The only things growing fast in the drought of 2012 are the tentacles of its damage.
Wrath of the dry spell spreads far beyond crunchy lawns and withered gardens. Farmers see bleak prospects for their corn, soybean and wheat harvests. Federal agriculture officials touring Indiana farms last week concluded that 71 percent of the state’s corn crop is in poor to very poor condition from lack of rain and heat stress. The drought, the nation’s worst in 56 years, sent American corn and soybean prices to all-time highs this month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Tom Vilsack, the U.S. agriculture secretary, predicted the increased food prices would continue through 2013.
Because the U.S. produces nearly half of the world’s corn and large amounts of the globe’s wheat and soybeans, the drought could trigger international food shortages, according to a United Press International report. The last world food crisis hit in 2007 and 2008 during the global recession. In that period, U.S. food banks had to cut back on distribution, and food donations dropped 9 percent, according to Feeding America.
As the Wabash Valley deals with the effects of the hot, dry summer, we all should remember the neediest among us. Many folks will face tighter budgets as high air-conditioner use increases electricity bills and trips to the supermarket become costlier. Others don’t have the luxury of even experiencing those frustrations. Some people in the latter situation need assistance to keep food on their family’s table.
That’s where food banks, such as Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank, step in. The agency stocks 87 food pantries in seven west-central Indiana counties — Clay, Greene, Knox, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo. During the past three months, the Catholic Charities Foodbank here has provided an average of 171,500 meals per month. Pantries are designed to fill gaps in a family’s resources, getting some through the week when food stamps are running low, Tom Kuhl, director of the Catholic Charities Foodbank, said.
One source of supplies for Catholic Charities is the generosity of Wabash Valley farmers, who contribute fresh produce. In the heart of the drought, those farmers are still coming through, said Kuhl, but the harsh weather has curtailed their available crops. The growers simply have less in their fields.
“What we’re getting is a half or maybe a third of what we would normally be getting at this time,” Kuhl said. “[The farmers] understand the need is still there, but as far as the quantity they’d like to donate, their yields are down.”
For those with ample means, there are ways to help.
Non-perishable food items can be dropped off at the food bank at 1356 Locust St. in Terre Haute. Cash donations also can be accepted at that same location, or contributions can be made online at catholiccharitiesterrehaute.org. Through its network with suppliers, Catholic Charities can stretch one donated dollar into five pounds of food, Kuhl emphasized.
With no significant rain forecast for the next couple weeks, the drought could intensify. It’s already stunningly bad. “It really is a crisis. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like this in my lifetime,” Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who is 63 years old, told the New York Times.
Let’s not allow the epic nature of this predicament to blind us from its impact on children of poverty, the poor, the elderly and the disabled.
Editorials
EDITORIAL: Drought’s effects will hit more than just the fields
Be aware of impact on those less fortunate
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The celebration season
Spring has been a bit elusive at times in 2013, which is its nature.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: MVC tourney an event worth having
It’s been a long time since the Missouri Valley Conference chose Indiana State University to host its post-season baseball tournament, but Terre Haute had never been more prepared for an event such as this.
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EDITORIAL: Cleaning up voter rolls
It’s not a lot of money in the big scheme of things, but the $2 million designated in the recent session of the General Assembly will begin the messy but necessary process of cleaning up Indiana’s voter registration rolls.
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EDITORIAL: Waging the ‘readiness’ campaign
Almost every Hoosier who starts college intends to finish. Unfortunately, those who arrive on campus unprepared in key academic areas are far less likely to fulfill that aspiration.
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EDITORIAL: Insult to an independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: Dashing finish for the Sycamores
It’s always thrilling to see Indiana State University’s athletic teams do well in high-level competition, and two specific teams rose to impressive heights last weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships.
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EDITORIAL: Better monitoring needed to prevent local environmental messes
The nasty, hazardous messes lurking in the community raise a bottom-line, red-flag question. Could these environmental problems have been monitored and, thus, prevented?
