AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday,- November 16, 1991 OPINION A Great Injustice A terrible thing happened last week. An unlicensed caterer for a birthday party made lasagna in her home two days before the party. After the food containing eggs was partially cooked, the caterer set the food out to cool for dear knows how long before finally refrigerating it. Then on the day of the party she warmed the lasagna before transporting it to the party. At die party, the food was kept warm on Stemo cans for four hours before the party guests ate the food. Needless to say, 23 people got sick, complaining of food poi sioning after the birthday party. Any first grader knows bacteria will grow in food that is not properly cooked and refrigerated. So this is a clear case of mis handled food that contained eggs. If people want to make themselves sick or hire others to do it for them, that’s their right as an American citizen. But what they should not be allowed to do is to blame the farmer for their own misconduct. To go back to the farm to try to find bacteria in the hen house and in the birds is unthinkable in this case. But that is what has happened. A local farm family is blamed for producing the eggs with Salmonella enteritidis in them. And if the authori ties find the bacteria, the flock will be depopulated, and cosily clean up requirements will be initialed. If you look for Salmonella, you can find it anywhere in the environment. Anywhere includes in the hen house. And the bac teria will likely be found in this farmer’s flock. But everyone who handles food should be responsible to know that the reason you cook and refrigerate food is to kill and slow the growth of bacteria. Ignorance is no excuse. If the transporters and preparers of food after it leaves the farm would be legally held responsible for any sickness or death from the food they handled or prepared, we would eliminate a lot of the unfair investigations that come back to the farmer. Certainly, the consumer has a right to know the food supply is safe. But in this case, a great injustice has been done to the local farm family that has had their livelihood ruined by this uncalled for investigation. Farm Calendar Berks Co. livestock banquet, Kutz town Grange, 7 p.m. North American International Livestock Expo, Kentucky Fair and Exposition Cento*. Louis ville, thru Nov. 22. National FFA Convention, Kansas City, Mo. Farmers and Environmentalists, Food and Science Building, Cook College, New Brunswick, N.J., 9 a.m.-l:30 p.m. 4-H Livestock banquet, Kutztown Grange, 7 p.m. Forestry annual meeting, Montrose. Old Time Plow Boys Club Open Gate Tour, Seidel Farm, Mert ztown, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. North American International Livestock Expo, Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, Louis North American International Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building 1 E Mam St Ephrata, PA 17522 by Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Stemman Enterprise Robert G Campbell General Manager Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor Copyright IMI by Lancaster Farming Livestock Expo, Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, Louis ville, thru Nov. 22. Cumberland Valley Adult Far- mers, Manure Solutions, Cum- berland Valley H.S., 8 p.m. Dauphin Co. annual meeting, Ag and Natural Resources Center, Dauphin, 7 p.m. Northampton Co. DHIA/Holstein Association, Stockertown Memorial Hall, 7 p.m. PFA annual meeting, Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, thru Nov. 20. Penn State Tax Institute, Wilkes- Barre, thru Nov. 19. Holstein Steer Meeting 3, Farm and Home Center, 7:30 p.m.-9;30 p.m. DHIA annual meeting, Hepbum ville Fire Hall, 7 p.m. Maryland Holstein Association, Bittinger Fire Hall, Bittinger, Md., 9:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Berks Co. Ag Extension board meeting, Ag Center, 7:30 p.m. / / We are in a new ball game. With fewer and fewer people knowing anything about agriculture, we need to be very careful on how we say things. This is especially true for the emerging environmental issues and animal welfare concerns. Words like wastes, toxic, chemi cals, crowding, and abuse are very emotional and rally people behind causes. We also must be very careful not to shift blame between the various agricultural industries, i.e. poultry, swine, dairy, beef, mushrooms, etc. This will weaken agriculture’s position. There is still truth in the phrase “united we stand, divided we fall.” Instead, leaders from the various agricultural commodity groups must work together to address these issues. In public (at church, social groups, etc.), we need to be telling people about the good things agri culture is doing, the environmen tally positive things farmers do every day, and the care and con cern farmers have for animals. Words such as organic instead of waste, care instead of abuse, and safety instead of carelessness must become a part of our actions and vocabulary. Today, with tight government budgets, regulatory agencies will be responding more to neighbor complaints and taking necessary regulatory actions. This makes it very important to build good neighbor relations and practice good stewardship. By developing and practicing a good stewardship philosophy, we will be able to reduce a lot of problems. Remem ber, it is what we say and how we McKean Co. DHIA annual meet ing, Robbin’s Nest Restaurant, Penn State Tax Institute, Souder ton, thru Nov. 20. Schuylkill Co. Estate Planning Workshop, 7 p.m.