"My higher power was a cow"

The quote above is from a 21-year-old recovering alcoholic who found sobriety at a farm treatment center in Sonoma County, described in the San Francisco Chronicle. The organic farm/drug addiction treatment center has apparently had successes where more traditional programs have failed.



This example shows the value of preserving rural lands near to urban areas, by helping people find and retain an inner sense of peace. It also shows how farming can be done differently in the Bay Area - not that thousands of farmland acres can now become treatment centers, but rather as one example of how Bay Area farms can diversify and find special niches where they remain relevant to modern life.