By Jon H. Harsch
© Copyright Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.
Washington, Sept. 23 – A quarter acre of sprouting, tillering, and golden ready-to-harvest wheat swayed in a humid breeze near the Capitol Wednesday. More than 60 wheat growers from as far as California along with a giant Case combine were on hand, along with milling displays, a mobile baking laboratory, and supermarket shelves filled with scores of wheat products.
It was all part of the “Urban Wheat Field” project, a hands-on wheat industry effort to educate Americans about where their food comes from. Last time, the Wheat Foods Council, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), U.S. Wheat Associates, and state and industry organizations went to New York City. For this year's event in DC, the audience included busloads of area schoolchildren – and as many as possible urban members of Congress and their staff.
At Wednesday's ribbon cutting for the two-day show, NAWG President Jerry McReynolds, a Kansas farmer, explained that “I should be home cutting corn and drilling wheat.” Then he told the crowd that “You didn't come to Kansas to see the farm, so we brought the farm to you.”
To read what House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-MN) had to say at the Urban Wheat Field event, go to: www.agri-pulse.com/20100923H_Collin_Peterson_sees_Tea_Party_Threat_to_Farm_Programs.asp
To return to the News Index page, click: www.agri-pulse.com
#30