North Carolina Now; 4529; Interview with Patricia Sullivan

It's Thursday July 9th. Tonight building a future for the small family farm in North Carolina now. Hello I'm arrayed I'm a tray welcome to this Thursday edition of North Carolina now improving the reading proficiency of second graders is the goal of a tutoring program operated by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This program has proven so successful that

now it's being exported to other states. Chancellor Patricia Sullivan of U.N. S.G. will be here this evening to tell us all about it. But up first tonight we focus on agriculture and efforts to protect the livelihood of the small family farmer. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture has a promotional campaign underway designed to help more small farmers sell their produce directly to consumers. Small growers are threatened not only by a farm economy that favors large scale operations but also by continued attacks on tobacco the financial mainstay of many family farmers here in North Carolina. Bob Garner has this report on one state plan to help keep more small farmers in business. It's the oldest form of commerce in the world for thousands of years and in every country on earth farmers have brought their goods to market and hungry people have gathered to buy them along with other things they need. In our modern society a lot of middlemen have gotten involved in the process. But here in North Carolina the Department of

Agriculture is trying to get more people to buy more of what they need directly from the farmers. It's a campaign to support small and minority farmers which the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says are an endangered species. The number of farms in the state has declined by nearly two thirds in the last 30 years. Many of the farms that remain have far less than the average of 158 acres and mainly grow produce. Archie Hart is a special assistant to agriculture commissioner Jim Graham. There are a lot of farms out there that will offer them good fresh produce and I would note a lot of people on are wanting to eat healthier. So there are a great opportunity out there to find that fresh fruits and vegetables on offer. Small farms it is possible to make money as a small produce growing farmer Brian Richardson of Zabulon got started 18 years ago right out of high school and with nothing but this old tractor. He works 20 acres belonging to his

grandmother and rents another 60 or so acres. Like many small farmers he has a small tobacco allotment. About two and a half acres worth many small scale growers depend on the high profitability of tobacco to help make produce growing feasible. But in a time of uncertainty over tobacco's future Richardson says he's learning to operate so as to do without the crop altogether. If you look after your crop you can make as much money own smaller acreage and specialty crop. I guess tomato eggplant pepper. Mitch had hit the seasons right. And you can make as much money on that as you can. Twenty thirty acres of back yeah I mean it's no problem to do it you just have to look at it. But if all small farmers stop growing tobacco and depended on produce there isn't nearly enough of a market for their crops at present to keep them afloat which is at least part of the reason for the campaign to promote more direct buying. Brian Richardson now sells the biggest

proportion of his cucumber crop under contract to a pickle manufacturer. But even before that came along he says he's always thought ahead about where to market his crops. If you don't know what you're going to do with it there's no need to plan need to know where it's going before to say to put in the ground. Contact local grocery stores and see about how many bushels they use in a week. If they're willing to buy from you and not go from a wholesaler restaurant they use peppers cabbage the latest. Tonight is it your own operations roadside stands and local farmers markets offer the same good tasting produce just out of town. What's more prices are bargains. So why settle for produce imported from Mexico California or Texas. Visit a local farmer who sells direct. He has the Agriculture Department hopes that as a result of its campaign which includes

TV public service announcements more people will seek out local farmers in their area tell them what produce they normally consume and arrange to come out and pick it up. Melvin Jones of Knightdale grows tobacco but depends on friends and neighbors to buy up his garden corn. I have two different types. I have a sieve a king queen and a similar cane now. And you can eat off the cob and a very delicious. Everybody loves calling at her to just stay in contact with me 30 neighbors on the phone in a boat and I'll be glad to help you no one. Jones also grows beams cabbage potatoes and squash squash got too big and will have to be thrown out because no one arranged to buy them. Consumers are also being urged to patronize more pick your own operations roadside stands and farmers markets.

