05/05/05 Salmonella and chicks; A different route?

A recent rash of Salmonella cases in the Northwest have been linked to baby chicks originating from a Walla Walla hatchery. Phinney Hatchery ships about one million chicks a year throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Company spokespersons say they are working with health officials to reduce the risk of salmonella infections. Health officials have this advice & children should not be allowed to nuzzle or kiss baby chicks, and after touching the birds, must wash their hands with soap and water. Now it's not that U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton is not concerned about the growing dilemma over water in Washington State's Yakima Basin. But when it comes to the proposed Black Rock Reservoir project specifically, and large water projects in general, she has her reservations. For one, even if funding for the project came from a partnership of federal, state, and private interests as opposed to just solely federal funding, Norton says Interior has not taken on a project of the cost magnitude of the estimated $4 billion dollar price tag for the full-fledged Black Rock plan in over a decade. Then there is the matter of getting any federal appropriations approved. NORTON: I don't see a lot of enthusiasm in Congress for funding water projects. Norton says she sees Interior and other federal entities being more involved in finding alternative and quick turn around solutions to water allocation concerns. Now with today's "Food Forethought", here's Susan Allen. ALLEN: I just returned from Phoenix where I spent a week with some of our bright young minds majoring in Ag and animal science at top universities. Their excitement and professionalism for the future of the college of agriculture was infectious. It was stretch to visualize that theses young Ag professionals could easily face discrimination for their choice of study. But it is true. Apparently a new group called Responsible Policies for Animals is bent on abolishing the teaching of animal Ag sciences at our land grant universities. David Cantor, the group's founder, believes that teaching animal agriculture diminishes our universities' credibility and intellectual integrity and has no place at the college level. By using students and "influential" individuals he is developing a campaign targeting land grant universities. Today, it is easy to dismiss his actions as insignificant, but as we learned in the past, when it comes to extremists, the small seeds they plant today could become quite invasive and toxic tomorrow. To learn more about these groups' agenda visit Food Forethought .org. I'm Susan Allen with Food Forethought.