GEM, Ind. - Most evenings, Gary Mithoefer can be found at the end of a long gravel driveway off a busy highway, tending two garden plots filled with white sweet potatoes, squash, cabbages and a dozen other vegetables still thriving in early fall.
The 62-year-old, who gardens after his workday ends at his state highway job, is one of a growing number of Americans rolling up their sleeves and digging into the dirt to raise crops or livestock on a small scale.
SALINA, Kansas - When
the Agriculture Department released its 2007 census recently, the news
appeared surprisingly good: For the first time since World War II, the
United States did not lose farms, it gained them — 75,810, to be exact,
for a total of 2.2 million.
Farmers often depend on off farm jobs to provide health insurance, if
that wasn't an option they could generally afford an individual plan.
Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in America, heavy
machinery, large animals, long hours in the sun, chemicals and that
always present independent streak that keeps us from seeing the doctor
when we should. Still, we need insurance.
In Jerzy Kosinski's novel and award-winning screenplay,
"Being There," the U.S.
president turns to a plain-spoken gardener named Chance for wisdom at a time of
economic crisis. The insight Chance offers is as simple as it is reassuring:
Growth has its seasons and, as long as the roots of growth are not severed, all
will be well.
President Barack Obama would be wise to add a gardener or farmer to his team of
advisers. I already know what advice I'd offer if called to serve: Launch a new
victory garden campaign starting with one on the White House lawn.
As our government enacts a stimulus package
and President Barack Obama announces bold initiatives to stem home
mortgage foreclosures, disaster threatens family farmers and their
communities.
When Abraham Lincoln formed the US Department of Agriculture in 1862
he referred to it as the "People's Department" because it served the
common interest of so many Americans. America's concerns about food and
the economy were addressed and investments in cutting-edge research
guaranteed the nation's food security.
