Researching the sustainability of agriculture and rural communities, Harry K. Scharzweller and Thomas A. Lyson; Twentieth century agricultural and environmental transitions - a preliminary analysis, Frederick H. Buttel; competing paradigms - an overview and analysis of the alternative conventional agricultural debate, Curtis E. Beus; Missouri farmers and pesticide use - a diversity of viewpoints, Douglas H. Constance, Jere L. Gilles, J. Sandford Rikoon and Ernest B. Perry; prospects for a sustainable agriculture in the Northeast rural/urban fringe, Max J. Pfeffer and Mark B. Lapping; fighting and uphill battle - population pressure and declining land productivity in Rwanda, Daniel C. Clay; policy instruments designed to foster sustainable agriculture - an appraisal, Alan W. Black; seasonal and local diets - consumer's role in achieving a sustainable food system, Jennifer L. Wilkins; sustainable agriculture and prospects for rural community development in the United States, Gilbert W. Gillespie, Jr.; labour exchange among dairy farmers - lessons from the past for a more sustainable future, Douglas Harper and Thomas A. Lyson; reinvigorating rural economies, Frederick Kirschenmann; social capital and sustainability - agriculture and communities in the Great Plains and Corn Belt, Cornelia Butler Flora; some South Asian illustrations of policy issues in sustainable rural development, Nancy W. Axinn and George H. Axinn; biographical sketches.