that she and most Rajneeshees were unaware of the serious crimes that took place at the commune. I dont have shame about becoming a sannyasin or going to India or to the ranch, she said. But I do have shame about being associated with an organization that did such horrific things and hurt so many people.

Looking back, she admits that her fellow cult members spread the illusion of us versus them, and how dangerous it was to leave the ranch. The propaganda was relentless. I definitely experienced being brainwashed, Dara said. Its taken her decades to move on.

Wild Wild Country fails to explore the heartache of the thousands of families like Daras who were left behind when loved ones joined Bhagwan in the mountains. Its one of many flaws in an otherwise haunting series that exposes the brutal town-gown confrontation between the malicious and condescending sannyasins who took over tiny Antelope, Oregon, and the narrow-minded and often bigoted farmers and ranchers who opposed them at every turn. The directors of the series seem afraid to play referee, and viewers pay the price.

Consider this: Ma Anand Sheela, Bhagwans trusted assistant and the former CEO of all things Rajneesh, is accused in the series of ordering or participating in a dizzying array of felonies. Among them: poisoning an entire town with salmonella; stalking and attempting to gun down the then-U.S. attorney in Oregon, Charles Turner; setting a local government office on fire; illegally bugging friends and enemies; secretly pouring an anti-psychotic drug into kegs of free beer, to help control the thousands of homeless people Sheela had recruited to the ranch; and then dumping those same homeless people onto the streets of Oregon after they had served Sheelas twisted purpose. Oh, and injecting Bhagwans personal physician with poison and attempting to murder him.

Despite Sheelas frightening rsum, the makers of Wild Wild Country hand her the microphone and walk away. They never question or fact-check her self-serving version of events, or ask what Bhagwan knew about the criminal underworld operating feet from his throne. Did Sheela order the hit on Bhagwans doctor to prevent him from killing the master first, as Sheela has claimed? And did she wiretap the ranch and read through all incoming mail to protect her beloved Bhagwan, or merely to keep a close eye on her many rivals and shut down dissent? Viewers are left to wonder.

Three decades later, sales of Bhagwans books and tapes appear strong. Most of his current followers have accepted the canard that Bhagwan was manipulated by Sheela, and was an innocent dupe all along.

Daras father, David, was one of them. The university professor who once wore ties and wingtips and had a Peugeot sitting in the driveway quickly forgave his master. For a few years after the commune broke up, he wandered to Nepal, Japan, Texas, New York and Guatemala. Then, in 1988, he confided to Dara, he had begun pining for India. I dont think I have to explain why, he wrote. Burrows would live with Bhagwan once more.

Until his death last year at age 80, the man who became Swami Das Anudas had few regrets, even if it had become clear to most outside observers that Bhagwans cult didnt offer the deliverance Burrows had sought from the cynicism and small-mindedness of the world. Whatever happened at the ranch, it was still a lot better than what was happening in the rest of the world, David Burrows once wrote to Dara. The harder something is to go through, the more you learn as you come out of it.

Jim Popkin is a writer in Washington, D.C.Follow him on Twitter:@JimPopkin.

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I Covered The Rajneesh Cult. Heres What Wild Wild Country ...

Staff photo by E.J. Harris

Journalist Wil Phinney, the current editor of the Confederated Umatilla Journal, worked at The Dalles Weekly Reminder during the time the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh started a commune near the rural town of Antelope.

Staff photo by E.J. Harris

Journalist Wil Phinney holds a prayer necklace that has a photo of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh he collected while covering the events at Rajneeshpuram during the late 1980s.

Gary Kopperud

Contributed photo

The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh takes his daily afternoon drive through Rancho Rajneesh in one of his 74 Rolls Royces.

Contributed photo

Followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh exult as the guru passes by in one of his 74 Rolls Royces.

Contributed photo

Ma Anand Sheela and her attorneys face reporters after a day in court.

Wild Wild Country paints a story as incredible as any futuristic fantasy flick.

Consider the following plot: A mystic and his followers construct a utopian city and paradise of spiritual existence in the Central Oregon high desert. All seems right, then things get sinister. The commune slams up against local law. The group co-opts a nearby town and eventually attempts to take over the entire country. Before its over, commune leaders face charges of biological warfare, attempted murder, wiretapping and immigration violations.

This twisty tale, however preposterous, is pure truth. The six-hour Netflix documentary chronicles the story of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers. Some who witnessed the rise and fall of Rajneeshpuram share their impressions in the paragraphs below.

Wil Phinney

Every so often, Wil Phinney pulls his Rajneeshpuram box down from the shelf, lifts the lid and journeys back in time.

