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By Rick Moore
At the small parcel of land that they rent near Marine on the St. Croix, May Lee and her family provide food for themselves and the greater community. For the Lee family, it's a way of life. May Lee began farming at the age of eight in Laos, and continued when her family moved to St. Paul from a Thai refugee camp in 1981.
The Lee family may not be the first that comes to mind when you picture a typical Minnesota farm family, especially in generations past, and that's symbolic of how the face of agriculture has changed over the years. But one thing hasn't changed. In Minnesota, agriculture is still a family affair.
"In the state of Minnesota, our agricultural land and our agricultural production system are owned and operated by farm families," dean of University of Minnesota Extension Bev Durgan said. "I think that's something to get the word out on and also something to be very proud of."
Durgan and the University are doing just that. Since 1980, the U has annually been naming "Farm Families of the Year" from counties in all corners of the state, and May Lee and her family have been chosen as the 2009 Farm Family of the Year for Ramsey County.
Durgan says the program looks for farm families rooted in production agriculture and also active in their community. Beyond those common denominators, the family histories are as diverse as Minnesota's landscape. The Bruce and Lynette Wellendorf family, Farm Family of the Year for Big Stone County, tends 2,800 acres of corn and soybeans on a farm that was established in 1912. The Schaper family, the winner from Hennepin County, operates Minnetonka Orchards, a 13-acre spread that has some 3,800 trees including about 825 SweeTango trees – a new apple variety developed by the University of Minnesota.
And going back three years, Kay and Annette Fernholz were named the Farm Family of the Year for Lac Qui Parle County. Annette and Kay are biological sisters as well as members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and theirs is a growing ministry.
Because access to farmland has been a challenge, May Lee has rented land whenever the opportunity has presented itself. At the Minnesota Food Association, where she has farmed since 2007, she grows a variety of vegetables including tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, peas and onions. The Lees are the first Hmong farmers to be certified organic in Minnesota.
May works with her daughter, Mhonpaj, and other children in their family of 10. In addition to their land at the Minnesota Food Association, May also grows traditional herbs at a greenhouse in Mahtomedi. She sells her products at area farmers' markets, through her Mhonpaj's CSA (community-supported agriculture), and through the Minnesota Food Association.
According to Mhonpaj, winning the Farm Family of the Year award for Ramsey County is nice, but the family's satisfaction comes from successfully running a farm operation each day and from serving their community.
"It's a way of life. This is how we grew up, and we didn't think our lifestyle should get recognition," she said. "Our recognition that we're still waiting for is to buy land. To buy land that has a house so that we can sustain our lifestyle."
It's a lifestyle that Mhonpaj, 25, became accustomed to while growing up and even throughout her college years at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter. She was a triple major in health education, health fitness and political science, and also worked a number of jobs to get through school.
Even now, she finds time to work outside the farm. Mhonpaj is a medical interpreter at Hennepin County Medical Center, acting as a cultural liaison between doctors and Hmong patients. She's also been approved as a Ramsey County master gardener. And she's well aware of the resources available to farmers and others through Extension. "I stay very well connected to the University of Minnesota," she said.
Mhonpaj isn't the only one in her family who functions as a cultural liaison. May helps plan cooking shows each year that demonstrate how to prepare the traditional Hmong post-partum diet. And as part of the Mill City Museum's Hmong cultural celebration, May and family show others how to cook Hmong greens.
As Durgan points out, it's family farms like the Lees that help define the state.
"We're very broad and very diverse," she said, "and I think that's what has helped to make Minnesota agriculture strong."
By Sara Heger Christopherson
Minnesotans care about the quality of their water. As proof, since 1969, there have been rules in place to protect our ground and surface waters from contamination from inadequate and malfunctioning septic systems.
The University of Minnesota’s Onsite Sewage Treatment Program team has been involved in updating these codes — as research and technology has advanced and best practices have evolved. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), as well as local units of government such as counties, townships and municipalities implements the codes and adopted new codes in 2008.
State codes became mandatory in 1996 and some local units of government permitted septic systems that did not meet the state requirements previously. However, many septic systems designed and installed in compliance with previous state codes remain in compliance today. While an existing septic system does not need to meet all the standards of a new system, it must meet the minimum requirements of a watertight septic tank and a specific amount of soil under the drain field to properly treat the wastewater.
Currently, codes require that systems be inspected when a permit is requested for a bedroom addition. However, homeowner activities such as requests for building permits — in particular bedroom additions — and mortgage applications, property transfers and area surveys can also trigger local municipalities to issue a request for compliance inspection.
Local ordinances may be more restrictive than the MPCA codes and may have additional triggers, which require system upgrades. The septic system inspector should also evaluate other aspects of the system to advise the property owner on steps to lengthen the life of the system. This could include the system’s size, tank maintenance access, tank effluent screens and setbacks from other natural or manmade structures. These aspects do not affect the compliance of the system but will improve its performance.
If you need a compliance inspection, you’ll typically need to arrange for the inspection yourself. A licensed inspector in your area can be found by calling your local unit of government’s administration office or checking on the MPCA’s website. Some municipalities have additional restrictions on their septic system codes, so choose an inspector familiar with your area.
