Thank you to all who encouraged me to run in the primary election for representing Windham County in the State Senate, and for all who supported me in so many ways.
The race allowed all of us, the candidates, to articulate our views on the issues that are so important to so many in all the towns in the county.
I appreciated the opportunity to be part of the process.
...You might know that I am running for State Senator from Windham County, and I want to share with you my reason for doing so. While I was born in Brattleboro, I grew up in the small town of Brookline in the West River Valley. Vermont has always been...
My parents were part of what Tom Brokaw, the former national television news anchor, called “the greatest generation.” They gave but did not ask for anything in return. My parents, like others at that time, experienced many challenges, among them the struggles of the Depression and the challenges to...
It is being called the “renaissance of the past,” this renewed interest in agriculture and food systems within our state. It manifests itself in many forms to include growth in community supported agriculture (CSAs), farmers' markets, food hubs, and the further diversification of agricultural production with an array of products from the land and animals that are raised on the land. This rebirth further reinforces Vermont's past, its present, and its future. Vermont's agriculture, forests, and working landscape have always...
While the flood of 1927 is considered by many to be the greatest natural disaster in Vermont in the last 100 years, the recent storm called Irene created great damages to farms, buildings, businesses, bridges and highways, and travel. It is difficult to draw comparisons; when individuals' lives and livelihoods are disrupted, it does not matter if it is 1927 or 2011. Nevertheless, we can learn from the past as well as from current events. From the early period when...
The dairy pricing system in the United States is broken. It is antiquated, dating back to the 1930s when markets were not as complex as they are today, and simply does not work as originally intended. And although there has always been some volatility and market fluctuation in dairy pricing, the swings are becoming more dramatic and occur more often. This most recent downturn in prices is the worst yet. Cost of production is almost twice what farmers are getting...