Meanwhile efforts are also underway to sell more local produce directly just schools. One of the things that we want to do is to form a relationship between the school systems and the farmer is that to me is say a match made in heaven that we give our students the best. We're always wanting to put monies in our school system so let's also put good nutrition in our school system and do it locally and thereby rotating that money back into the community also. Agriculture officials believe that by encouraging more direct sales of produce they will help consumers become better educated about what's involved in growing and pricing fresh foods. They wonder why I consciously am I not right I understand why he is not a plant. Parking in and out you get a Sandman that hardline So now that's that has to be a county in tow.

Most land use experts agree that small farms help preserve the rural character of much of North Carolina which in turn contributes to the overall quality of life for those who live in suburbs or cities. Agriculture officials hope more Tarheel citizens will invest effort into helping keep small farmers on their land. Many like Brian Richardson don't ask for a lot. I do it because I like to do it. I now if I didn't make any money I do it I think is honest I could if we could eat that and live that's all it matters now. If I didn't make anything other than just enough to pay the bills that I'd be happy. I can't stand being sad. And if you'd like to find out more about smaller farmers markets in your area or if you'd like to establish a relationship with a local farmer Well I suggest that you call your local County Agricultural Extension office. Now later in this half hour Bob Garner has a look at farmer's markets and what they have to offer. And also coming up on the program a conversation with the chancellor of the University of North Carolina

at Greensboro. But first here's Michel Louis with the statewide news summary. Thanks Maria. Good evening everyone. Topping our news the Senate Judiciary Committee today voted to accept a package of sweeping reforms intended to overhaul the state's juvenile justice system. The package called the juvenile justice reform act was crafted by a bipartisan commission and has the support of Governor Hunt contained in the package or several initiatives to address juvenile crime including a plan by Lieutenant Governor Dennis Wicker to punish delinquent teens by suspending their driver's license. The full Senate is expected to vote on the measure next week. A bill to ensure patient confidentiality is under consideration in the general assembly. The measure requires the consent of a patient before records that identify the patient are released. The bill will allow law enforcement officers doctors administering emergency care. Health researchers and insurance companies confirming billing to access certain records without consent. Some lawmakers and consumer groups want the bill to include criminal penalties for those who violate patient privacy and

medical research companies are lobbying the legislature to make sure that the way they do business is not severely limited. House Budget analysts have zeroed in on a number of Perry's provisions contained in the Senate version of a state budget. Of particular interest is a salary increase of 13 percent for the chairman of the state utilities commission and the reclassification of a secretary's position at the Industrial Commission. The secretary's new title would become executive secretary with a salary increase of 45 percent. The budget passed by the state Senate includes a 3 percent raise plus a 1 percent bonus for most state employees. Some members of the State Board of Education are leery of a legislative plan to gut a law governing the racial makeup of schools. The House Finance Committee has approved a bill that would exempt charter schools from the racial balance requirement and instead call for a good faith effort. Members of the State Board of Education say they want to keep the law and encourage charter schools to reflect the racial diversity of their communities. Black board member Eddie Davis asked conservative

legislators see charter schools as a way to gain vouchers and tax credits where tuition at private schools and quote they are writing the backs of the minority communities to get what they want it all along. The state House has passed a bill aimed at cutting membership on the state board of transportation down from 26 members to 19. The bill passed by an overwhelming majority after House members dropped a provision to limit contribution abounds boards board members can make to the governor a narrow majority defeated the Amendment supporting the argument that a contribution limit would discourage some well-qualified business leaders from serving on the board. Other House members argue the restriction would help to erase the perception that board seats are for sale. The state House has approved a bill to study new technology to phase out cesspools now being used to deposit hog waste. The bill requires the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to study new hog waste treatment methods that would eventually replace waste lagoons and spray irrigation systems. The bill was passed after the removal of language mandating a

