The purpose of government in the common view is to protect and promote the welfare of the people. The rational view of this purpose includes – of necessity – considerations of ecology of our food supply, how it is produced, and where.

We, for a time, felt favored by living near a source of beef that is well-nourished on good ground and raised and marketed by a group of people sharing our insular culture and outlook. The product, when available in a local grocery, bore the name of a Lopez family. Shipped from a nearby island, it conformed to an important principle of ecology, resulting in modest cost and pollution of the atmosphere.

But what has happened to the Lopez family and their splendid product? Seeking it on Orcas, we found, instead, a product that was shipped 2,000 miles or so from Wisconsin by strangers, thus involving transport pollution on a larger scale. In the Islands’ Sounder some time ago, we had read that our county government had taken an interest in the Lopez family operations. We hear that the county questioned compliance with regulations by the Jones Family Farm on Lopez. Ultimately, your paper assured us that no action was being taken against them; no problem. Yet, their operations seem to have ceased. How has the peoples’ welfare been promoted? Local small entrepreneurs form the basis of the most successful and appreciated American way of life.

By the way, I’ve never heard a complaint from a consumer on the Jones Family Farm’s superb and nourishing product.

App Applegate

Olga