 Community members of Cass County got a wake up call this morning as a meeting was held to discuss some farming practices that could be destroying our environment. Our Anthony Scott has more. We can't feed the world if we're poisoning our neighbors. Since the 1960s, farmers have turned to chemical farming to help their initiatives. However, what we did not understand 50 years ago is that chemical farming is actually destroying our land and ourselves. It's not not the average farmer's fault that they're trapped in the chemical intensive agriculture. That's something that industry has promoted and claimed to be safe for a long time and so we've dug ourselves a big hole in a lot of cases. We're not really looking at it from a seven generations philosophy. We've cut it down to a seven tenths of a generation philosophy. At a meeting held by the Association of Cass County Lakes, community members came out to learn about chemical farming and other practices that are harming our environment. When people understand what's going on, they're going to drive the demand for healthier food. They're going to drive the demand for stopping the chemical train. The problem isn't just localized to Minnesota. It's a widespread issue that shows little signs of slowing down. This is a much bigger issue than Cass County or Lakeland or the Pineland Sands or Minnesota. It's a thing that's going to affect the whole country. It's an issue that is going to take a lot of work for it to change. It's hard to change once it's instilled that this has been working and we're not doing any harm and yeah I think the legislators are going to have to get involved. People are going to have to get involved and a lot of education. People can help right now by planting their own food, planting native plants and flowers, and by reporting chemical spraying. Work with the natural system, put more into the soil than we take out and not necessarily nitrogen but using better farming practices. Recently a petition was granted for the DNR to come to the Pineland Sands area and assess the environment. It's a step in the right direction. It should be followed up by an environmental impact statement to show the full scope of things. But this is an issue that everyone has to be conscious of for anything to change. We need to take care of the earth because there's not another one to go to. Reporting from Hack and Sack, Anthony Scott, Lakeland News. The Department of Natural Resources is expected to assess the Pineland Sands area in early August. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.