A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 26, 2003
OPINION
more (I slather it on these days). Wear sunglasses with UV protection.
Wear a wide-brimmed hat that protects the face, ears, and back of the
neck (baseball hats don’t give you very good protection). If possible,
seek shade when the sun is most intense and damaging (10 a.m.-4
p.m.). (My wife tells me I look like a ghost during the summer, but I
hope to head off any future problems.)
I thought I had wizened up a bit. I applied sunscreen anytime I was
in the sun and usually wore a wide brimmed hat. However, my next
life lesson dealt not with sun exposure but the handling of summer
heat.
I was living in North Carolina at the time and needed some respite
from working in the peanut fields. In order to relive some of my New
Hampshire trail crew days, I decided to crank out a 40-mile hike (in
June). I thought I took enough liquid, water and Gatorade, but just
didn’t think through the effect of excessive exercise on a hot and
humid summer day.
Fourteen miles into the hike I was becoming dizzy and nauseous. I
drank all my water but couldn’t stomach the Gatorade; staying hydra
ted was becoming a problem. At mile marker 16,1 turned around and
headed for the car. This was my first experience with heat exhaustion.
On the way back to the car, every stream became a place for me to
submerge my whole body into the cooling waters.
According to researchers at Penn State, heat exhaustion is caused
by a loss of body fluids and salts from sweating, and decreased blood
flow to the brain and other organs. Symptoms include cool, pale,
clammy skin; dizziness; headache; cramps; nausea or vomiting; weak
ness; confusion; or even unconsciousness. To treat heat exhaustion,
move the victim to a cool place, elevate his/her feet, and call for med
ical help immediately. If the victim is able to drink, give him/her plen
ty of cool fluids while waiting for help to arrive.
The best thing to do is avoid placing yourself in the position where
you need medical help. Some suggestions are: Seek shade when out
side (or create shade, such as placing an umbrella over you as you
work); avoid staying in the direct sun for more than IS minutes, un
less you are wearing a hat; increase the amount of water you drink in
the summer; minimize your consumption of alcohol (it dehydrates the
body); avoid wearing thick clothing in the summer; and avoid physical
exertions during the mid-day when it is likely to be the hottest.
Basically, use common sense. For example, don’t apply pesticides in
the middle of the day as it requires you to wear personal protective
equipment (extra clothing) and if a backpack sprayer, a great deal of
physical exertion.
Tomatoes can develop a physiological disorder called “sunscald.”
This is caused by high temperatures with a lot of sunshine, damaging
tomato fruit as it is developing. If these summer conditions can injure
your vegetable crops, imagine what they are doing to your skin and
health! Take proper precautions and have a healthy growing season.
From the Vegetable and Small Fruit Gazette, Penn State, Vol.
7, No. 6, June 2003 and also reproduced in June 2003 Pennsylvania
Vegetable Growers News
(Continued from Page A 10)
(Continued from Page A 10)
Our school is rural with less
...... . ¥ . _ . than 250 students from grades 6
cihties m Lancaster County. .. ...
Their life just got tougher also. 12 - This would equate to
I’m OK with competition, but the abnost an additional mdlion
consumer must have the right to pounds of milk per day for just
be informed. Pennsylvania alone. In addition,
I wonder what the hidden they charge $1 for a pint of milk,
agenda is. Is it the political action That is a healthy profit. USDA
groups that represent nationwide complains about milk storage. I
grocery chains looking to pass in- 'cannot think of a better place to
ferior products by consumers? store m jik than in a student’s
Was there a back room deal with „ tnrri .
Brazil where much of the im- ‘
ported beef is produced? I can’t If we 316 8 0,n 8 to have mone y
be sure. What Ido know is that 43,1611 from our milk checks why
once again life got harder for the not provide milk for our school
American farmer, a group of peo- children? Cheese snacks could be
pie who clearly work the hardest, provided in the machine; vending
This bill has to make it machines can be built to dispense
through the Senate. I hope they an y product.
have a little more wisdom. Everyone'says advertise. Why
Jim Weber, Landisville , ~ ~ . , .
advertise if the product is not
available? This is good for the
students and if they drink milk
now, they will drink in the future.
I challenge every dairy farmer
who pays school taxes to demand
a milk and cheese machine in
every school. Take a grip on your
industry, I dare each farmer to
act now and have a machine in
each school by Sept. 1.
Editor:
I am a dairy fanner and
schoolteacher. I am very dis
gusted about the way the dairy
industry is being kicked by every
one. It took from the first of Sep
tember until May to get a milk
machine installed into the school
where I teach. Four weeks after
an article was printed in the
Country Focus, the students were
drinking over 40 pints per day.
Mathem Mellott
Fannett Metal School District
Editor:
Your July 12 “State of CWT”
editorial refers to a National
Farmers Union (NFU) news item
about “parity.” Parity, as you de
scribe, is the price fanners would
receive for a product if farm
prices had increased at the same
rate as expenses. NFU uses
1910-1914 as a base period. This
was the historic base period
which was included in the Agri
cultural Adjustment Act of 1933
for computing parity for selected
products.
The definition of the parity
concept, however, causes prob
lems because it does not take into
account changes in demand, sup
ply, product substitution, and re
source productivity over time. To
allow for such changes, the calcu
lation of parity price was modi
fied, by Congress, in the Agricul
tural Act of 1948. This act
changed the base period for cal
culating parity prices for individ
ual farm products to average
prices over the most recent 10
years to reflect the changing rela
tionship among the different
farm commodities as mentioned
in the USDA Marketing Year
book of Agriculture of 1954.
Bernard P. Dzieiinski
Ridgefield, Ct.