A quarterly publication of the National Grange
l Vol. 2, Issue 3 l Fall 2018
Good DAY!
™
CHALLENGES
AT EVERY TURN
Young, beginning farmers face barriers when entering man’s oldest profession
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NATIONAL NEWS & VIEWS
National President suggests outreach to young, beginning farmers NEW SECTION: Feedback provides answers to readers’ questions on various organizational topics
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Data being collected on local involvement in food security awareness, outreach
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Junior/Juvenile BINGO New Passport teaches about U.S. Postal Service 2 Connecticut Juniors show off writing skills, pen winning essays
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JUNIOR GRANGE Junior Grange celebrates 130 year legacy in 2018
Master’s Recipe: Apple Carrot Squares
Members receiving recognition for years of service
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LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS OP-ED: What ag needs now is more labor Open Internet Change will advance rural broadband
GRANGE YOUTH & YOUNG ADULTS
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FOOD NEWS & RECIPES Abundance of fall treat, the apple, means adding to your cooking repertoire
Granges celebrating milestone anniversaries
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Past National Convention Chair remembered
Interesting things in store for upcoming Annual Session in Stowe, VT Grange Revival details, registration made available
MEMBER RECOGNITION
PROFILE: National Grange Youth Ambassador Jacob Gwin following in siblings’ footsteps Young father pens list of things he wants his daughter to know
CLASSIFIEDS
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New State President welcomed, long-time member congratulated and unique fundraising items from around the nation featured
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STATE & LOCAL GRANGE NEWS Maryland Grange hosts 12th Annual Dairy Family Appreciation Dinner + BONUS: Potluck Recipes
PERSPECTIVE: Barriers to Entry Several stories highlight issues related to the changing of the guard on American farms
HOBBIES Grange Radio host recalls early development of his radio hobby DIY: Recycled SelfWatering Planter
LAST WORD Concept of membership may require stretch of the imagination
Good Day!™ magazine wants to be a part of your business or Grange’s success. Ad space is available in upcoming issues at low rates for designed ads and classified ads related to Grange events, fundraisers, etc. Email National Grange Communications and Development Director Amanda Leigh Brozana Rios at communications@nationalgrange.org or call (202) 628-3507 ext. 102 or (301) 943-1090 for our ad rate sheet.
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That’s the
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2019 Wall Calendar A Fundraiser of the Grange Foundation for the communications Intern program
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We live in a By Elizabeth Hiner Member, Florida Grange #306, CO My husband, Dean, and I live in a food desert. Our home in rural Ignacio, Colorado, located equal distance between Durango, the town of Ignacio, and Bayfield, according to the USDA is located in an area where available food, such as fresh fruits and vegetables are more than a mile away in the city limits or ten miles away in rural areas or not readily accessible by walking, transit or automobile. We are not alone. In fact, I’m sure many Grangers also live in food deserts. And the problem – despite the number of organizations working to reduce hunger and increase nutritious food options available to individuals across the U.S. – is growing. Statistics from the USDA between 2010 and 2015 for our area show that the size of the food desert here grew due to the influx of residents that live outside the city limits. Who knew? I certainly did not, I just thought this was how it was when you lived in the country. I have also lived in large cities – Denver and Dallas – and in small towns and a lot of them turned out to be food deserts as well. In town, if you did not have a car, you walked to the store or took the bus. When my kids were 9 and 11, we lived in North Bend, Oregon. We did not have a car and walked more than a mile for groceries, pulling our little red wagon. Not a bad trip going, we live on top of one hill and the store was on top of the next. Coming back was a trek, but we still had fun. The way the kids tell it,
food desert; do you?
it was uphill the whole way. Now my husband and I live about 14 miles out of town and are on a limited budget. Durango does have an Albertsons and two City Markets (Kroger’s) both of which are 14 and 15 miles respectively. Bayfield has a small grocery store but is smaller than the big box stores in Durango, same for Ignacio, even though that store is a bit bigger. For most shopping Durango or Farmington, New Mexico, at 50 miles south – Sam’s and Safeway along with the stores mentioned above, are your only choices. Our closest large box grocery store is Wal-Mart at just over 10 miles, it takes 23 minutes by car and about three-and-a-half hours on foot. We do not have transit of any kind including taxis or app-based ride shares. To conserve our gas as prices are inching ever higher, we do our marketing once a week to every 10 days. We generally go to at least two of the three stores to get the freshest produce at one and bulk goods at the other depending on the weekly specials. Shopping can be an all-day affair really fun stuff, which is why my husband stays home if he can, patiently waiting for my arrival to carry it all into the house, and then disappear while I put it away. The challenge here is that you cannot just run to the store if you forgot something or you need something for dinner. But more concerning still is the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in our diet at times. When I buy produce, it’s hard because depending on the weather and temperature, they tend to spoil rapidly. I find that I need to keep a larger stock of canned goods, and still run out of an ingredient I need for what I am fixing. I have become over the years a great
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GOOD DAY!™ MAGAZINE www.nationalgrange.org
experimental cook. According to family, my spaghetti and stroganoff sauces are never the same. Life in a food desert does not revolve around what the store carries, as they all have an abundance of fresh, frozen and dry goods; it is how easy it is for the individual to get to it and to get it home. We have Grange members who live out of town with no transportation who rely on friends to shuttle them back and forth, and people like us who just cannot afford to run to town every day. For us, it is just business as usual for where we live and we have adapted to it fairly well… until I want chocolate and Dean says in a salty tone, “I am not going out for that!” Knowing we live in a food desert wasn’t surprising, I guess, but did raise our awareness of others of our community who are affected so much more, like the elderly who cannot get out or those without a means of transportation at all. For them this is a constant problem to get the food they need, as they have to depend on others or go without. Turns out for most of us living in food deserts, the food is there, it is getting to it that tends to be the issue.
