ELGIN, Minn, Nov. 3, 2009 – The USDA today announced the award of more than $17 million in grants to 29 institutions to address the needs of beginning farmers and ranchers and enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of U.S. agriculture.

“Beginning farmers and ranchers face unique challenges and need educational and training programs to enhance their profitability and long term sustainability,” Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said. “The training and education provided through these grants will help ensure the success of the next generation of farmers and ranchers as they work to feed people in their local communities and throughout the world.”

Merrigan announced the funding in Elgin, Minn., at the Hidden Stream Farm and was joined by representatives from the Land Stewardship Project, the local grant recipient that provides local and regional training, education, outreach and technical assistance initiatives that address the needs of beginning farmers and ranchers. Eric and Lisa Klein, the proprietors of Hidden Stream Farm, were some of the first graduates of the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course. Since graduating from Farm Beginnings, the Klein’s have developed a thriving pasture-based livestock operation that markets pork, chickens and beef in southeast Minnesota and the Twin Cities.

This funding announcement is part of USDA’s new ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative which was launched in September 2009 to emphasize the need for a fundamental and critical reconnection between producers and consumers. ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ includes such major agricultural topics as supporting local farmers and community food groups; strengthening rural communities; enhancing direct marketing and farmers’ promotion programs; promoting healthy eating; protecting natural resources; and helping schools connect with locally grown foods.

The grants were awarded through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA, formerly the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). BFRDP is an education, training, technical assistance and outreach program designed to help U.S. farmers and ranchers, specifically those who have been farming or ranching for 10 years or fewer. Congress authorized the FY 2009 funding for this program in the 2008 Farm Bill, with another $19 million in mandatory funding for FY 2010. Under the program, USDA will make grants to organizations that will implement programs to help beginning farmers and ranchers.

Beginning farmers and ranchers interested in participating in any of the education, outreach, mentoring and/or internship activities are asked to contact the grantee institutions listed below.

Fiscal year 2009 recipients include:

Developing Innovations in Navajo Education, Inc., Flagstaff, Ariz., $674,507

Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corporation, Brinkley, Ark., $313,278

Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, Salinas, Calif., $515,862

California FarmLink, Sebastopol, Calif., $525,000

Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Fla., $225,079

University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., $596,219

University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, $508,618

Angelic Organics Learning Center, Inc., Caledonia, Ill., $750,000

University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., $749,883

Cultivating Community, Portland, Maine, $600,000

USDA National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, Md., $1,498,137

Land Stewardship Project, Minneapolis, Minn., $413,820

Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc., St. Paul, Minn., $506,170

Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute, Columbia, Mo., $730,722

University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., $692,198

University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., $541,239

University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb., $644,408

Holistic Management International, Albuquerque, N.M., $639,301

Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., $750,000

Fort Berthold Community College, New Town, N.D., $614,356

Langston University, Langston, Okla., $525,000

Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pa., 572,178

Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pa., 733,821

South Dakota State University, Brookings, S.D., $701,608

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., $74,000

University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, Texas, $665,038

Washington State University, Pullman, Wash., $748,651

Washington State University, Pullman, Wash., $524,896

Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, Spring Valley, Wis., $151,515

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people’s daily lives and the nation’s future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov .

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Does anyone else have a problem with the blurb below?

On October 24, 2009, the Monroe Lego Club joined millions of people around the world to bring attention to climate change. The Lego Club created an animated, stop-action-video to help world leaders understand that we need to return to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.Let’s let the Lego people, with our help, share the story of how important it is to achieve 350 ppm of carbon dioxide on Earth and reduce the impacts of climate change. From Media-Citizen Global

If this doesn’t prove that climate change is nothing more than a marketing tool, I don’t know what does. It’s mighty nice of the LEGO Group to sponsor events that could put them out of business. Think about it for just one second. What are LEGOS made from? Plastic, and it is one of the most dangerous substances on the planet, polluting our water and air, and spewing boatloads of nasty carbon into the air.

National Geographic reports:

The team’s new study is the first to show that degrading plastics are leaching potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A into the seas, possibly threatening ocean animals, and us.

A study from USC found that plastic children’s toys are among the favorites of marine life. It’s also one of the most dangerous.

So why are proponents of climate change willing to overlook the obvious? Further, why are they teaching children that some pollution is better than others? The LEGO Group is not part of the solution. They are the problem.

I suppose you really can fool some of the people all of the time. But they don’t fool me for a second. They might be singing Kumbaya on the magic green bus, but they’re really controlling the message. And that’s my problem with the whole “green” ideology. As long as you’re nice to them, then it’s okay to stink the place up. But if they don’t like a particular corporation or individual, they single them out and pummel them like bullies in a school yard.

On second thought, maybe LEGOS are the perfect symbol of global warming. Like LEGO blocks, global warming can be whatever you want it to be.

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So, you want to move to the country. You’re going to pack the kids into the minivan and head for the hills with Fido in tow, humming the theme to Green Acres as you speed away from the mean streets of the city. Not so fast there, greenhorn. If it were that easy everyone would do it. Everyone is doing it, you say? Okay, there has been a dramatic population shift from urban areas into rural areas, and it does seem like everywhere you look these days some glossy, powder-puff magazine is extolling the virtues of simple rural living. The problem is that rural living isn’t all that simple.

In the current issue of Countryside yet another reader laments that their foray into the country was a miserable experience. Resorting to slurs like “red neck,” the writer places the blame for her situation entirely on the people of the rural Kentucky community that she now despises.

