Cantwell On Rural Roads & Schools & Oregon Looks at Marijuana

Cantwell On Rural Roads & Schools & Oregon Looks at Marijuana plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

During the hearing, Cantwell backed an extension of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) and Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) programs, while also making them simpler, more transparent, and more responsive to the needs of rural communities.

CANTWELL: The County Payments program has proven effective, and responsive, and it is essential to our nation. Without this vital revenue, counties in Washington State would lose more than $35 million dollars in irreplaceable funds that are so critical for these programs that I just mentioned.

Oregon is looking to follow suit with Washington as House Bill 3371 is on the agenda of the House Judiciary Committee for April 2. The bill would allow the production, processing and sale of marijuana and marijuana infused products. Of course there are many who oppose the bill but some lawmakers feel it is time to look into the possibility since marijuana would be taxed at $35 an ounce and only be sold by businesses licensed with the state. But as with Washington State, pot is still illegal on a federal level so there are many levels to this issue.

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

Good food, a bad food, or no food at all? Or perhaps an even better question is why do these even enter into the equation when it comes to eating healthy? Are there really good foods and bad foods? Most attempts to communicate with consumers about food, nutrition, agriculture, and healthy eating by food activists, politicians, or even sometimes the growers themselves seems to miss the mark. While trying to push their message that some foods are better or healthier than others they forget that the fundamental rule of eating healthy while still being able to enjoy what you are eating is to eat in moderation, balancing that out with some form of physical exercise. Yes, I mean portion control, something that most of us aren’t willing to own up to. It’s not that we don’t understand the concept of portion control, we just don’t want to put it into practice, whether we are at home or eating out. One nutritionist reports that the only way to get Americans to eat smaller portions is to quit offering us the “super size” option, which makes perfect sense, but probably won’t happen anytime soon. If you are serious about portion control, there is help out there. Check out the USDA’s ChooseMyPlate website, or any number of other helpful sites to get your portions under control.

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