phase out of current treatment systems and instead requires recommendations for the development of a phase out plan. Only if it's economically feasible. And now for a look at tomorrow's weather 80 and 90 degree highs will spread across the entire state for Friday partly cloudy skies will cover the western and eastern ends of the state while mostly sunny skies are forecast for the Central Piedmont region. In business news economists predict output growth in the six southeastern states despite some setbacks. Experts anticipate regional third quarter growth to be in the neighborhood of 4 percent over last year. By contrast the nation is forecast to grow by three point two percent for the same period. Economists say they don't expect lasting economic damage from the Florida wildfires and hopes of a settlement in the GM strike would quickly reverse any downward spiral as suppliers rebound to make up for lost production. The American Red Cross has announced plans to open a new centralized financial operation in Charlotte next spring. About 150 employees will staff the facility. The center will consolidate key financial

functions and support systems as part of an organization wide initiative instituted by Red Cross president and Solsbury native Elizabeth Dole. Quality of life cost of living and access to other cities through the U.S. Airways Charlotte hub were factors in the decision. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. Second

graders in the Triad are improving their reading fluency and comprehension skills through a program called reading together. This program operated by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is now being expanded to other states with expansion plans in the works for other parts of North Carolina. It's always a pleasure to welcome to North Carolina now the chancellor of you and say Greensboro Dr. Patricia Solomon welcome back to the program. It's always a pleasure to be here. Tell us about reading together reading together is a program that we have put together as a partnership with the Guilford schools and the National Council for the Research Institute for Innovation and education of Jerusalem University. And we learned about

it from a mission to Israel that our provost and a member of the Guilford school board took a number of years ago. Then our provost Pritchard came back and work with our faculty and with the Guilford schools to adopt the program. It's called a cod in Israel and so we have been developing the materials and training the teachers and now we have just finished conducting a pilot in 13 schools in the Triad region. How does the program the program works by pairing second graders who are falling behind in reading with fifth graders who are good readers and they meet over a period of 21 weeks in very structured instruction in which the second grader will read a passage and the fifth grader will correct them or prod them on or praise

them and they keep track of how the 2nd grader is reading. And at the end of the lesson the second grader gets to do an activity of his or her choice. That's a reading based that's kind of fun. Pick something special to read. Maybe do a game which involves reading and then when the tutors to Teasley the fifth graders all get together with the teacher. And they talk about what they've learned and that is one of the most powerful aspects of the program is to hear the insights of the fifth graders talking about what they've learned. We have learned from the preliminary results that reading achievement is up. It's a very impressive increase. And most importantly the test for reading motivation in the second graders have increased dramatically. Why is this something that you can see Greensboro is involved with.

Well we are in our school of education. We have taken as part of that mission to work closely with the public schools to find ways to increase the quality and effectiveness of public education at all levels. And when we learned about this program we knew that it would compliment an existing program called Reading Recovery which works with first graders. And so this program would pick up the children who did OK in the first grade but then they're starting to fall behind in the second grade. And so now this program has proven to be so successful that you're starting to expand it to other states. Yes what we are we have two plans in motion now thanks to the support of the General Assembly we have been able to get the program started and what we intend to do is to spread it all over North Carolina. And we are running information sessions and then we will do training for the school districts that are interested and

then we have just received a large grant for seven hundred fifty thousand dollars to take the program to five states as a first step to making it a national program. So in the fall we will be working with five or more selected school districts in states across the country that represent a kind of broad spectrum. Educational needs. Tell us a little bit more about why you believe this program works it obviously has benefits on so many different levels. When you see it what you're impressed by is the high level of engagement of the second graders. They're very serious about it. They express a lot of enjoyment and they also feel a sense of accomplishment and you can just see it in the way in which they read in the course of the lesson. The other thing is that the fifth graders feel so good about helping a second grader and working together as a

team so that when they meet they talk about their student as sort of their buddy and their friend. The other interesting thing is we've heard from the second graders that they feel good because there's a older student who is my buddy and watching out for me. And so we're seeing benefits for both the Tutsis and the tutors. On a related note see Greensboro is just a year establishing an endowed professorship for literacy. Yeah Stan tell us about that. We are thrilled. Chuck Hayes the CEO of Guilford Mills who was a former trustee and chair of our board has just made a wonderful gift to U.N. S.G. to establish an endowed professorship in honor of former chancellor Bill Moran. And we have decided to put that professorship in the area of reading and literacy. We know that's an interest of Mr. Hayes and it's also in the

interest of Chancellor Moran. And it would be a wonderful compliment to our work and reading together and to the whole emphasis on reading education in the School of Education. Well Chancellor SULLIVAN There's always exciting things going on at you and see Greensboro and I appreciate you coming here to tell us about them. Thanks for reading any time and I do I do appreciate the invitation and I would urge people to learn more about it it's a wonderful program. We have a phone number where people can learn more about that. If you would like more information about you and reading together program you can call 3 3 6 3 3 4 3 4 4 6. As we saw earlier in the program there's an effort underway to persuade more in North Carolina

consumers to buy fresh fruits and vegetables directly from the farmers who grow them. But some people evidently need little persuasion as shown by the fact that farmers markets of all types are thriving. Bob Garner has more. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the number of farmers markets nationwide has grown dramatically in recent years. It's a simple concept. Consumers get fresher taste and reasonable prices. Farmers get a bigger share of the consumer food dollar. There are four state run regional farmer's markets located in Asheville Charlotte Greensboro and Raleigh. A fifth is in the planning stages for the Lumberton area one of several regions where uncertainty over tobacco's future viability is helping fuel efforts to expand the market for produce and other products. I'm reluctant to say that it will bridge the entire gap that we're going to see as far as a loss but it will it will make a dent in it. For instance we have seen numbers of growers here increase already seeing some effects of the

shakiness of the tobacco situation. The reluctance of the growers to make investments into the Baka mushroom in urban growth especially in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas provides a strong customer base for the regional markets. Once a week we come from the other side of Raleigh to the farmers market to get our produce for the wheat and its course is much fresher and it lasts much longer. Once we're taken home so it has well become good buys good deals nice place to shop. The Raleigh market like the other state run facilities rents space for a surprisingly low five to seven dollars per day for a 12 by 25 foot area. But there's also a huge center where wholesalers buy from farmers. There's a garden center with a wide selection of plants and flowers. There's a seafood restaurant in market a full service restaurant featuring the freshest vegetables and fruits and a more or less permanent year round retail area. There's a place to buy country hams and other pork products

and a wide variety of North Carolina made delicacies. Why a permanent shop at the farmer's market. People come out looking for lovable fresh Fridays and everything we have in the store is still or made in the state of California. Yeah look at these people. We carry barbecue sauces we have several North Carolina wines. We have candies that are made in North Carolina. We have the Moravian cookies that are made in North Carolina Candy from Lizard Lick. And we have a battle of the sauces every year and the people that compete in that we care the sauces the large regional markets are matched in popularity all around the state by smaller farmers markets of every description. Some county wide some one afternoon a week affairs like this Thursday afternoon market in Pittsburgh. We have 18 to 20 maybe 25 enter so we constantly and we have a full variety we have fresh vegetables and we now have the fruit the

berries come in and also state support wonderfully I mean it's it's we couldn't be here without their support. Our customers are the best they turn out every week regardless of the heat of the rain and it's a real benefit to us local farmers at the smaller markets. Shoppers are more apt to find organic produce or specialty items like goat's milk soap available. One thing that's common to markets large and small is the availability of fresh foods to low income families. The state distributes annual checks through county health departments redeemable at farmers markets for those who qualify for the women's infants and children's or wick program. So in our high tech fast paced world regardless of our current circumstances we can all get in touch with our agrarian heritage. I've enjoyed the freshest of the Lambs bounty at the nearest farmer's market. The state run regional farmers markets are open Monday through Saturday from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Sunday afternoon from 1 to 6. Well that

brings to a close tonight's edition of North Carolina now thanks for sharing part of your evening with us on tomorrow's program we'll get an update from the legislature. Plus we'll air the pros and cons of offering incentives to lure business here to our state. Our guests will be John Hood of the John Locke Foundation who will speak against business incentives and commerce secretary Rick Carlisle who will speak in favor. It promises to be an interesting exchange of views. Have a great night and we'll see you back here tomorrow. Good night everyone. The way the law the way the law.