Phinney, now editor of the Confederated Umatilla Journal in Mission, worked for The Dalles Weekly Reminder when the Bhagwan arrived at the ranch. A shot of Phinneys byline appears in episode four of Wild Wild Country. Over the next years, Phinney visited Rancho Rajneesh many times, got to know Rajneeshee leaders and chronicled the cults efforts to take over Antelope and Wasco County.

This week, he lifted the lid of the worn cardboard box once again and started removing items one by one, laying them on a long table in the East Oregonian conference room. He fingered a beaded necklace he got from a homeless person who had lived on the ranch. Inside a chunk of clear plastic, the Bhagwan smiled serenely from a tiny photo.

He pulled out a diary neatly penned by a Bhagwan follower.

I felt on holy ground, she had written. I felt Bhagwans presence spreading over every inch of this vast desert, permeating even the smallest twig by the roadside, his love and protection encompassing every bird and insect and even every blade of grass and every rock.

Black-and-white photos taken by Phinney show scenes from the compound, Antelope and The Dalles. The Bhagwan taking his daily drive around the ranch in one of 74 Rolls-Royces. Red-frocked followers lining the road, kneeling and singing as he passed by.

In one photo, a woman mops the compounds huge industrial kitchen. In another, protesters from the embattled town of Antelope carry signs with slogans such as Free Antelope and Let Antelope Roam Free.

Aerial shots reveal dozens of large buildings and hundreds of tents brought in to house followers during the annual festival. Phinney pulled out several items he and other reporters discovered in the Antelope dump after the towns takeover. He held up a cork board with the image of the Bhagwan with a target imprinted over his face.

Phinney remembers the media at first thought the group would bring good things to the region.

Initially all the media thought these guys were great they were going to create an oasis at the (former) Big Muddy Ranch, Phinney said. Ill be honest, I bought into it.

But not for long. As the ranch grew into a self-sustaining town and steadily made moves to take over Antelope and Wasco County, he got concerned. Phinney reported some things that drew Rajneeshee ire. Eventually, he said, his name appeared on the cults enemies list. Rajneesh propaganda showed up on his car and front porch.

Sheela and other Rajneeshee officials proceeded with intelligence and knowledge of local law, he said, but finally they went too far.

It was all going according to plan, then they just got too arrogant and started pushing too hard and too fast, Phinney said. If theyd followed all the laws, theyd have gotten a lot farther.

Gary Kopperud

After the fall of Rajneeshpuram, Gary Kopperud returned to the ranch to rescue his favorite follower a large, orange cat named Popcorn that he soon renamed Swami. Swami later accompanied Kopperud when he spoke to groups about Rajneeshpuram.

Kopperud, who worked for Juniper Broadcasting in The Dalles and also shot video for Associated Press during the time of Rajneeshpuram, got a firsthand look at the commune as a member of the press. Kopperud, who now lives in Pendleton, said he watched the commune rise from the desert with fascination. At its height, he said, it included a 4,200-foot airstrip, public transportation system, creamery, restaurants, a police force dubbed the peace force, a mall, fire station and other amenities.

They were really on the move, Kopperud said. They had talented people from every walk of life.

Kopperud met the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his personal assistant, Ma Anand Sheela.

He was very soft spoken, Kopperud said of the Bhagwan. There was intensity and peace in his eyes at the same time. He was the spirit. He was everything to those people.

Sheela (Sheela Silverman) was a powerful presence.

When Sheela talked, no one else spoke, he said. She was not a person that allowed you into her space if she didnt want you there.

Kopperud had a close call in 1984 when Rajneesh followers poisoned salad bars in seven restaurants in The Dalles with salmonella as a strategy to sicken voters so Rajneeshee commissioner candidates could win an election. In all, 751 people got sick.

I was having pizza at Big Daves that day with a friend, Kopperud said. He had a salad and I didnt. He got sick.

That plot failed, along with another to bring busloads of homeless people to the area and register them as voters.

In late 1985, top Rajneeshee officials fled the ranch. For Kopperud, Swami remained as a reminder of the unbelievable saga. The cat lived to age 23. The Dalles Chronicle, Kopperud said, ran a three-paragraph obituary on his passing.

Kathy McBride

Many people in Wasco County dont need Netflix to know what happened when the Rajneesh and his followers came to town its still fresh in their minds.

This brought up some raw emotions, Kathy McBride said of the documentarys impact on the towns residents.

