Homeland Security Reaches Farms

Another good piece on how the struggle against global terrorism has extended to the nation's farms...

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has given away 40,000 signs to farmers with tips for securing their operations against potential terrorism risks and numbers to call in the event of an emergency.

Terrorists have previously used diseases and poisons in this country as weapons, mostly notably 20 years ago in Oregon when members of a cult sickened 750 people by tainting a salad bar with salmonella.

Because the heart of the nation's food supply is in rural areas, a growing number of federal lawmakers are demanding more money to secure farms from these potential risks.

"They don't grow many beef cattle in New York City, and they don't grow much corn in downtown Houston," said Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's homeland security subcommittee. "The rural areas are where the food supply comes from. That's ... a big reason to be sure so-called rural areas keep getting some (homeland security) funds."

Posted by Jim Langcuster at May 24, 2004 09:22 AM | TrackBack