hungry month 325That’s hardly their fault. We all may have some hungry months ahead of
us, even hungry years, when a warmed- up globe changes the rules of a
game we smugly thought we’d already aced. We might live to regret some
of our SOL priorities. But the alumni of at least one Appalachian county’s
elementary schools will know how to grow their own pizzas, and I’m proud
of them. If I could fit that on a bumper sticker, I would.
/
My pupils in the turkey coop were not such quick studies. The fi rst
hen who’d come into season was getting no action from either of the two
males, whom we had lately been calling Big Tom and Bad Tom. These
guys had been fanning their tails in urgent mating display since last sum-
mer, more or less constantly, but they directed the brunt of their show- off
efforts toward me, each other, or any sexy thing I might leave sitting
around, such as a watering can. They really tried hard with the watering
can. Lolita kept plopping herself down where they’d have to trip over her,
but they only had eyes for some shiny little item. She sulked, and I didn’t
blame her. Who hasn’t been there?
I determined to set a more romantic scene, which meant escorting
The USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC) has a Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program for purchasing local
food. It provides coupons good for fresh produce purchased from farms, farm-
ers’ markets, and roadside stands. In 2006, some $20 million in government
funds provided these benefits to more than 2.5 million people.
In a strong legislative move, Woodbury County, Iowa, mandated in 2006 that
the county (subject to availability) “shall purchase... locally produced organic
food when a department of Woodbury County serves food in the usual course of
business.” Even the prisons are serving local food, in a county that truly recog-
nizes the value of community support.
For more information visit http://www.foodsecurity.org and http://www.farmtoschool.org.STEVEN L. HOPP