McBride, who lives in The Dallles, was the Wasco County Court administrative assistant at the time and was one of the people sued by the Rajneeshees for civil rights violations as they went head-to-head with the county. Her father was the county sheriff, and she said he felt the strain of trying to prevent tensions from erupting into bloodshed.

She has only watched a little bit of the docu-series so far, but she said in discussions with others who experienced the events firsthand and watched the whole thing, there is a sense that depth of the harassment experienced by Wasco County residents isnt portrayed.

After the county started trying to enforce land use regulations at the commune, for example, McBride opened an anonymous package at the courthouse to find human feces. Other times people phoned in bomb threats and the courthouse had to be evacuated.

Two of them would sit outside my house in The Dalles and watch my house while I was on maternity leave, she said.

After the county refused to register the 6,000 homeless people the Rajneeshees had bused in from around the country to vote, she said the commune pushed many of them out onto the streets of The Dalles with no resources, creating a major strain on the community.

McBride doesnt believe the Rajneeshees were all bad commune members did some amazing things out at the ranch with agriculture and art. But she said it was difficult to watch interviews with Ma Anand Sheela, who served prison time after admitting to orchestrating a variety of crimes, including poisoning county commissioner Bill Hulse nearly to death when he visited the ranch and spraying salmonella on salad bars.

I listen to Sheela and its like she had no remorse, poisoning all those people, McBride said. She almost killed our county judge.

She said in retrospect, listening to all of the attempted murders and planned murders that went on, its amazing no one died. She said at the time it was easy for people outside the area to say residents of The Dalles and Antelope were being paranoid, but later the FBI found evidence of many of the things they had suspected. The Rajneeshees were behind the salmonella outbreak. They were plotting to poison the water supply. The marriage licenses they were getting at the courthouse were part of a massive immigration fraud scheme. They were recording everyone when they visited the courthouse.

It was scary times, and Im just glad that people didnt die, she said.

Kricket Nicholson

Kricket Nicholson remembers the day Rajneeshees drove busloads of homeless people to town and left them walking the streets of The Dalles.

These individuals had been picked up off the streets of other towns and taken to Rajneeshpuram, lured with promises of food, clothing and shelter in exchange for agreeing to vote for Rajneeshee commissioner candidates in the election. When the plot didnt work, the homeless people were jettisoned.

They just started dumping them, Nicholson said. They dropped a busload of them a block from the Salvation Army and another at a rest area on the freeway.

Nicholson, now executive director of United Way in Pendleton, was a Salvation Army caseworker at the time. The homeless descended on the Salvation Army in droves that night. Nicholson and others spent the next few days working to feed the people and get them back to their places of origin.

The Dalles obviously couldnt handle an influx of hundreds of homeless people, she said. The community really came together and donated money for bus tickets.

Nicholson said the whole Rajneesh adventure left a sour taste in town for quite some time.

The Rajneeshees wore the colors of a sunset, Nicholson said. Nobody in The Dalles wore those colors for years.

Erik Hilden

Erik Hilden came into the Rajneesh orb in a most unexpected way. Hilden, a South Carolina teacher, grew up in Pendleton and went to summer camp near Rajneeshpuram.

On the last day of camp in 1981 or 1982, he waited for his mom to arrive to pick him up. She was hours late.

Eventually, a car pulled up the camps dusty driveway loaded with a bunch of Rajneeshees dressed in the colors of the setting sun, Hilden recalled. Those guys and my mom.

Hildens mother was bruised and bleeding. She had rolled the familys Ford Escort wagon during a flash flood on a windy road near Fossil. She had climbed out and tried to wave down help.

She said a bunch of ranchers blew by her, he said. But this carload of Rajneeshees, on their way to Rajneeshpuram for some giant Rajneesh festival, stopped to help. They brought her to me.

Hilden also recalled times when he and friends left camp and walked to nearby Antelope.

One year, around 1982, the Antelope General Store had become Zorba the Buddha, a vegan restaurant and hippy zone loaded with followers and other strangeness, Hilden said. That was weird. One summer, locals and ranchers, and the next summer, sunrise hippies wearing molded smiles and distant eyes.

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Why is organic food more expensive than conventional food?

Certified organic food. Certified organic products are generally more expensive than their conventional counterparts (for which prices have been declining) for a number of reasons:

As demand for organic food and products is increasing, technological innovations and economies of scale should reduce costs of production, processing, distribution and marketing for organic produce.

