Thursday, July 24, 2003

From ENN, an article on how tobacco farmers are "kicking" the habit without sacrificing their financial security, and all while benefitting sustainable farming concerns and the environment. I know there was a large tobaco growing area in and around Edgerton, Wisconsin, just north of my home town. Maybe this will give some of the farmers up that way some ideas.

Leading in...

"From the outside, this looks like any other barn tucked into a sleepy mountain hollow of Stickleyville, Virginia in the Appalachians. Rows of tobacco plants skewered on wooden poles hang like dry-cleaning from the rafters while all around the hillsides explode with autumn colors, which mirror the tints of lemon, orange and mahogany in the cured tobacco.

But inside this barn a revolution is brewing. Among the unlikely pioneers is Sam Askins, a 54-year-old farmer, whose family has been raising tobacco in nearby Russell County since 1786. “Growing ’bacco is a bad habit,” Askins says with a chuckle as he adjusts his bright orange hunting cap. “So I quit.”"

Read more in: Ex-tobacco farmers kick the habit and go organic

No comments: