ADVOCATE TO KEYNOTE FARM CONFERENCE – How land, equipment, and knowledge is passed on to the next generation will impact the U.S. farm economy, according to farmer and National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) Executive Director Lindsey Lusher Shute, featured keynote speaker at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s (OEFFA) 37th annual conference, Growing Right by Nature, this February in Granville, Ohio (Licking County).
In her Saturday, February 13 keynote address, “Building Our Collective Strength: An Agenda for the Next Generation,” Shute will discuss the structural obstacles getting in the way of this transition and the opportunities to strengthen family farms through policy change.
“Today’s young farmers and ranchers are…taking tremendous personal and financial risks to feed the country and build a healthy food system,” Shute wrote for whitehouse.gov, where she was named a Future of American Agriculture Champion of Change. We must shape “a country where young people who are willing to work hard, get trained, and be entrepreneurial can support themselves and their families in farming.”
ART SATURDAY SLATED AT ASHLAND – Ashland University’s Coburn Gallery and Art Club will hold an “Art Saturday” class, an educational and creative experience for children and teens ages 10 to 17, on Feb. 20 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 346 of the Center for the Arts on the Ashland University campus.
The class, titled “Design It Yourself – Skateboard Deck,” is specifically designed for tweens ages 10 to 13 and teens ages 14 to 17.
Young artists will be led through the design process, transfer their images onto the skateboard deck and then paint and finish the design in one class setting. A blank skateboard deck will be provided to each student and is included in the cost of the course. Following the class, the designed skateboard can be used as a skateboard or as a shelf.
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING – Growing old is not for the faint of heart; you need a positive attitude, says the Association of Mature American Citizens.
A new, one-of-a-kind study led by Becca Levy, associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at the Yale School of Public Health suggests that the way we think about growing old may have an impact on the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
“We believe it is the stress generated by the negative beliefs about aging that individuals sometimes internalize from society that can result in pathological brain changes. Although the findings are concerning, it is encouraging to realize that these negative beliefs about aging can be mitigated and positive beliefs about aging can be reinforced, so that the adverse impact is not inevitable.”
