84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 28, 2002
On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other hazard
Joyce Bupp
It can’t possibly be,
Another year gone by.
Another year of economic flat
ness, incredible drought and
water shortages, followed by al
most record catch-up rainfall,
early and extreme cold at least in
our area of the country, de
pressed prices for farm crops.
Another year of blessings most
of us casually take for granted:
families and friends, plenty of
food, cozy houses, warm clothes,
and the freedom to take for
granted our abundance of these
basic thing of life.
Another year of observing
what has become something of an
annual office transition from the
holiday rites to organizing for
that gift of each new year, tax
rites.
Another year of attacking the
pile of miscellaneous information
that has piled up on the desk and
to make space for the next batch.
And in the process, we found:
• Recently reported scientific
research that our biains have an
“eraser," an en/yme of forgetting
called protein phosphatase 1,
shortened to PPI. What PPI
does, researchers suggest, is keep
our brains from getting overload
ed with useless trisial data.
Which means our brains are per
Caffeine, Curbs Work Differently In Body
COLUMBUS, Ohio My sister-in-law told me
she heard that apples have more caffeine than cof
fee. I’m suspicious can that be true?
Um, no. 1 hope thn doesn’t cause one of those
never-ending m-law squabbles, but you (and every
one else) should know that there's no caffeine in
apples.
Maybe your sister-in-law heard that apples can
give you a pretty good energy boost. A medium
si/ed apple averages 20 grams of carbohydrates
not nearly as much as in a sugary snack, but
the apple would certainly be a more nutritious
choice than, say, a candy bar. And this year, you
could get even a bigger boost from locally grown
apples; The Midwest’s dry summer decreased
apples’ moisture content, which concentrates the
sugars in each fruit, making them delightfully
sweet. Who wouldn’t feel refreshed munching
on a crisp, sweet apple?
Still, that’s not the same kind of boost people
get from caffeine. They work in totally different
ways.
Simply put, food boosts your energy by help
ing form ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Cells
use ATP whenever they need energy, whether
it’s chemical energy to store for later use; me
chanical energy used in muscle movement;
electrical energy for nerve transmissions; or os
motic energy to balance sodium, potassium and
other ions within the cell.
When ATP is tapped for use. it breaks down.
It's in that breakdown that energy is released,
from the bonds that hold ATP together. ATP
continuallv is broken down and reformed in the
bod\.
Coincidentally, adenosine (the “A” in ATP)
also shows up in the explanation for how caf
feine works. Again, simply put; When adenosine
binds to receptors in the brain as cyclic adeno
dne monophosphate, or cAMP, it calms nerve
cell activity and makes us drowsy. Caffeine hap
pens to be structured very much like cAMP and
can bind to those receptors. When it does, it
blocks cAMP and keeps us from getting tired.
haps cleaner than this messy
desk, cluttered with information
like the above. (Some days, I
wonder if brain erasers can work
overtime, and if mine is headed
there?)
• A clipping relating the tale of
an exuberant pup which shot its
master in the foot. Seems a Min
nesota hunter placed his loaded
12-gauge shotgun on the ground
while he lined up a display of
pheasants to photograph. Mean
while, his young, and excited,
English setter was frisking about
and ‘pawed* the trigger. Fortu
nately, the hunter was not seri
ously injured. (And how would
you like to go home and explain
that to your spouse?)
• Then there’s a rather morbid
piece, suggesting ordinary things
can affect a person’s length of
life. Tomato paste in your diet
several times weekly can earn
you nearly an extra year of life,
while flossing your teeth regular
ly can subtract several years, be
cause of some gum bacteria it dis
turbs that can supposedly trigger
the likes of strokes or heart prob
lems. Run that by your dentist.
Eat lots of pizza, but hold the
floss?
• An e-mail printout from a
forgotten source (but definitely
female) listing suggested training
courses for men. Titles include
such topics as “Directions It’s
OK To Ask,” “Adventures In
Housekeeping Let’s Clean The
Closet,” “Strange But True!