Prices of organic foods include not only the cost of the food production itself, but also a range of other factors that are not captured in the price of conventional food, such as:

Non-certified organic food. In many developing countries, there are agricultural systems that fully meet the requirements of organic agriculture but which are not certified. Non-certified organic agriculture refers to organic agricultural practices by intent and not by default; this excludes non-sustainable systems which do not use synthetic inputs but which degrade soils due to lack of soil building practices. It is difficult to quantify the extent of these agricultural systems as they exist outside the certification and formal market systems. The produce of these systems is usually consumed by households or sold locally (e.g. urban and village markets) at the same price as their conventional counterparts. Although the uncertified produce does not benefit from price premiums, some cases have been documented where non-certified organic agriculture increases productivity of the total farm agro-ecosystem, and saves on purchasing external inputs. In developed countries, non-certified organic food is often sold directly to consumers through local community support programmes such as box schemes, farmers markets and at the farm gate. These allow the producer to know exactly what the consumer wants, while the consumer knows where the produce comes from and in the case of box schemes, saves on transport costs through delivery of produce to their homes. In developed countries, non-certified organic produce usually carries a higher price than its conventional counterpart, in accordance with the specific consumer willingness to pay.

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Organic Agriculture: Why is organic food more expensive ...

In an effort to get more insight into personal development, I have been on an audio learning frenzy. Ive listened to nearly ten well-known programs in the last week or so and one of the best subjects that has been covered is goal setting.See You At The Topauthor Zig Ziglar is one of the most dynamic motivational speakers of all time. He has put together a great 7 step goal setting system that I will now share with you and I will include my own personal examples.

Note: Please take the time and write down your responses to all of the 7 steps of goal setting. This is crucial in your actual achievement of these desires. Writing them down makes the goals real; it makes them tangible. By setting them down permanently onto a sheet of paper, it keeps us from mentally bailing on these very important parts of our lives. Do yourself a favor and get out a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper or a journal before you read these steps.

Note #2: Setting a goal and doing it right can take a lot of time. Zig Ziglar suggests putting over twenty hours into the really complex ones. He also says that this time will lead you to three to ten hours a week for the rest of your life once you learn how to set goals properly. This is a great payoff for us forward thinkers. Set aside enough time to do this right and you will be rewarded.

Step 1: State the Goal

Has this ever happened to you? Over the course of a week, several different people have asked you different variations on the question, what is your main goal?" Maybe theyve said, what is your ambition" or what do you want to do with your life" or even how does the future look for you?" These similar questions were asked by different people of different ages or social circles and you made efforts to try to phrase your goal in the best possible way. Perhaps you use the terms sorta" or kinda" as in I sorta want to go back to school, but Im not sure." Your explanation takes as long as a minute or two because you arent exactly sure about all of the specifics. When you finally get it out, the other person acknowledges what youve said and then promptly moves on.

It took you a long time to state your goal, because it isnt clear to you. The person moved right on because they can tell that your lack of clarity will make it tough for you to achieve what it is you sorta" kinda" want.

Clearly state your goal in a positive and succinct way. Even if you arent 100% sure you can do it, do not insert any maybes or probablys. If you think losing 30 pounds would be good for you and that you might want to make it a goal, say:

I want to lose 30 pounds.

Author Brian Tracy also suggests you put it into present terms as if youve already completed it. Heres an example:

I have lost 30 pounds by July 1st, 2009.

Recently, I have been writing down my three major goals every single day when I wake up in the morning and reviewing them before I go to bed (another Brian Tracy tidbit of wisdom). But to start, try writing down your goals in this way once and see how it makes you feel. Getting things out of your head and onto paper can be a great first start.

Step 2: Set a Deadline

A lack of a deadline can make you put off really trying to complete the goal. I understand that there can be a lot of fear associated with attempting to try and failing, but as extreme failure and success Thomas Edison could tell you, theres much to be said about failure leading to ultimate success.

Add a deadline to your goal to enhance the clarity even further. This can be a particular date, a month, a year, or even a lifetime goal. It will be easier though to start with a few goals you expect to attempt in the near future. For example:

I want to increase my monthly income 20% by June 2009.

Or to be more specific:

I want to increase my monthly income from $3,000 a month to $3,600 a month by June 2009.

I suggest adding a deadline to all of your goals. Even if you arent able to achieve it by the date, you can change the date later, but theres something about listing the hopeful completion time that will kick your subconscious into high gear.

Step 3: Identify the Obstacles

Heres the good news. This is a step that most of the general public does fantastically. Heres the bad news. Identifying the obstacles of their goal setting is what usually stops them from trying to achieve their goals in the first place.

