Finalizing GIPSA & Being PC

Finalizing GIPSA & Being PC plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The nation’s producers are still waiting to hear what will happen with USDA’s proposed rule on livestock marketing - the so-called GIPSA rule. U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA is working to finalize the rule - and says it’s been a healthy process.

VILSACK: It’s obviously been something people are passionate about on both sides. At the end of the day what this ultimately needs to be about is fair and balanced markets. Opportunities for producers of all sizes to basically make it. We want folks to live, work and raise their families in these rural communities. We want them to have a lot of different opportunities. That’s why we’re focused on a fair market here in the United States. We’re focused obviously on tremendous expansion of exports.

The Oregon Geographic Names Board will consider requests by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Burns Paiute to change the names of more than 30 geographic features which currently bear the name "squaw" in six Eastern Oregon counties. The term squaw is often considered offensive although their is controversy over it’s actual meaning. Some texts claim is refers to a specific body part of a woman while others say it simple means a young woman.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

Today Halloween is about jack-o-lanterns, candy, ghost and goblin window clings, and costumes galore, but where did this most misunderstood and often misrepresented of holidays get its beginnings? Our ancestors were much more in tune with nature than we are. The majority were farmers who based their lives on the natural rhythms and cycles of nature. Halloween falls just after the large harvest season and at that time of year when a large portion of the world is seeing shorter days and longer colder nights. Understanding the close connection centuries ago of people and food, beyond just the eating of, helps us to better understand what may seem like strange Halloween rituals and traditions today. The game of apple bobbing related to love and bringing possible marriage partners together. Turnip carving, or pumpkin carving was done to light the darkness and ward off evil, not invite it. Many herbs and spices such as rosemary, fennel, and garlic were harvested and used in olden times not only for culinary or medicinal purposes, but protection as well. Why even today the strong smell of garlic can ward off unwanted attention!

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.