She May Not Care What Fourth
Down and Ten Means,” and
“The Gas Gauge Sometimes
Empty Means Empty.”
• A five-year-old newspaper
article on the subject of "UFOs
they could be there.” If they
haven’t shown up in five years,
guess we don’t need to worry.
• Another e-mail printout
called Holy Humor, noting such
gems as “Forbidden fruit causes
many jams,” and “How will you
spend eternity Smoking or
Non-Smoking?”
• Yet another health-related
clipping detailing how the herb
rosemary known for remem
brance contains compounds to
help prevent the kind of brain
breakdowns that result in debili
tating memory losses. I can’t re
member why I’ve saved so many
of theses pieces dealing with
memory....?
• Ah, finally something I have
actually been hunting: directions
on how to sign up on the state’s
anti-telemarketer, “no-call” list.
If your brain eraser was working
overtime, like mine, and you
originally misplaced the number,
here it is: (888) 777-3406 or log
onto www.nocallsplease.com.
Our number is now on the list un
fortunately, it take six months of
lead time to be included. Maybe
by then the new. national anti
marketing program will be in
place.
There. A cleaner desk and a
promised reduction in irritant
phone calls a positive start for
2003.
Have a blessed and happy New
Year!
Other factors also play a role, but already you can
see that caffeine and carbs play very different roles
in energy balances in the body.
Chow Line is a service of Ohio State University
Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and
Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line,
c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus,
OH 43210-1044, or fdipic.3@osu.edu.
Two Mifflinburg H.S. Graduates
Receive American FFA Degree
MIFFLINBURG (Snyder Co.)
Two Mifflinburg Area High
School graduates recently re
ceived the American FFA De
gree, the highest degree awarded
by the National FFA Organiza
tion.
Denae Johnson and Valerie
Spangler, both 2000 graduates,
received the award at the recent
75th National FFA Convention
in Louisville, Ky.
Johnson, daughter of Alanson
and Bonnie Johnson, Lewisburg,
served as Mifflinburg FFA assist
ant vice president and SUN Area
reporter. She has also served as
chairman of the citrus and FFA
activities week committees, as
well as a member of the banquet
and exhibit and demonstration
committees. Her supervised agri
culture experience projects in
cluded dairy herd, corn produc
tion and swine finishing.
Johnson has received chapter
proficiency in diversified live
stock and small grain production,
a gold award for her dairy herd
and corn production record
books, and a bronze award for
her swine finishing record book.
She also received the regional
and county Northeastern Farm
Credit ACA Award for excel
lence in record-keeping. She
placed first in the state FFA
agronomy contest and competed
in the National Invitational
Crops Contest at Purdue Univer
sity.
Johnson earned the Green
hand, Chapter and SUN Area
degrees and was named Union
County Star Farmer in 1998. She
received the Keystone degree, the
highest degree granted by the
Pennsylvania Association of the
FFA in 2000.
Johnson attends Penn State
University where she is a member
of the National Agri-Marketing
Association and expects to gradu
ate in May 2004 with a bachelor
of science degree in agri-business
management.
Spangler, daughter of Lee and
Kathy Spangler, Mifflinburg,
served as Mifflinburg FFA vice
president and SUN Area Union
County vice president. Her su
pervised agriculture experience
projects involv
ed dairy pro
duction, on-
Valerie Spangler
farm work experience and fresh
market produce.
Spangler placed first in the
1998 Pennsylvania State Agrono
my Contest. She chaired the ban
quet committee in 2000 and par
ticipated in many FFA
conferences and leadership work
shops.
At Penn State University,
where she majors in agriculture
and extension education, Span
gler is an active member of the
Penn Stan Collegiate FFA, is the
corresponding secretary for the
Block and Bridle Club, serves as
the secretary/treasurer of the
Poultry Science Club and Is an
Agriculture Advocate for the Col
lege of Agricultural Sciences. She
is also a member of the honorary
Agriculture Education society.
Alpha Tau Alpha.
Out of approximately 460,000
FFA members nationwide, John
son and Spangler were two ot
2,556 to be recognized for this
honor this year.
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