By pointing out the things that are in the way of a goal, we can figure out ways to overcome them. This is not the path of least resistance people, this is where the work comes into play. We have goals because they are worthwhile, not because theyre easy. Jim Rohn has a great quote about football for this situation.

Say youre in an empty football stadium. You have a ball and you tuck it under your arm and cross the goal line. Should you feel good about yourself? Did you just score a touchdown? No, of course not. There was no resistance, no other team, no fans for either side cheering or booing you. All you did was walk with a ball on a field. Now, add in the game and the packed stadium of fans. If you cross the goal line with the ball, you have scored a touchdown and you will be cheered and congratulated by your team and fans. This is because youve actually accomplished something. You achieved a goal despite the obstacles against you. You did something that was worth it.

Dont just go for the easy stuff. Push forward and take on goals with a few obstacles. Lets go back to the weight goal. What could be a few obstacles?

Im out of shape and I cant exercise for more than a few minutes.I work 60 hours a week and Im too tired to do much of anything by the time I get home.My friends and I go out for a big steak dinner and drinking every Friday evening which makes me hung over pretty much all Saturday.

You dont have to figure out how to beat these yet (that comes later) but even just listing some of these on a piece of paper makes them tangible, real things. Thoughts in your head are a lot tougher to beat than words on a sheet of paper. Listing your obstacles is a great first step to overcoming them.

Step 4: Identify the People, Groups, and Organizations that Can Assist

I know a lot of people who are afraid to ask for help in many situations. When you are trying to achieve your goals, this is a bad time to play either shy or independent person. Some of the greatest minds in human history had wonderful mentors or assistants to help them get to where they are. A good number of them also belonged to organizations that honed their skills and aided in their achievement of their important life goals. For a weight goal there are programs like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or a series of books on the subject. For improving your income, there are local finance groups or seminars led by speakers who have achieved a great deal of success.

A simple Google search will yield wonders. The important thing here is to search. Whenever I am embarking on a project that requires information beyond my own, I ask somebody who is an expert on the subject. Finding these people saves me tens of hours of my time trying to figure something out myself.

Make a list of the people, groups and organizations that can help you in your quest. If you cant identify more than just a couple, do a little bit of research. Your goal is worth the amount of time you put into it.

Step 5: List the Benefits of Achieving the Goal

This is the fun part where we can let the imagination run wild. List as many benefits as you can think of to setting and making this goal happen. If you want to lose 30 pounds, think about how much more you will be able to do without that extra weight around. Maybe you will be able to bike more or meet new people in more athletic settings. If its the money goal, perhaps you will be able to afford that new restaurant in town, or take your significant other on a nice trip. Whatever your goal is, go to town on writing down all the possible spoils of making this goal a reality.

Perhaps theLaw of Attractionwill kick in and help you push toward your goal even faster than you imagined.

Step 6: List the Skills You Need to Acquire to Attain the Goal

This is another tough part but it is also worth it. Our ability to take on these goals is directly related to what we can do to make it easier and more achievable on our parts. Before starting this website, I needed to learn enough to use the Site Builder program for my host Solo Build It!". Before I could learn to bench press 200 lbs., I first had to learn all of the supplementary triceps and pectoral exercises to fully enhance my bench press skills.

Perhaps you need to learn web design or a sales technique to up your monthly income. Or maybe you must learn how to iron your clothes better to look good for that upcoming job interview. There are so many books available on so many subjects and there is a growing how to" directory of videos and articles on the Internet. Many different skills can be learned. If you need a skill in order to improve your chances of accomplishing a goal, you have little to no excuse. Take the time and learn it.

Step 7: Develop a Plan

You know your goals and when you want to achieve them by. You know whats in your way and who can help. You know how much these goals will benefit you and you know what skills you must acquire to help you along the way.

Now comes the little matter of how."

I suggest a detailed plan of the next week and how you are going to integrate these six other steps into your daily routine. When will you put in the thirty minutes in the library researching the right book for a skill? When can you set up a meeting with that potential mentor about his or her expertise? Is there a good twenty-minute period of downtime for you to visualize some of the benefits you may receive?

Schedule the time for this goal achievement to happen. If you never schedule it, there is a good chance you will never move forward. If you slip up a few times and you dont get some actions completed when you planned them, just change the deadline and try again the following week. The best plans are often adjusted many, many times before the end result is reached. You must create a plan to ensure that you will at least attempt to realize these goals.

This is your opportunity to achieve some of the things in your life that you have put off to the side. Write down your responses to these seven steps right now. You can use it with any or all of your goals for all areas of your life. Put your answers in a good place for you to review often (a refrigerator or a desk). Pick them up when you have a chance and start working. At that point, the achievement of your goals is simply a matter of time.