-lO p.m. PFA annual. meeting, Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Ihru Nov. 20. North American International Livestock Expo, Kentucky Fair (Turn to Pago A3O) AFTER FIGURING OUT MY CO FOR PRODUCTION AND THEN FIGURING- IN MV PROFITS' F< THE YEAR MV BOOKS S' 774 AT X'M GOING TO MAKE GOOD PROFIT THIS YEAR ■Recoeoi To Be Positive About Fanning I ( act that affects people’s percep tions of agriculture. To Tell The Good News About Farming Farming has changed a lot in the last 10 years. However, the con sumer still believes we are not making any changes and still are farming the way we did in the 1960 s and 19705. With Farm-City Week coming up, we are reminded of the impor tance of educating the public about farming. Did you know: ■ Chemical use on farms has been declining since 1982. • Per cent of income spent on food: U.S. - 10.3, Japan - 18.0, USSR - 28.0, Mexico - 31.9 and China - 47.8. • Number of people fed by one U.S. farmer: 1940 - 18.5, 1950 - 27.2, 1960 - 46.2, 1970 - 73.1, 1980 - 115.1, and 1990 - 128. • Farmers provide food and habitat for 75 per cent of the nation’s wildlife. • U.S. per cent of income spent on food has been declining: 1990 - 10.3.1980- 16.6, 1975 - 17.0 and 1951 - 23.0. These numbers have been made MADNESS OR SOBER TRUTH? November 17, 1991 Background Scripture: Acts 27 through 28. Devotional Reading: Romans 8:18-30. Men of authority abound in the last chapters of Acts. There is the Sanhedrin that heard and split over Paul's defense. There is the Roman tribune, Claudius Lysias, who protected Paul from the mob and secreted his prisoner out of Jerusalem to safety in Caesarea. There is Felix, the Roman Gover nor who kept Paul in his custody for two years, and Festus, who succeeded Felix and also held Paul's fate in his hands. There, is also King Agrippa, who, having heard Paul, said to Festus: "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar" (26:32). All of these men at one time or another seemed to be in charge of Paul's fate. During the journey itself, there was a centurion named Julius who was in charge of taking Paul to Rome for his appearance before Caesar. When unfavorable winds greatly delayed their ship, Paul cautioned them to postpone their departurer from Crete. "But," as Acts tells us, "the centurion paid more attention to the captain and the owner of the ship than to what Paul said" (27:11), and they sailed on into the rough weather. THE MAN IN CHARGE As time goes- on, however, it becomes evident that this prisoner is the man in charge. Acts tells us, "And when neither sun nor stars possible by our farm families util izing the latest technologies and scientific research. We must remind people that the high stan dard of living we enjoy is a direct result of our farms. To Examine The Pennsylvania Spring Oat And Barley Performance Study Penn State College of Agriculture has been comparing plant varieties for many years and has released the 1990 comparison of spring oat and barley varieties. Tests were conducted at the Penn State Research Farms in Lan caster and Centre counties. All results are for 7-inch row spacing and corrected for 12 per cent moisture. Results are reported for single year and two and three year aver ages. For the spring oats, yields ranged from 93 bushels per acre to 139 bushels per acre. For a complete copy of the report, contact your county cooperative extension office. Feather Profs Footnote: "Do not let what you cannot do inter fere with what you can do." appeared for many a day, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned" (27:20). In this moment and from then on, it was Paul who rallied the crew and pas sengers: "I now bid you to take heart; for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. Even when they arrived in Italy and Paul was placed under house arrest, he seemed to be more a guest than a prisoner. He is a man quite undeterred by the restrictions of secular authority: "And he lived there two whole years at his own expense, and wel comed who came to him, preach ing the kingdom of God and cach ing about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered" (28:30,31). OPEN-ENDED STORY That's where the writer leaves the story. We don't know if Paul finally did appear before Caesar, was acquitted or condemned. One tradition says he was freed and spent several years in more mis sionary travels, including Spain, before returning to Rome and being martyred in the persecutions of Nero. Various theories have tried to explain this curious ending to Acts, the most probable of them being that the readers already knew Paul's fate and the writer had never intended to tell Paul's life story, but only the narrative of how the gospel spread from Jeru salem to Rome. Regardless, this story is an amazing testimony to the pre-eminence of God's will vis-a-vis the will of powerful human beings. As I write these words, the world has just anxiously watched a coup against President Gorba chev in the Soviet Union and the subsequent collapse of the coup. Possibly, by the time you read this, there may have been several other crises of power. In the midst of them, the foremost question always seems to be. jo better RE- FI6ORE, there: mustbe A MISTAKE SOMEWHERE IM HERE / 77^
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