If you have a compliant system you’ll still need to conduct periodic maintenance to assure it remains up to code. According to the state code, this means your septic systems must be evaluated at least every three years and cleaned out when sludge and scum accumulate to the point of endangering the soil treatment system. If your system is non-compliant you’ll receive a notice of noncompliance and you’ll be legally required to repair or replace the failing components within a given period of time.
For more information, including links to the state regulations and locating an inspector, visit the University of Minnesota Onsite Sewage Treatment Program web site at http://septic.umn.edu
“Septic Sense” is a four-times-a-year column produced by the University of Minnesota’s Water Resources Center’s Onsite Sewage Treatment Program for homeowners who rely on septic systems to recycle their wastewater.
By: Nelson Rhodus, D.M.D, M.P.H.
Every year the United States sees 40,000 new cases of oral and pharyngeal (throat) cancer. In fact, 50 percent of people diagnosed will die within the next five years. While fatality rates for people infected with other forms of cancer have steadily decreased over the years, they remain stagnant for those with oral and pharyngeal cancer. Though these numbers are grim, research at the School of Dentistry provides hope for the future.
If detected early enough, oral cancer survival rates are as high as 75 to 90 percent. But lesions and sores in the mouth and throat are often unnoticed until it's too late. These early cancers often have no symptoms, therefore, our researchers are focusing on three objectives: simplifying early detection, refining early diagnostic testing methods and preventing cancer before it starts.
In the future, detecting oral cancer may be as easy as using a mouthwash. Our lab is investigating a new mouth rinse to determine its effectiveness in identifying oral lesions and sores. The rinse dries out abnormalities in the mouth, making it possible to see lesions not previously visible. Although this mouth rinse doesn’t diagnose cancer, it may be an effective indicator of whether or not a lesion should receive additional attention.
University researchers also are making strides with a minimally invasive testing method. Currently, biopsy is the gold standard for determining if a lesion is benign or malignant. Our lab is analyzing DNA from cells in saliva to see if it contains clues about whether a person is susceptible or is developing oral cancer. By simply spitting into a test tube, we might be able to determine if a person is susceptible to oral cancer or if a mouth sore is cancerous. This method of investigation also has the potential to screen for other types of cancer.
After receiving a grant from the National Institutes of Health, university researchers began developing a drug that prevents benign lesions from becoming cancerous. Though the transition time for an oral lesion to progress from benign to malignant is slow (about eight years), once the sore turns cancerous it spreads rapidly, infecting the bloodstream and lymph nodes. If this remedy is proven to work, the overall impact will be extraordinary; in essence, we’d be able to stop oral cancer before it even starts.
Traditionally, the majority of those infected with oral and pharyngeal cancer were male smokers over 40, but recently we’ve seen a shift in the demographic. Breakthroughs in current research have linked the HPV virus with oral cancer. Regardless of a person’s age or sex, it’s important to pay attention to changes in one’s mouth. If a sore or lesion has been present for more than 10 to 14 days, it must be checked right away. Early detection is the key to survival.
Nelson Rhodus, D.M.D, M.P.H., is professor in the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry’s Division of Oral Medicine and Diagnosis. This column is an educational service of the University of Minnesota. Advice presented should not take the place of an examination by a health-care professional. For more health-related information, go to http://www.healthtalk.umn.edu
By Shirley J. Anderson-Porisch
If you spend money then you need to have a spending plan. Everyone from a child with birthday money to parents on full-time incomes should have plans for how to spend and save money.
One important indicator of a successful spending plan is that there is money left at the end of the month. If you use a spending plan, you are likely involved in accomplishing many money tasks. You have set goals for your money – focused on the ways to increase income or decrease expenses. By tracking expenditures through cash recordings, checking registers and reviewing credit purchases, you can compare income and expenses for that monthly period and truly understand if your spending plan is balanced.
Probably the most important indicator of spending plan success is that you save some money each month. Your savings portfolio should be diverse – for emergencies, family goals and long-term needs including retirement, college and more. There is no “right” amount to save – that depends on income and expenses. So as a general rule, save some money every month for short and long term spending.
Using a spending plan wisely means paying bills on time and staying within the limits of planned spending amounts. This means that you don’t overdraw on your bank account and you can pay a credit card balance. These strategies are measures of affordability – you know what you can afford and you make the most of your available money.
In most households, there are organized and unorganized people. Hopefully the organized person keeps track of financial mail, paperwork and records – a critical indicator of spending plan success. Find a way to organize your paperwork that fits your needs. The system should allow for timely retrieval of important financial documents, allow you to maintain records for future reference and protect documents that are costly to replace.
My final indicator of success: if you are helping everyone in the household learn and practice money management skills. From your children to your partner, you can influence how they practice money management – the positive and the negative skills. Hopefully, the skills learned in your household will be on the positive side.
Success at managing money is never about how much money you have, but rather how you handle or manage the money you have available. Living by that principle will surely insure your secure financial future.
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Shirley Anderson-Porisch works as a family resource management Extension educator at the University of Minnesota and is an expert in family finance. She has long been a media contributor and is an accredited financial counselor.
Find more stories at: http://www1.umn.edu/news/features/index.htm