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Grange sees
open internet as important,
necessary step for broadband expansion By Betsy E. Huber President, National Grange For 150 years, the National Grange
b e e n
has worked to ensure that Americans
under
INTERNET REGULATION TIMELINE
are able to benefit from advancements in communications technology. This is why we stand firm in our commitment to support an open internet for all Americans, especially those in rural and small town communities.
2002
2005
2010
MARCH14
JULY27
DECEMBER21
Broadband internet service is classified by FCC Chairman Powell as a Title I information service
In FCC v. Brand X, the Supreme Court upholds the FCC’s decision to define the internet as a Title I information service
The FCC formally adopts its “Open Internet Order,” which made net neutrality rules official FCC regulation
People in rural and underserved areas deserve the same broadband choices and speeds as those who live in suburban and urban communities. Federal Internet policy must reflect the needs of every community. Evidence shows that tighter federal “neutrality” regulation, like the rules the U.S. had from 2015 to 2017, slows the growth of broadband. After the FCC approved broad neutrality regulations governing the internet in 2015, America’s broadband investment declined for two years – the only time in our history that broadband
investment
declined
outside of a recession. In 2017, the Commission returned to a more reasonable approach and not surprisingly, investment in faster Internet
access
began
increasing
again. Additionally, the 2015 “neutrality”
the purview of the FTC but the 2015 decision classified the internet as a utility, which opened the door to possible FCC involvement. The debate of which agency should be responsible for consumer data privacy has continued along a parallel track to the investment debate.
websites:
Facebook,
Instagram,
Google, and others. It is urgent that Congress recognize that the FCC’s unstable approach to Internet regulations has caused a curtailment in broadband deployment in rural America. As
a
member
Broadband
of
the
Deployment
FCC’s
Advisory
decision inadvertently hurt internet
Sure enough, the past three years
Committee, I have spent countless
users by throwing federal privacy
have seen a continuous series of data
hours documenting economic and
protections into a limbo between two
breaches and misuse of consumer
social problems caused by lack of
federal agencies.
information involving many of the
broadband access.
Privacy protections had historically
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internet’s largest and most trusted
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Regulating
the
internet
like
a
“After the FCC approved broad neutrality regulations governing the internet in 2015, America’s broadband investment declined for two years – the only time in our history that broadband investment declined outside of a recession.” 2014
2015
2017
2018
NOVEMBER10
FEBRUARY26
DECEMBER14
JUNE11
President Obama urged adoption of tighter regulations on broadband service and stated his support for reclassifying broadband internet service as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, where the internet would be regulated like a utility
The FCC votes to reclassify the internet as a Title II public utility
The FCC votes to reverse regulated the internet as a public utility and restores its Title I approach to classifying the internet as an information service
FCC Chairman Pai’s “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” begins, effectively ending net neutrality and restoring a light-touch regulatory approach to broadband internet service
public utility inflicted higher costs, slower access, and
of new service and higher costs, according to a December
poorer service on consumers. By 2016, these heavy-handed
2017 news release by the FCC.
regulations had cost rural communities nearly $2.4 billion in annual broadband investment. Chairman Pai’s 2017 “Restoring Internet Freedom Order”
removed
these
utility-style
regulations
and
reestablished the balance of ensuring internet freedom while also attracting private broadband investment and bringing a greater focus onto the question of which agency should own the responsibility for keeping online consumer data safe.
With network investment rebounding, the current rules should be allowed to continue until there is a need to change them. Under the FTC, consumers will continue to have substantial legal protections to navigate the online world safely. Dating back to the Clinton Administration, there has been strong agreement on the benefits of a ‘light touch’ approach to federal Internet regulation that protected
For rural communities, this recent action is especially
Internet users while encouraging greater access. The
welcome. There was overwhelming evidence of harm from
National Grange urges Congress to continue on this
the 2015 order – problems that included slower deployment
successful path where everyone will benefit.
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Locked
PERSPECTIVE
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When Desire Isn’t Enough
Young Farmers take to the Field
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Expansion, Change Necessary for Transition
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Veterans Seek to Make Farm Dreams Reality
Young Farmers: In Their Words
out
Farms Jeopardized by Death Tax Plan Ahead Can’t Control What Happens from the Grave
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