11/19/04

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1. Compromise, Hell! 
2. Positive Change, One Bite At A Time
3. Veneman Resigns, Short-List of Candidates Surfaces
4. A Second Case of Mad Cow Feared in US 

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1. COMPROMISE, HELL!

As Americans concerned about the safety of the environment, 
family farms and long-term sustainability recoil from the results of 
the recent election, Wendell Berry, beloved patron of rural America 
and champion of family farms and the land offers important and 
uplifting insights in an essay now available on line at Orion. Entitled 
"Compromise, Hell!" Mr. Berry spins a spirited case for increased 
action and "thoroughness" on the part of Americans who "are not 
usually thought to be a submissive people." "But" he continues, "of 
course we are. Why else would we allow our country to be 
destroyed?" When Mr. Berry writes about the destruction of our 
country he means "our country itself, our land." Boldly and directly 
on target, Berry states emphatically, "Economic WMD's are being 
used against our own people in a version of "freedom" that makes 
greed the dominant economic paradigm." If you need some 
courageous inspiration to juice up your attitude check out 
"Compromise, Hell!" at:

http://www.orionsociety.org/pages/om/04-6om/Berry.html

2. POSITIVE CHANGE…. ONE BITE AT A TIME

For meat-eaters who want to locate sustainably raised animal 
products in their area, the Global Action Resource Center for the 
Environment (GRACE) and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade 
Policy (IATP) have recently re-launched an updated and helpful 
guide called the Eat Well Guide. This service can help you find 
sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy and eggs in your area. Just 
go to the website, enter your zip code, the number of miles you 
want to travel, and you will see a list of local distributors of these 
products. The Eat Well Guide is free and will direct you to outlets 
in the US and Canada. You can suggest new listings be added and 
the service will soon start including the names of restaurants. All 
products listed are free of antibiotics and hormones, and are pasture 
raised, grass fed and organic. The Eat Well Guide is a great tool 
for consumers wanting to empower themselves for positive change 
one bite at a time. 

http://www.orionsociety.org/pages/om/04-6om/Berry.html

3. VENEMAN RESIGNS, SHORT LIST OF CANDIDATES 
SURFACES

With the resignation this week of U.S. Department of Agriculture 
Secretary Ann Veneman, the agriculture community waits to see 
who will fill the USDA Secretary's position. At the time of this 
writing those being listed as possible successors to Veneman 
include: Chuck Conner, White House farm advisor; Democratic 
representative Charles Stenholm of Texas, who lost his seat in the 
November 2 elections; Allen Johnson, the Bush administrations' 
current agricultural trade advisor; and Charles Kruse, president of 
the Missouri Farm Bureau. Kruse, who is also a board member of 
the American Farm Bureau Federation, will be opposed by family 
farmers and rural advocates due to his long-standing support of 
factory and corporate farming. Charles Grassley, Republican 
Senator from Iowa has officially supported Johnson's appointment 
saying he would be an "excellent choice." The president is widely 
expected to pick a Midwesterner to replace Veneman. Read more 
reactions to Venemans' departure. 


4. A SECOND CASE OF MAD COW FEARED IN US 

Agriculture Department officials released news early Thursday 
morning that they may have found a second case of Mad Cow 
Disease in the U.S. As cattle prices fell with the announcement, 
the government said that the animal in question "didn't enter the 
food chain" and that test results are currently "inconclusive." 
USDA spokesmen said that a more detailed test of the tissue, 
known as an immunohistochemistry test, will be conducted to 
determine if the disease is present. Officials expect the test to be 
completed at the National Veterinary Science Laboratory at Ames, 
Iowa, within four to seven days, said Jim Rogers, a spokesman for 
the department's APHIS unit. 

Cultivating a vision where rural and urban communities join together

 to ensure abundant family farms, healthy critters, clean water and a wild Earth.  

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Rural Updates!
Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
sjohnson@defenders.org