Texting Ban & Chinese Trade Mission

Texting Ban & Chinese Trade Mission plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

It is now against the law to text while driving in Idaho. Governor Otter has just signed a statewide ban on texting-while-driving. Idaho now joins 35 other states including Washington and Oregon to ban texting while driving. The infraction will cost you $85 if caught. After three years of trying to get the law passed it will go into effect on July 1st. Many states already have bans on using cell phones without the use of a hands-free device not that it is stopping people from doing so.

The largest ever U.S. trade mission to China has returned and Wendell Shauman, Chairman of the U.S. Grains Council was part of the trip and says while there’s a tremendous opportunity for market development in China there’s also a degree of caution.

SHAUMAN: You ned to know who you are dealing with. You need to find a partner that you can trust and they gave examples of people that got into business situations where things had fallen apart on them so it was both legal advice and the embassy advice was there’s tremendous opportunities here but you have to be careful. There are wonderful markets here.

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

The “slow food movement” has been around for quite a while. Now, numerous members of the cut flower industry are embracing the same concept. Farmers and florists are working together developing the “slow flower” ethic in order to supply consumers with sustainable, seasonal flowers at local markets within fifty miles of where the flowers are grown. Nearly every grocery chain or supermarket has a floral department anymore. While these flowers can be quite handy for grabbing that last minute bouquet and are pretty much picture perfect, they are often limited to a handful of typical choices, and are among the most traveled of commodities, generally having been grown thousands of miles away. What if you could get lilacs, lavender bunches, or peonies fresh in season from local flower farms? Would it be worth it to you? Interestingly, a lot of people out there are saying yes, they would prefer to buy their fresh flowers from local growers. So who knows, perhaps the “slow flower movement” will catch on as well as the “slow food movement” did. They’ll just have to take it one beautiful bouquet at a time.

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