Related Articles to Zig Ziglar #1The Lessons of Earl Nightingale #1: ThinkingLaw of AttractionThe Lessons of Stephen Covey #1: Quadrant IIThe Lessons of Steve Pavlina #1: 30 Days of Success

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Done with Zig Ziglar #1?Go back to "Personal Time Management"

Use the above prompts or article as inspiration to write a story or other short piece.

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The Lessons of Zig Ziglar #1: 7 Steps of Goal Setting

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56 Best Vegan Recipes - Easy Vegan Dinner Ideas You'll Love

Building a Network of Quality Caring Community Based Instructors

radKIDS, Inc. is the national leader in children's safety, with headquarters based in South Dennis, Massachusetts. The radKIDS curriculum is brought to children and parents by the training and development of nationally certified instructors drawn from their own communities. By empowering a community with certified local instructors, the radKIDS Personal Empowerment Safety Education program is not just a program but a true gift to the community. The radKIDS curriculum meets, and in many cases exceeds, the foundational education standards for elementary physical education and health in all 50 states.

radKIDS does not tell your child what we hope they will do, we actually teach, train and empower children with real skills so they can recognize, avoid, resist, and if necessary escape violence or harm in their lives. Education is the only thing that can change fear into power and radKIDS can and does give children opportunity and power to live safer in our world today.

Since its inception in 2000, radKIDS, Inc. has been committed to providing education that enhances the ability of children and parents to utilize knowledge, skills, and power to protect themselves from violence and harm.Read On...

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radKIDS - The national leader in children's safety

Embracing oneself serves as an important starting point for embracing others. The Empowerment Initiative investigates the factors that impact self-esteem, self-efficacy and other facets critical to developing and maintaining a healthy sense of identity. It also explores ways of combating anxiety, depression and other barriers to personal acceptance.

The Empowerment Initiative considers how a variety of interrelated systems from communities to schools to the media establish cultural codes and environments that cultivate or impede attitudes of acceptance. The initiative also examines how these conventions and contexts shape the social experiences and personal perspectives of individuals.

Interacting with family, friends, classmates, co-workers and other groups influences how people perceive themselves and the world around them. Accordingly, the Empowerment Initiative researches and develops prevention and intervention approaches designed to cultivate understanding, acceptance and an appreciation for individuality.

The nonprofit Nebraska Bullying Prevention and Intervention Initiative supports translational research designed to foster positive, accepting communities free from bullying and other negative behaviors. Studies conducted through the Empowerment Initiative focus on identifying and addressing the complex personal, social and cultural factors underlying such behaviors, thereby advancing practical solutions to promote healthy relationships within families, schools and communities.

To support this mission, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Empowerment Initiative.

In 2015, a CNN article reported that teens spend around nine hours per day on their social media accounts, with some teens checking their accounts over 100 times per day. The simple fact that this revelation is not as shocking as it should be shows us how desensitized and integrated social media has become in our daily lives. The truth is these days you can find just about anything, real or fake, on the internet...

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Nebraska Bullying Prevention and Intervention Initiative ...

Werediet agnostic meaning we do our best to honor and support the wisdom and usefulness of ANY dietary approach that you choose to practice.The Institute for the Psychology of Eating isthe worlds only online school dedicated to a progressive, positive, holistic understanding of eating psychology and nutrition. Unique and revolutionary in its approach, the Institute teaches students and professionals to effectively work with the most common and compelling eating challenges of our times:weight, body image, overeating, binge eating, emotional eating, endless dieting, digestion, fatigue, immunity, mood and much more.

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1. Embody Love Movement Embody Love Movement conveys a world where all beings embrace who they are from the inside out. This is a truly beautiful and positive site where the coaches provide skills to put unhealthy relationship with food back in balance.

2. Dishing with your Daughter Karens life work is dedicated to shifting the way the next generation of young girls perceive themselves and experience food. This is an incredibly important mission in todays world where media influences guide young girls in negative and destruction decisions. If you have a daughter, you should give Karens advice a chance.

3. The Flourishing Life Susan Tolles equips women over the age of 50 with the tools they need to flourish and to create the life they desire.

4. Nourishing Our Radiance Nourishing Our Radiance has the mission to inspire women to transform their relationships with nourishment through compassionate mind-body awareness, healing foods, and restorative self-care.

5. Dr. Christina Hibbert The Psychologist, The Mom, & Me is a blog covering a range of topics related to personal growth for women, as well as parenting. Dr. Hibbert is an expert on Parenting, Womens Emotions, Pregnancy & Postpartum, and Grief & Loss.

