Thursday evening. The Town Hall is being organized by Nancy Sherman with Healthy Kids Luna County to begin the dialogue on food choices in the area. Sherman said that while Luna is considered an agricultural county, many residents have lost their skills, techniques and tools for raising fruits and vegetables in a home garden. In addition, Sherman said our farmers and ranchers ship 95% of what is produced here away, and then residents buy back 97-percent of this food after it has been heavily processed, packaged and less nutritious.
Sherman points to Annie Casey Foundation's "Kids Voice" statistics that show Luna County has more child poverty than any other county in the United States.
Other statistics, she says, show an alarming increase in childhood obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
Sherman has lined up guest speakers for the town hall that include Matt Stong of Preferred Produce and ranchers Jon and Susie Eickhoff, as well as representatives from Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall's offices to discuss the Federal Farm Bill to be voted on this year.
The Town Hall meeting is open to anyone interested and will take place this Thursday at 5 p-m at the La Fonda Restaurant.