Author: webmaster

****************************************************************************************

A DELICIOUS OPPORTUNITY!

Growing, Cooking and Eating Local Food

Local Food – why it matters and what you can do for our Centennial Celebration

By Sandy Heng, Vice President Ann Arbor MI Branch

On many a dark morning I carried a lunch bag and water jug on the way to earn a day’s wages.   I know the indignity of squatting down in the fields amidst the toads and dirt clods to relieve myself, the itchy rash caused by sweat-drenched shirt sleeves brushing against vegetation, and the bliss of shade under a canopy of brilliant gold corn tassels.

Gritty and glorious at once, life on the land, raising life from the land, is hard.

The notion of food quality and security is changing from the days of my young adulthood of picking strawberries, cutting velvetleaf from soybeans and walking miles of fertile farm fields. As we look toward our future as an organization, it is instructive to fully understand how we came to be here so we may chart a course to tomorrow.

My parents and their generation survived the depression and the food rationing of the war.  Feeding people, maximizing production, making it affordable; they dedicated their lives to making sure they did not allow hunger to knock on their back door again.  They brought us lettuce in the winter and made good on the slogan ‘a chicken in every pot.’  They invented irrigation systems to water the lettuce and planted acres of corn to feed the chickens. (Continued) Click ‘Magazine’ on the menu button to see the rest of Sandy’s comments and her lovely photo of heirloom tomatoes.

******************************************************************************************

Dear Members,

Welcome 2013!

The flurry of activities and festivities that come with the Holidays are in the past.

Ohio received an abundance of snow the day after Christmas. This year my wetlands have had the pleasure of the presence of two adult bald eagles and one immature eagle. They are truly magnificent! And such a pleasure to watch!

2013 will be an auspicious year for WNF&GA as we launch the 100^th Anniversary Celebration of our founding at the Annual Meeting June5-9, 2013. Although our hotel accommodations are in New Jersey, we call this the “New York” meeting as a lot of our time will be spent in the Big Apple.

The Fall of issue of the Magazine was a delight and chock full of information pertaining to the Annual meeting. It is very important that all members who plan on attending click to participate in the activity survey https://wnfga.org/events/event-details/. This is your chance to help plan a National meeting!

WNF&GA is experiencing a shortage of National Council members! Council members are the lifeblood of the organization and your help is needed. A commitment of three years and attendance at any National Meeting the President may call is required. Open positions for the terms of 2013,2014, and 2015 are available. Please contact your Division President if interested. A great perk is that meals, lodging, and travel are tax deductible while serving on the Council.

My mailbox is being inundated, as no doubt is everyone’s, with seed and garden catalogs. It is so exciting to plan this year’s garden while I watch the snow blow and drift. The pictures are so beautiful that they make me hungry! Hope you all enjoy them as much as I do!

Yours in Farm & Gardening,

Julia Siefker