6. Bonnie Marcus Women Success Coaching has been recognized for many years by Forbes magazine as one of the top sites for women and business. The topics covered in this blog relate to career and business development as well as personal growth.

7. Sylvias Blog for Women Entrepreneurs Sylvia Browder uplifts women entrepreneurs through her work and writing. Sylvias blog not only covers the necessary business topics of finances, customer service, marketing and PR, but also includes discussions on self-care, spirituality, and beauty.

8. Melissa Ambrosini Melissa teaches women how to take back control of their life, master their inner Mean Girl, smash through limiting beliefs and karate chop self doubt to live the life of their dreams. In her blog she offers stories and suggestions about how to reclaim your life!

9. Danielle Dowling Danielle Dowling is a life coach who encourages women to access their power to achieve their personal and professional dreams. She writes motivating and uplifting posts about how to take your vision and put it into action.

10. Gypsy Gals The GypsyGals, written by Prime and Nina Sarmiento, provide support and advice for solo female travellers, as well as detailed, photo-rich city guides to the best cities for women to travel alone.

11. Seed of Freedom Tanias mission is to guide women to lives of freedom, by awakening their true selves, dissolving fear and returning to love. Her blog is up close and personal as she shares the wisdom of her life.

12. Leonie Dawson Leonie Dawson is a self help author, artist, CEO, and self-descried hippie. Her unique style invites all women to step into their personal and professional power. Her strategic musings and practical wisdom have been featured on Problogger, Tiny Buddha, magazines like Spellcraft, Life Images, Goddess and Spheres, and in three of SARKs best-selling books on creative fulfillment and freedom.

13. The Wild Sisterhood Magazine Jen Saunders is a writer, painter, and empowerment artist who is passionate about inspiring women to love themselves, follow their hearts and change the world. Her writing has been featured on popular websites such as Tiny Buddha, Kind Over Matter, Roots Of She, and many more. Her first guest contribution to Tiny Buddha was so popular, her story was also featured in the bestselling Tiny Buddha book.

14. Empowering Girls and Women Marina DelVecchio is an author and college instructor who is committed to making space for feminist discourse. Her blog covers topics ranging from sex discrimination, women in the workplace, violence against women, and womens literature. Be sure to check-out her reading list.

15. Girl with Curves Tanesha Awasthi is a style influencer who wants to inspire the curvy community to be confident in their bodies and to have fun with fashion. Her blog, Girl with Curves, proves that style is about so much more than size.

16. Thais Guimaraes Long blog posts with inspirational musings and practical advice. Thais support coaches, healers, teachers, trainers and heart-centered women optimize their lifestyle, grow a spiritually badass business, step deeper into faith and lead from authentic feminine power.

17. Christina Morassi Christina is on a mission to help women entrepreneurs bring together all their gifts to create careers that dont exist yet, and to find their unique branding and make lots of money!

18. REBEL Dietician A REBEL Dietitian is defined as one who breaks free from the typical diet plan nutrition counseling and aligns counseling advice with client values and goals. The REBEL Dietitians include Rebecca Bitzer, Kait Fortunato and Dana Magee. They all have unique experiences and specialties to bring to the table to show you what makes Taste the Sweet REBELLION so special and successful.

19. Extraordinary Wellness Coaching Extraordinary Wellness Shaman, Lauren A. Ebbecke is fiercely committed to empowering mid-career women to exchange drama, trauma, and karma for happiness, peace and confidence.

20. Mara Glatzel Mara Glatzel is an intuitive coach and writer who wants women to realize and experience the power of self-love, self-care, and self-responsibility. Maras blog is a must-read as her gift for writing allows her to artfully describe the challenges and beauty of self-love.

21. Girl Talk HQ Girl Talk HQ is here on a mission to: inspire, inform, entertain, encourage, motivate and empower millennial women to live their best life through positive media content. Enough of the tabloid gossip we are here to support each other!

22. The Politesse The Politesse was created with one goal: to provide everyday tools to help young women navigate the real world. Written by A & A two workplace warriors, their blog posts are sassy, real and to-the point. Covering all topics from landing your dream job, fashion at the office to surviving jet lag.

23. Dr. Nancy D. OReilly Dr. OReillys blog, formerly known as WomenSpeak, serves as a platform of women connecting and sharing their stories of transformation with one another. This website is a connection hub and a source of inspiration, empowering women to change the world.

