AiO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 24, 1998
OPINION
Cure “Bellyfulitis” Before
Starvation Sets In
A new report by a prestigious research committee of the
National Academy of Sciences has found that the great majority
of naturally occurring and synthetic food chemicals present in
the human diet “occur at levels far too low to have any adverse
effects ,on health.”
Carcinogens and anticarcinogens in the Human Diet,
released February IS and produced by 20 of the nation’s leading
scientific experts in biochemistry, toxicology, risk assessment,
food and nutrition, affirms that a balanced diet rich in fruits and
vegetables and low in calories and fat is the best way for
consumers to reduce the risk of cancer.
Committee chairman Dr. Ronald W. Estabrook, a biochemist
from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center,
said, “If Americans are concerned about cancer, then they
should be concerned about calories and fat.” Noting the public’s
concern over chemicals, he also said that “regulation has been
very effective at keeping synthetic chemicals at a very low
level” in the American diet
Jay Vroom, president of the American Crop Protection Asso
ciation, said, “This is a victory for common sense and the
American consumer, who has suffered needlessly over the years
from ‘health-scare’ reports generated by groups opposed to
modem, safe agricultural technology."
Vroom also pointed out that the Academy’s findings under
score what former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop
has said, that “our food supply is not only the safest, but it is the
most abundant in the world, and pesticides are one of the impor
tant tools that have made that abundance possible.”
From the chemist’s lab to the farmer’s field and onto the
American table, the U.S. food safety system protects our entire
food supply through rigorous testing and the careful use of mod
em agricultural technology. Each Environmental Protection
Agency-registered pesticide undergoes at least 120 separate
tests designed to determine human health, safety and environ
mental effects. On average, only one in 20,000 chemicals ever
makes it from the laboratory through testing and EPA legisla
tion to the farmer’s field. Pesticide development, testing and
EPA registration take eight to 10 years to complete and costs
manufacturers $5O million or more per crop protection product.
The irony of all this discussion is that life expectancy con
tinues to lengthen for Americans. The number of people who
live past 100 years has dramatically increased. Actually, the
problem with the food supply from American farmers is not that
it is full of chemicals. The problem with the food supply is that it
is so abundant. This abundant food supply causes “bellyfulitis,”
a disease expressed by complaints through a full mouth by
someone who has never faced food rationing.
We can only hope that this American disease is cured in the
opponents of agriculture before starvation sets in.
Association annual meeting.
General Pickett Restaurant,
Gettysburg, 6 p.m.
Wyoming County Sheep and Wool
Growers annual Winter Lamb
p.m.-9:30 p.m.
DHIA Records Workshop, Adams
County extension office, 10
a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Frederick County Milkers School,
Dan Dee Restaurant, Frederick.
Octorara Young Farmers Grain
Marketing Meeting, Ag Ed
Room. 7:30 am.
ter, also March S.
Potato Growers meeting, York
Extension, Pleasant Acres, 9
a.m.-3 p.m.
Pesticide update, Penn Manor
High School. 7 p.m.
Milkers School, Carroll County
Md. extension office, 10 a.m.-3
p.m.
Nutrient Management Public
Information meeting, Dauphin
County Ag and Natural Resour
ces Center, Dauphin, 10
a.m.-noon.
Commercial Tree Fruit Growers
meeting, Brynwood Inn and
Banquet Center, Lewisburg, 9
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Mastitis and Milking Quality
Seminar, Williamson, 9:45
To Participate
In Nutrient
Management Hearings
The State Soil Conservation
Commission will be holding hear
ings on the proposed nutrient man
agement regulations in March. The
hearings give people the opportun
ity to present testimony on the
proposed regulations.
Those wishing to give oral testi
mony at one of the public hearings
must contact Karl Brown. State
Conservation Commission, Room
304, Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture, 2301 North Cameron
St, Harrisburg, PA 17110, (717)
787-8821 at least one week before
the hearing.
Oral testimony will be limited to
10 minutes for each witness. Also,
three written copies of the oral tes
timony must be submitted at the
hearing.
Written comments may also be
submitted to the State Conserva
tion Commission at the above
address before March 29, 1996.
The public hearings are scheduled
for March 4, Somerset County Vo-
Tech; March 5, Mercer County
Cooperative Extension Office;
March 6. Brynwood Inn, Lewis
burg; and March 11, Farm and
Home Center, Lancaster.
Now is the time to participate in
the regulatory process and make
your thoughts known.
To Check
For Termites
According to Robert Anderson,
extension agronomy agent, you
can prevent termite damage to
your home if you know when to
check for signs, what to look for.
and whom to contact for help.
March is when you should
inspect around your house and
buildings. Examine the area where
the foundation meets the siding.
Check under the porch, in the base
ment, and in crawl spaces for signs
of termites.
What are the signs? Look for
telltale mud tubes. Since termites
die when exposed to air, they build
tubes to pass from the soil where
Financial Workshop For Progres
sive Pork Producers, Satellite
Workshop, York Extension, 8
p.m.-lO p.m.
Nutrient Management Law meet
ing, Paradise Community Cen-
p.m.
Cambria County crops meeting,
Ebensburg extension office, 10
a.m.-3 p.m.
