03/09/06 Code of the West

Code of the West With the advent of telecommuting, more folks are migrating to the West where they find the lifestyle depicted in glossy magazines often is not a true picture of living among farmers and ranchers. For that reason, many western counties have adopted a "Code of the West "in hopes to educate potential newcomers with the nuances of having neighbors that farm for a living. Just like the settlers of old, newbie's arrive to their ranchettes with false expectations. And, like their early counterparts over a century before, they often wreck havoc on the animal kingdom, this time by disturbing migration patterns and draining natural resources that occur when expanses of open range are sliced up into tract developments. Computer Cowboys learn the hard way that the western lifestyle means tolerating dirt roads, slow farm equipment, inefficient fire, utilities and health services, endless dust, the aroma of animal manure and the flies that go with it. The Code of the West explicitly calls for "no whining" and is part of larger Right to Farm Movement that has enacted legislation to protect our farmers from nuisance civil lawsuits from disgruntled urban transplants. I'm Susan Allen and this has been Food Forethought... Source: USA Today new West code for city folk: No Whining