24. The Womenabler Blog Womenable focuses on women entrepreneurs and the valuable programs they are bringing into this world. This inspiring blog features different stories sharing how women support one another as they pursue and fulfill their dreams.

25. Sacred Bombshell Lifestyle Abiola offers her unique flavor of empowerment as she shares her secrets of self love. She is leading the feminine power revolution, redefining the word bombshell to mean a woman who loves and accepts herself, without apology.

26. Kimberley Jones Kimberley is a spiritual mentor helping to awaken women to their power. She also gives great business advice as she is a conscious entrepreneur.

27. She Heros SheHeroes is about inspiring young women to be tomorrows leaders. This blog highlights different women sharing their passions. This is interesting, provocative, and empowering to women of all ages.

28. Girls Globe This international womens blog advocates, inspires and raises awareness of issues concerning girls and women around our world. Girls Globe demonstrates what happens when girls and women are empowered and how they change society.

29. Our Bodies Ourselves Our Bodies, Ourselves is a nonprofit, public interest organization based in Cambridge, Mass, that develops and promotes evidence-based information on girls and womens reproductive health and sexuality. This blog is inspiring and empowers women to become engaged in the political aspects of sustaining good health for themselves and their communities.

30. Girls Cant What Girls Cant What is a blog for coming of age girls, encouraging them to break through gender stereotypes and achieve their dreams.

31. Owning Pink This blog teaches practical tips aimed at helping you heal and ROCK your health, business, love life, and more.

32. She takes on the world She Takes on the World provides articles on a variety of subjects related to entrepreneurship, interviews with fabulous women entrepreneurs, business resources, and more.

33. Lissa Rankin More than a doctor of bodies, but a doctor of souls, Lissa Rankin is fired up and shares her passion with us through her thoughtful, insightful, and inspiring blog.

34. Skylar Liberty Rose Skylar is an advocate for stripping away layers of conditioning and discovering the uniqueness within. She is inspired by souls with spirit and courageous hearts. It is here on her blog that she shares the treasures that continues to empower her along her journey.

35. The Way of the Happy Saras aim is to inspire and empower women to lead from their deepest wisdom, through reclaiming our connection to embodied feminine cycles, rhythms, and seasons.

36. 8 Women Dream 8 Women Dream is here to inspire women to go after their dreams and the first step is to share it. Their intention is to help you believe that you can achieve your dreams. They say, It is our sincerest wish through the sharing of our personal experiences that we will inspire you to pursue your big dream.

37. Body Love Method Melissa reminds us that we are worthy now and the importance of letting go of the limiting beliefs so that each person can step into the true version of themselves.

39. Wondrous Women Wondrous Women is all about the beauty of being a woman and all the amazing gifts that come along with this. This blog provides a female network that its participants can rely on for mentoring and motivation to help you shine.

40. The Every Girl A resource helping shape the creative, career-driven woman to experience her life better lived. The Every Girl is the inspirational blog to help you achieve your dreams, whatever they may be. Whether its how to incorporate a little creativity into your day or motivating you to seek out your dream job.

41. Eat the damn cake Kate started this blog because she was tired of not eating cake! She wanted a platform to talk about eating the damn cake in a less literal sense, too In the sense of jumping in, enjoying the small things, figuring out how to feel good about regular life. Now, she write about the experience of being a woman in a strange, sometimes hostile, sometimes subtly weird, often mysterious and always fascinating world.

42. Awakening Women This engaging blog invites us to jump in to the the great love affair with the great mystery. Its stimulating content that asks us to awaken more fully into our lives and healing journeys.

43. For Harriet For Harriet is an online community for women of African ancestry. They encourage women, through storytelling and journalism, to engage in candid, revelatory dialogue about the beauty and complexity of black womanhood.

44. Pretty and Powerful A motivational empowerment and lifestyle blog for women leaders, providing informative and inspiring content to uplift women and remind them of their worth and value.

45. Body Karma Saras mission is to guide women to lives of freedom, by awakening their true selves, dissolving fear and returning to love. Her blog is up close and personal as she shares the wisdom of her life.

46. Fearlessly Kind This is a movement of real girls, redefining what is beautiful, valuable and possible. It is our mission to inspire each girl to be curious, ask questions, and be authentic, brave and totally fearless when it comes to understanding who she is, pursuing her dreams, blazing a trail and making her spectacular mark on the world.

Our list is a work in progress and were always open to suggestions. Feel free to email us and post your favorite Womens Empowerment Blogs in the comments below!

Warm Regards,The Institute for the Psychology of Eating Institute For The Psychology of Eating, All Rights Reserved, 2014

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