(Turn to Pago All)
they live to die building where they
feed on wood. These tubes look
like long streams of mud about one
fourth inch in diameter running up
basement walls or along
foundations.
Examine wood closely. Even if
the wood shows no damage, knock
on it to see if it is solid. Termites
could be inside wood that looks
fine on the outside.
If you think you may have ter
mites, call in a professional pest
control service to confirm your
findings and to set up a treatment
plan.
To Select
All-American
Seed Varieties
As you read through the seed
catalogs that have arrived in the
mail or one of the many gardening
magazines available, you may see
a new variety of flower or type of
vegetable that you have never
grown before.
o
BY LAWRENCE W. ALTHOUSE
‘HI
sn
A BIT LIKE JESUS
February 25,1996
A BIT LIKE JESUS
February 25, 1996
Background Scripture:
Ruth 2 through 4
Devotional Reading:
Ruth 2:14-20
A Mend of ours told us of an in
cident that took place some years
ago when she was driving from
Dallas to Austin. Out on the open
highway one of her tires blew out
and she had to pull off to the side
of the road. Although she knew
how to change a tire, she was un
able to unscrew any of the lugnuts
on the wheel.
“Lord, send me someone to
help!” she breathed. A number of
cars went whizzing by, but soon a
dilapidated pickup truck pulled to
a stop just in front of hers. Seeing
it. she felt a sense of great relief,
but when two young men alighted
from the car. her heart sank. The
word “hippies” flashed in her
mind, for they were long-haired
and bearded.
Her fears, however, proved un
founded for the two young men
were polite and had her tire
changed within minutes. She of
fered them a 20-dollar bill in ap
preciation, but they refused. As
they drove away, they wished her
“a safe trip.” “My previous image
of hippies had not been very posi
tive,” she told us. “What a sur
prise, then to find that, while sev
eral well-dressed people passed
me by, the answer to my prayer
came in the form of two bearded
hippies who despite their appear
ance, weren't anything like what I
expected. Actually,” she admitted,
“they looked a bit like Jesus.”
BEARDS & LONG HAIR
In the story of Ruth there is no
physical description of either Ruth
or Boaz, but in our minds we tend
to picture them as attractive peo
ple. Ruth, because she was so loy
al to Naomi and willing to work
hard to provide for the two of
them. Boaz, because he was so
kind to Ruth for, after all, she
was a foreigner, a Moabitess.
Whereas needy load women were
granted the privilege of gleaning,
picking up the leavings left by the
harvesters (Leviticus 19:9,10), it
was not a kindness granted to for
eigners. In fact, as a foreign worn-
Your next thought may be.
“Will this type of plant grow in my
yard?” and “Which variety should
I plant?”
Dr. Tim Elkner, extension horti
cultural agent, says the answer to
the first question is to read the vari
ety description closely or to con
sulta good garden book for further
information. He says the answer to
the second question is to select an
“All-American Selection” if one is
available. This signifies that the
plant has performed well through
out the country in various test
locations.
All-American Selections are
judged by an independent organi
zation of volunteers that evaluate
new seed selections for growth and
productivity. By choosing one of
these selections, your chances of
having success with a new type of
plant are increased.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote:
"Excellence is an attitude that says
good can be better."
an gleaning in an Israelite’s grain
field, she might very well be mo
lested by the laborers.
But Boaz bestowed great kind
ness upon Ruth even though she
was a foreigner. Why? “All that
you have done to your mother-in
law since the death of your hus
band,” said Boaz, “has been fully
told me. and how you left your fa
ther and mother and your native
land and come to a people you did
not know before” (2:11). Boaz
treated Ruth with kindness be
cause he had heard of her great
kindness to Naomi, his kinswom
an. One did not expect kindness
from a foreigner, but Ruth did all
and more than any Israelite daugh
ter-in-law might have done. So. as
Naomi’s being an Israelite did not
keep Ruth from being kind to her,
so Ruth’s being a Moabitess did
not stop Boaz from being kind to
her.
A CYCLE OF KINDNESS
In many cultures today we see
between religious and ethnic
groups a hostility and vengeance
that’s been passed on from one
generation to another. The cycle
of hatred spirals on and on and it is
almost impossible to break the cy
cle. But kindness can work the
same way. One act of kindness
can inspire another kind act and
our daily lives can be opportuni
ties from keeping those cycles
alive and well.
When Eugene Debs was impri
soned as a conscientious objector,
he became interested in a fellow
prisoner, an Afro-American who
other inmates claimed was incorri
gible. Debs started a campaign of
kindness toward the black inmate,
leaving an orange on the man’s
bed and going off without a word.
Despite many rebuffs, the two
eventually became firm friends.
Yean later when he learned that
Debs had died, the fellow inmate,
now a useful citizen, commented,
“He was the only Jesus Christ I
ever knew.”
How wonderful if someone
could say that of us!
The Althouses will lead a group
to the Holy Land, Oct. 9 to Nov. 2,
1996. Space limited. For informa
tion, write them at 4412 Shenan
doah Ave., Dallas. TX 75205.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
lE. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Panning, Inc.
A Stakman Entarprita
Hobart GLCampbai Qonaral Manager
a —■— o^l4^
SWainilllHMWlßlf UNfMQNIQ EOROr
Copyright 1996 by Lancaster Farming