California Freeze & Driving Sales

California Freeze & Driving Sales plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

A freeze through the California growing region has caused some farmers sleepless nights trying to combat any damage even though the freeze is not as bad as the 2007 one. Meteorologist Brad Rippey says it has caused a lot of concern.

RIPPEY: We have been seeing over the last 4 mornings looking from the period from January 11th through the 14th temperatures falling in the San Joaquin Valley into the mid to high 20’s in many locations across the citrus production area and that has necessitated producers to try to save the crop with some of the protective measures that are typically employed including sprinkler systems and wind methods.

Fear of possible federal gun restrictions is driving more and more people into gun stores. A gun show in Boise last week had record attendance as does a major gun show and convention this week in Las Vegas. Possible Obama Administration proposals are spurring the sales even though many stores have waiting lists for military-style weapons like AR-15, AK-47 and SKS.

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

Are extensive food regulations really the answer to fighting the expanding obesity problem here in America? No pun intended. History would tell us no, at least as far as being able to judge how a government lock down on a socially accepted substance goes over with the general public. Studies on Prohibition speak volumes on how a society used to personal freedoms reacts to government control laws. People who wanted to drink alcohol found ways to do so, whether it was by making their own or buying it through illegal means. In the end, most Americans, politicians included, realized that Prohibition more than likely generated more problems than it solved. It certainly seems that we’re headed into another type of “political experiment”, what with ongoing government efforts to control America’s waistband via attempts at food and soda taxation or portion control laws. Do Americans recognize that we as a society have a definite problem with obesity in our country? Yes. Do we want a handful of food activists and government officials dictating to us what we should or shouldn’t, will or won’t drink or eat? No. Ask us what we want and we’ll tell you. The freedom to make our own choices and deal with the consequences, good or bad.

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