Let us thank them for our food. (editors' note).While home for the holidays, I spent a few hours going through my parents' basket of Christmas cards to catch up on what's new with their friends and with relatives who don't want to waste a stamp on me. Every year there's a letter from one particular family that really moves me, and this year was no different. As the letter reports, they now have to pump and carry clean drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. because the well on their land has been contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. and they can't afford to fix it. The good news is that the husband got several deer during hunting season, so there will be meat on the table this winter. And even though he's retired and has a bad back, this man chops chops the jowls or flesh of lips and jaw in dogs. firewood for several hours a day to help make ends meet. What did these people do to merit such poverty and hardship? They were farmers. Small family farmers. My dad "met" them several years ago when the wife was interviewed for a newspaper article about the plight of family farmers in Wisconsin. After reading the article, my parents, both of whom grew up in rural towns in northern Wisconsin, decided to help out this family by sending them an annual donation. It helps, but, of course, it's not enough. What's really needed is to change the current system that gives unfair advantages to large factory farms and denies small farmers the chance to earn a decent living for their labor. As Bob Zyskowski reports in this month's cover story, "A tough row to hoe hoe, usually a flat blade, variously shaped, set in a long wooden handle and used primarily for weeding and for loosening the soil. It was the first distinctly agricultural implement. The earliest hoes were forked sticks. " (pages 12-18), the farmers who made your bowl of Cheerios possible this morning are hurting--and they need your help. What can you do? In addition to advocating and lobbying for just farm policies, we offer a list of ways everyday Catholics can support family farmers, from buying locally grown produce at farmers' markets
David Andrews (born March 15, 1936) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician and barrister. Early life , director of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, reminds us in his interview (pages 20-23), "Eating is a moral act." As Catholics and as American citizens, we also have a moral responsibility to challenge the massive arms-for-export industry in this country. Many Americans were shocked to learn that the Taliban in Afghanistan got a lot of its weapons with U.S. support. With more than $30 billion in sales each year, are we currently arming our next enemy? Kevin Clarke Kevin Clarke grew up in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Originally a guitarist, he wrote and directed his first play The Jackpot at the Finborough Theatre in 1987; as a result he was invited to join the first BBC Television Writers training course and commissioned to write for a new series describes how the U.S. is sowing Not to be confused with sewing. Sowing is the process of planting seeds. Hand sowing is the process of casting handfuls of seed over prepared ground: broadcasting. Usually, a drag or harrow is employed to incorporate the seed into the soil. the seeds of war in "Arms for the poor" (pages 34-38). If all these issues leave you feeling a bit hopeless, take heart. Spring is around the corner, and every year the Earth renews itself, reminding us that life follows death. That, in essence, is the message of Jesus' Resurrection, Joyce Rupp writes in "Hope Grows" (pages 39-42). Happy Easter! |
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