Daylight Savings & New FFA Leadership

Daylight Savings & New FFA Leadership plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The National FFA Organization has new leadership. Levy Randolph was elected to serve as National FFA President during the 82nd National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

RANDOLPH: Getting to know that I’m going to spend the year with 5 other great individuals and inspire minds and hopefully influence students with positive actions. And definitely it’s going to be a great experience getting travel around the nation, outside the country and continuing to understand how agriculture affects our students and how it affects our country.

This weekend will bring a close to daylight savings and fall back to normal time. But along with less hours of daylight also comes the need for cautions. Pedestrians and drivers will need to be extra careful especially at intersections and in school zones. As a pedestrian, you should dress in bright or reflective clothing and remember to always walk against the traffic or use a sidewalk where you can and if you are biking, make sure you bike with the traffic.

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

We can’t deny the fact that Americans tip the scales over most of our foreign neighbors by a hefty number. That being said, a “sin tax” is not the way to “health up” America. Having the government tax what it decides are unhealthy food choices by U.S. consumers is a step in the wrong direction; in fact it would be placing our government’s footing on a very slippery precipice indeed. It’s not the government’s place to decide what or how much we put into our mouths. To start placing taxes on sodas, red meat, or sweetened juice beverages will kick the door wide open to begin taxing an unlimited array of possibly “sinful” foods. Will each politician have his own “pet” list of food likes and dislikes? I know Teddy Roosevelt, borrowing from a West African proverb, said for government to “Walk softly, and carry a big stick”, but I don’t think this is quite what he had in mind. Beating American consumers about the head and shoulders with a big “tax stick” is not the way to change their mindset. It is the way to begin the downhill spiral into government controlled social engineering.

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