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EDITORIAL: Memo to U.S.A.: You can ‘SPPRAK’ just as we do in Vigo County
Our kids, truly, are ‘Making a Difference’
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Some words in praise of boring government — Indiana’s
A conservative Republican governor has super majorities in both branches of the legislature. One might suspect such one-party government leads to major changes in public policy. This did not happen in 2013 in Indiana.
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EDITORIAL: Doc’s prescient prescription
Viewed through a 2013 prism, Doc Bowen’s response to the AIDS epidemic looks merely prudent, routine.
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EDITORIAL: Education remains worth the cost
Within the next few weeks, each of the local colleges will have conducted graduation ceremonies. A few days later, a different Class of 2013 will don caps and gowns for commencement — the seniors at five Vigo County high schools. It is still a smart, worthy aspiration for those high school grads to replicate the achievement of those college students by earning a higher-education degree.
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EDITORIAL: Good news for downtown
For decades, it seems, downtown Terre Haute has been in the throes of change
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EDITORIAL: Overall, state budget step in the right direction
For average Hoosiers uninterested in political point-scoring, the budget crafted by the Indiana Legislature inspires only muted, if any, fanfare.
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EDITORIAL: The lessons of organ donation
The range of emotion surrounding life-saving transplantation of a vital organ is extreme. It is the ultimate “good news-bad news” scenario.
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READERS’ FORUM: April 26, 2013
• Pence’s tax cuts benefit wealthiest
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
This does not qualify as a surprise in any way. But the Wabash Valley’s response to widespread flooding of recent days has been nothing short of impressive, even inspirational.
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EDITORIAL: Still waiting for the jobs reward
The forces in control of Indiana government for most of the past decade need to show some results to Hoosiers in one primary category.
Good-paying jobs. -
MARK BENNETT: Littered with irony: Why do people callously discard their trash, and who are they?
Though they aren’t acknowledged by the U.S. Census Bureau, there are basically two demographic groups of people … Those who would dump their old toilet on the banks of the Wabash River or a rural roadside. And those who wouldn’t.
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EDITORIAL: Doing the dirty work to clean up tossed trash
A first-of-its-kind, coast-to-coast project to remove litter from U.S. roadsides brought the Pick Up America crew through the Wabash Valley two years ago.
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EDITORIAL: Keep school security a local issue
The decision to provide armed security inside a schoolhouse should be made locally.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
Indiana’s parks need your help.
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EDITORIAL: The return of terror
Emotions today remain strong and raw in wake of Monday’s terror bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
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EDITORIAL: A solution to distracted driving … stop it … now
You’ve got to stop. You know you do it. It’s a miracle you haven’t caused a tragedy already.
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EDITORIAL: ‘Women of Influence’: 2013 selectees have given much to their communities
For the second year, United Way of the Wabash Valley has teamed up with local sponsors to select and honor a group of women who have made outstanding contributions to their communities, professions and families.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: A new honor for our veterans
A commendation goes out today to state Rep. Clyde Kersey, a Terre Haute Democrat who led the charge this week in the Indiana House of Representatives to pay tribute to the nation’s Purple Heart recipients.
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EDITORIAL: Shifting view on marriage
One could argue, as many have, that Sen. Joe Donnelly did the right thing last week when he dropped his support of government-sanctioned opposition to same-sex marriage. It wasn’t a radical move, considering most Democrats have now made the switch.
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MAX JONES: The American Newspaper: Changing? Yes. Dying? No way!
It happened again this past January when all those “looking at the year ahead” stories started popping up on Internet “news” websites and broadcast “news” programs. Under a provocative headline reading something like “Five industries/businesses doomed to tank in the coming year,” there it was, a prediction based on an unsubstantiated “expert” analysis that the newspaper industry will continue in 2013 to suffer its slide into oblivion.
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EDITORIAL: A chance to change our bad cultural habits
The sight of diligent, eager young people dragging trash out of the Wabash River wetlands is both inspiring and sad.
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EDITORIAL: Maintaining high standards
Standards
It’s the raging buzzword in education circles these days. Everyone insists that higher standards must be met. Anything less is, doggone it, unacceptable. -
Noteworthy in the news
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