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Volume 16, Issue 42 - October 16 - October 22, 2008
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Columns |
Letters to the Editor
We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 •
E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here
Why I Read Bay Weekly
Dear Bay Weekly:
I just finished reading your latest issue [Oct 9-15] and saw a reader’s comment regarding appropriateness of Chuck Shepard’s “News of the Weird” and Rob Brezsny’s “Free Will Astrology.” You mentioned that many readers have told you those two items are the first thing they read and, since you asked, you can add me to that list.
News of the Weird was what hooked me on grabbing a copy of your publication as soon as it hits the stands every week. Along the way I also became an avid reader of the other information in it. I enjoy Bill Burton’s articles as well as the movie reviews by Jonathan Parker. What I never expected was to find Bay Weekly to be such a fine source of local history. And yes, I even find the advertisements useful and interesting. Keep up the good work.
– Ron Nord, Owings
Local School Lunches Make a Million Local Eaters
Dear Bay Weekly:
Thank you for your coverage of the Jane Lawton Farm-to-School initiative and the Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Program [Sept. 18: No. 38]. This exciting new program, signed into law by Gov. O’Malley this year, is designed to bring more Maryland-grown products to school lunches and to help educate students about the source of their food, how it is produced and the benefits of a healthy diet.
Statewide, the program has been an overwhelming success and shows great promise for the future. Almost every county in Maryland is participating, as are more than 30 different Maryland farms. It is a true example of a successful federal, state, local and private collaboration that is working.
Just think of the tremendous impact on our families and our communities if even one local item is included in school lunches for each of the 950,000 Maryland public school students. Farmers would have additional income, thereby strengthening the local economy and keeping farmland open and productive. Our children would receive the nutritional benefits of fresh, local products as well as the knowledge of why this matters. And the financial, environmental and nutritional costs of transporting food would decrease.
Including local food in school lunches and related information in the classroom is good for our students and good for Maryland. We encourage students and parents to continue asking for fresh, local produce in school lunches. For more information about the program, visit: www.marylandfarmtoschool.org.