Kent Baxter, who helps to run the Abundant Acres Farms CSA mentioned here earlier, has an article in today's Palladium-Item about the benefits of buying local, especially when it comes to food. Highlight:

The advantages include boosting our local economy, possibly reducing the risk of bacterial contamination, and lowering dependency on fuel to transport these food items, possibly decreasing costs of the goods you purchase...By reducing the number of miles our food travels, we can enjoy a fresher and probably safer product due to reduced processing.

You can read the full article.

In today's Palladium-Item, Michelle Manchir has a letter about TV star Danica McKellar's efforts to teach girls that pursuing a strong education can be just as worthwhile as other goals typically set out for women. But as Manchir writes, "McKellar's emphasis on girls' appearance trivializes her promotion of academic ambitions and contributing to society in a meaningful way. In fact, she underwrites culture's obsession with female beauty, which is ultimately limiting and unfortunate for women." Further highlight:

I think it's foolish to hope for the day that women's hard work is not trivialized, even just a little, with their ever- sexualized role in popular culture. I do hope, however, that more women, and especially girls, learn to be more media literate and understand that what they see and hear about their appearance everyday on TV and on Web sites is not something they have to achieve to be worthwhile.

You can read the full editorial.

In today's Palladium-Item, several residents write in about the looming issue of Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs): Tom Temple of Centerville wants to make sure we debunk myths about how bad CAFOs are, and that they're just an aspect of agriculture most don't understand. Alyson Bodai with the Factory Farming Campaign of the Humane Society of the United States writes in to note that we have a number of reasons to oppose CAFOs in our community. And Bill Geier from Richmond says "let them be the animals they are, and don't confine them in CAFOs. It is cruel, and results in an inferior product."

What do you think?

In today's Palladium-Item, local resident Daniel Ulrich writes about the need for a change in the Bush administration's Iraq policies:

There's no safe way forward, but President Bush should heed the report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. After assessing the "grave" situation in Iraq, the report recommends the Iraqi government take full responsibility for security within a year, the primary mission of U.S. troops should be training Iraqi forces and the Bush administration should go on "a diplomatic offensive" to seek cooperation (or at least non-interference) from Iraq's neighbors. The recommendations give the Iraqi government time and incentive to find political solutions to the divisions in their country.

You can read the full letter to the editor.

In today's Pal-Item, Harmony Marsh has an editorial titled "Even in our current time, does race still matter all that much?"

I'm tired of talking about what needs to be done for black people or for Hispanic people or for Asian people. Why can't we just talk about what needs to be done for people? Everyone has the same basic needs and there isn't one group of us that are so special that we should be getting all the attention. Then again, if race shouldn't be so important, and I don't think it should matter, why do I continue to shout that particular opinion at the top of my lungs?