01/20/09 New Administration & Recall Expands

New administration & Recall Expands plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. The Bush era has ended and the Obama administration begins. Today is the Presidential Inauguration and it will be interesting to see how things progress in the next 4 years. Whether you voted for him or not, you have to admit there is something exciting in the air. Some people are making Obama's Presidency about age, some about race. I think it is about getting a fresh start. OBAMA: What is that American promise? It's a promise that says that each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will but that we also have obligations to treat each other with dignity and respect. Ours is a promise that says that government cannot solve all our problems but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves. So far 474 people in 43 states have gotten sick, including 13 in Washington State due to tainted peanut butter products. The salmonella outbreak started months ago; now six deaths are linked to it. The peanut butter in question is not consumer brands like, Skippy & Jiff but product that goes to manufacturers for inclusion in other products. Little Debbie has pulled their peanut butter crackers and the makers of Wal-Mart peanut butter cookies, peanut butter no-bake cookies and others have pulled the products. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. Is it possible to realize a life long dream of becoming a farmer even if you are doing so in your golden years, as a second career start, or as someone who has never had farm experience before? Of course it is and the class, Cultivating Success, sponsored by the Washington State University Snohomish County Extension is helping people to do just that. The class is designed to educate inexperienced agricultural entrepreneurs on how to start and sustain a small farming or ag related business. It is also designed to be able to provide established farmers with possible alternative operating practices that can increase the value of their existing operation. In conjunction, farm owners give class participants tours in order to show how and why those farms have stayed profitable. Student hopes and plans can range anywhere from planting a few acres of vegetables, converting cattle land to grow wine grapes, to establishing an edible ecosystem. Cultivating Success is proving that it is okay to dream and that dreams really can come true. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.