Note from the Editor

Note from the Editor header image
Thoughts from editor Andy Duncan.

Strolling through the farmers' markets in a growing number of Oregon towns and cities, especially in the western part of the state, could make you wonder if you're in France or Italy or some other far-off place. In this issue, you'll read about a study of this burgeoning method of selling fresh foods and other products.

You'll also read about:

* Research that involves satellites circling overhead and tiny computers more powerful than the ones that sent humans to the moon. Both are helping Oregon farmers grow crops.

* OSU scientists and extension agents racing to help farmers save a
crop we produce more of than any other state
.

* A facility south of Portland that's changing agriculture in the
Willamette Valley.

* A far-ranging effort to learn more about the lives of marine mammals.

But Glenn Bowen of Klamath Falls won't read any of this. He'll listen to it.

Mr. Bowen, 86, is nearly blind. Recently his daughter Lynden sent us a note asking if Oregon's Agricultural Progress is available through a program called Talking Books for the Blind.

It isn't. But Jeanne Bush, who handles our circulation, contacted OSU's Disability Services office. A week or so later, she proudly popped a cassette in a tape player and let me listen to the first audio issue of Oregon's Agricultural Progress.

"I enjoy it a lot," Mr. Bowen told us by phone after he received the tape.

If you know someone who might enjoy a tape of Oregon's Agricultural Progress, get in touch with Jeanne. The address is on the left frame of this page.