I was watching Ocean Adventures on PBS one evening. John Michel Cousteau was interviewing an Amazon fish farmer. He wanted to know how the small farmer felt about the number of urbanites buying property along the famed river and moving in lock, stock and barrel. Through a translator the farmer replied, “When someone from the country moves to the city, they learn everything they need to survive there in a few weeks. When someone from the city moves to the country, it can take them years to learn what they need to survive.” Leave it to a farmer to come right out and say it. Rural life isn’t simple by any stretch of the imagination.

The writer of the article bashing the fine community in Kentucky did just about everything wrong. She moved to an economically depressed area and flaunted money, leading the locals to believe that the newcomers might hire one or two locals to help spruce up the new bed and breakfast. When the newcomers refused to hire anyone, they got a bad reputation. Things deteriorated fast from there.

If you want to move to the country to open a bed and breakfast, or some other niche business, you might want to read “The Greenhorn’s Guide to Homesteading” before you go. Otherwise, you may end up using unflattering slurs to describe your former neighbors and carry a chip on your shoulder for a long time to come.

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First Ever Natural Spring Water to be Bottled Straight from the GroundWithout Filtration or Treatment State of Maine Grants Unprecedented Waiver Based on Detailed Water Analysis ofCenturies-Old, Rare Free-Flowing Spring

Harrison, ME (October 14, 2009) – Summit Spring (www.summitspring.com), the bottled water company based out of the small town of Harrison, Maine, has announced the release of RAW WATER, the first ever spring water to be bottled directly from the source without any filtration, treatment, pumps or boreholes used in the process whatsoever.

“It’s not every day that the little guy gets to make such a big step,” commented N. Bryan Pullen, President of Summit Spring Water. “The fact that the State ofMaine will allow this product on the market, with absolutely no filtration, is unprecedented and speaks to the sanctity of our historic source.”

Summit Spring gathers its water from one of the oldest and most revered natural free-flowing springs in North America, and has been celebrated for its uncommon purity since the beginning of its recorded history in the late 1700’s. This new product, RAW WATER, is nutrient rich; “living” spring water, blessed with essential minerals and gravity fed straight into a clear glass one liter bottle. The glass bottle is then placed immediately into a recycled-content brown paper bag lined with wax, to protect it from sunlight’s corruption and spoiling, further preserving the taste and clarity of the water inside.

“There are naturally occurring nutrients in ‘living’ spring water, such as microscopic algae, potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium that are routinely being stripped out of bottled water through treatment, reverse osmosis and filtration. When water comes straight from the ground it has nourishing qualities that are not present in purified and treated water. The centuries old reputation of Summit Spring water as a ‘healing tonic’, in addition to extensive and continuous analysis allowed the regulatory agencies to give this unprecedented approval”, notes N. Bryan Pullen, President of Summit Spring Water.

Summit Spring Water is one of a select few bottled waters to carry the State of Maine Premium Grade designation, meeting the very stringent quality and testing guidelines developed by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Summit Spring is located 750 ft. above sea level, is surrounded by pristine Maine forest and has been protected for centuries from man’s contamination. The unspoiled spring flows naturally, producing some of the purest source water on the planet – and unlike most bottled water, Summit Spring will go straight into the bottle, mere minutes after bubbling from the Earth with a natural purity only Mother Nature’s filtration process can provide.

This revolutionary product will feature a very unique packaging concept, with language denoting the great care that has been taken to protect and preserve the integrity of Summit Spring, making it possible to deliver raw water of this quality to consumers and is in response to growing worldwide concern about raw food, natural products, chemical treatments and disease.

RAW Water bares no nutrition label, as there is none required by the U.S government for 100% spring water that is pure, natural, untouched and untreated. For additional information about Summit Spring, please visit: www.summitspring.com

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2009 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories will be conducting confirmatory testing on swine samples collected at the 2009 Minnesota State Fair between August 26 and September 1. The pigs sampled at the time showed no signs of illness and were apparently healthy. The samples collected were part of a University of Iowa and University of Minnesota cooperative agreement research project funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which documents influenza viruses where humans and pigs interact at such as fairs.

“Like people, swine routinely get sick or contract influenza viruses. We currently are testing the Minnesota samples to determine if this is 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza,” said Vilsack. “We are working in partnership with CDC as well as our animal and public health colleagues and will continue to provide information as it becomes available.”

USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories may have confirmatory results within the next few days.

“I want to remind people that they cannot get this flu from eating pork or pork products,” said Vilsack.

An outbreak of 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza occurred in a group of children housed in a dormitory at the fair at the same time samples were collected from the pigs, but no direct link to the pigs has been made. Information available at this time would suggest the children were not sickened by contact with the fair pigs.

USDA continues to remind U.S. swine producers about the need for good hygiene, biosecurity and other practices that will prevent the introduction and spread of influenza viruses in their herd and encourage them to participate in USDA’s swine influenza virus surveillance program. Monitoring and studying these influenza viruses in swine, will help USDA learn about the virus, develop better tools to diagnose and develop new and improved vaccines to protect our U.S swine herds. USDA encourages commercial pork producers to intensify the biosecurity practices that they have in place, particularly during this flu season.

More information about USDA’s 2009 pandemic H1N1 efforts is available at www.usda.gov/H1N1flu.

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