Waiting in Line for Food & Bringing Broadband to the Country

Waiting in Line for Food & Bringing Broadband to the Country plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The Federal Communications Commission and USDA have released a report to Congress detailing a plan to expand broadband availability and use in rural America. Acting FCC Chair Michael Copps.

COPPS: Too few consumers and small businesses have the high-speed broadband they need if they’re going to succeed. We pay too much for service that is slow, it’s holding us back as individuals, it has cost our economy billions and things are only going to get worse if we don’t do something about it. Now we are doing something about it.

Desperate times are calling for desperate measures at food banks around the area. Longer lines and shorter tempers are now forcing some facilities to hire security guards to keep people safe. The need for increased security comes with food banks across the region seeing more people than ever before. Seattle’s Cherry Street Food Bank recently saw 2,651 people walk through their doors in a single day -- an all-time record. But there have been scuffles too, prompting staff to bring on more volunteers to keep the lines moving and tensions to a minimum.

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

We are heading into one of my favorite times of year, summer. Having grown up in a small farming community in Kansas memories of childhood summers generally include long lines at the grain elevator and detasseling corn. My sister, five years my senior and much braver and adventurous as a teen, earned her summer spending money driving a wheat truck for a local farmer. I however, being far less daring, decided to earn my keep by detasseling corn. Little did I realize that meant getting up before the crack of dawn in order to get out to the field before the Kansas humidity set in. Occasionally, a farmer would forget to turn off his irrigation system for the detasseling crew. Nothing quite like getting hit square in the back with an icy cold jet of water at five in the morning! My husband says he has had showers worse than that, but I doubt it. One thing is for certain, I wouldn’t trade those Kansas summers and “farm work” experience for anything. In fact, I’m thinking it’s just about time for my son to get some of that “experience” for himself!

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