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August 15 , 2012

A place and a purpose

The Farmer’s House Market provides training for developmentally disabled adults

A

By ERIN WISDOM St. Joseph News-Press

At fi rst glance, it’s like any other incredibly cute country store with its freezer of pies, piles of fresh produce and shelves of jellies, mixes and syrups.

But at its heart is something much more significant than its inventory.

The Farmer’s House Market near Weston, Mo., opened in April as a means of providing training and work opportunities to developmentally disabled teens and adults — a longtime dream of local parents who wanted their son to have a place and a purpose after high school. “Once you get your arms around the fact you have a child with a disability, you start looking to the future,� says David Cunningham, whose now 16-year-old son, John David, was diagnosed with autism when he was a year and a half old. “There aren’t a lot of options, and

you start wondering, ‘What is he going to do when I can’t take care of him?’�

Mr. Cunningham and his wife, Peaches, set out to answer this through The Farmer’s House Market, which they established as a 501c3 organization in 2005. Today, about 20 “farmers,� as they’re called, are involved in the training programs it offers. These include The Flour Sack, which teaches baking skills and will begin producing items to sell in the store this fall, as well as the Seeds of Change Garden, which helps special-needs students from several Platte County high schools hone both vocational skills and the motor skills necessary for planting and maintaining crops.

Among these farmers-in-training is 36-year-old Dustin Edson, who during the school year has a job as a dishwasher and this year has Eric Keith | St. Joseph News-Press/

Please see A PLACE/Page 3

The Farmer’s House Market is located at what was formerly Vaughn Orchard on Highway 273, east of Weston, Mo.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Do you need to filter your water?

NSF International has some answers

By SYLVIA ANDERSON St. Joseph News-Press

Drinking a glass of water used to mean simply turning on the faucet. But that seems to be changing. Last year, U.S. bottled water sales hit a record high, and there’s been an avalanche of water filter systems being introduced into the market, from water pitchers to filters inside the refrigerator. Did we miss the memo that tap water is no longer safe to drink?

We asked Cheryl Luptowski, consumer safety expert at the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International. Founded in 1944, NSF International is an independent, notfor-profit organization that initially focused on public health protection in the area of food safety, and since 2000 has been in an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) to test products that treat drinking water or convey water.

(Answers have been edited for space.)

the EPA put out a mandate requiring that all water suppliers put out an annual water quality report.

They usually come out between May through July and are sent out to anyone who pays a water bill. Cities also post them online.

The reason we are seeing more water treatment systems and more knowledge of this in part is due to these reports. The reports are educating us on our water and how safe it is. Also, you have people who now question if they need bottled water, since there’s a cost associated with that. So families are looking at what is best and do I need both?

Q. Where can we find the water quality report for St. Joseph?

tells you what kinds of contaminants might be present there. In the St. Joseph water quality report, it looks like it’s basically derived from wells, rather than surface water. That typically tells us there will be more metals and minerals in the water than you would find where it’s from a surface water supply where there would be more chemical runoff.

This doesn’t always hold true, but I would say 75 percent of the time, that is the case.

Q. What else should you check?

A. You want to look at what treatment chemicals the city is using. I see your city is using chloramines. That is where they combine chloride and ammonia together to form a single disinfecting compound. The reason a lot of cities do that is to lessen the formation of disinfection byproducts.

A. I Googled St. Joseph water quality report and found it on the Missouri American Water website, h t t p : //w w w. a m w a t e r. c o m /m o a w/c u s t o m e r Q. How do you tell if it’s too service/water-quality-reports.html. much?

Q. When you look at a waA. St. Joseph has 4.5 to ter report, what are the main 11.8 for TTHMS (total trithings to check? halomethanes). A lot of Q. What’s up with all the A. I look for the source people I talk to are in the water filter systems? of my city’s water supA. About 10 years ago, ply. To some extent, it Please see DO/Page 4

Jessica Stewar t|St. Joseph News-Press

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

A place and a purpose

CONTINUED FROM page 1 spent some of his summer putting corn in bags, peaches in containers and price tags on fudge.

His mother, Nancy Edson, notes that Dustin is comfortable at the store because the work he’s given is tailored to his abilities and that because so many different jobs exist, he has a special sense of pride and ownership concerning his specific tasks.

“He feels empowered, almost,” Ms. Edson adds. “I’m just thrilled to death that there is a place nearby that’s working with people with disabilities.”

And the farmers and their families aren’t the only ones to benefit; consumers and companies do, as well. The Farmer’s House Market stocks a wide variety of food and other items from numerous businesses — many of them local — and also offers event space and catered meals in its upper level. This fall, barbecue cooked on-site will be available, too.

Despite the operation still being in its early stages, manager Colleen Fulton sees an impact it’s made already.

“The kids really love it here,” she says of the farmers. “I see some big changes in a few of them.”

The Farmer’s House Market has big changes of its own in mind: Building living quarters for workers, producing and selling more of its own items and eventually making farmers from its training program paid workers, to name just a few. (At this point only Ms. Fulton draws a salary; the many others who have helped get the store off the ground are volunteers.)

Even as the store continues to become established itself, it’s benefiting similar organizations by stocking their items. Its freshroasted coffee, for example, comes from Aspire Coffeeworks in Chicago, which staffs developmentally disabled people, and its pesto comes from Bittersweet Inc. in Ohio, which provides employment for people with autism. (Mr. Cunningham notes that although there were only three or four organizations like these throughout the country when he and his wife began researching them eight years ago, about 50 exist now.)

Other items in the

store include apple pies, peach pies and apple dumplings; a line of pie, brownie, and biscuit and gravy mixes; fresh produce from local farmers and from its own gardens; organic beef raised locally; a wide variety of nuts; fudge; sausages, ham, bacon and cheese; spices; a line of dips; and Red Barn Farmlabel pickles, peaches, jellies, syrups and honey. Non-food items for sale include cookware, toys, bubble bath, soap, towels, T-shirts, hats, headbands, watches and other jewelry. Holiday items are also starting to show up in plenty of time for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Farmer’s House Market is located across the road from Red Barn Farm at 23200 Highway 273, formerly the location of Vaughn Orchard, and is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call (816) 640-3276, go online to w w w.t hefa r mershouse. org or visit its Facebook and Twitter pages.

Between stocking the above-listed items, manning the store and tending to various other tasks, the farmers at The Farmer’s House Market have more than enough to keep them busy, learning and growing. Perhaps most importantly, though, they have a place to thrive as themselves.

“It’s exciting to see the fruits of our labor and to see this vision become a reality,” Mr. Cunningham says.

Erin Wisdom can be reached at erin. wisdom@newspressnow.com. Follow her on Twitter: @SJNPWisdom.

Talking to children about news violence

By BROOKE VANCLEAVE St. Joseph News-Press

Like any national tragedy, the recent movie theater shooting in Colorado likely will have a lasting impact on Americans for years to come. But while coverage of violent incidents on the news seems like a normal part of life for adults, it can negatively affect the emotional health of its unintended audience — young children.

Betsy Landers, president of the National Parent Teacher Association, sent out a nationwide statement in response to the shooting, urging parents to have discussions with their children about how to cope with violence they see on the news. One PTA resource, entitled “Discussing Hate and Violence With Your Children,” warns parents against assuming their kids aren’t paying attention to or reacting to news stories. Instead, adults should learn to recognize when a child needs to talk to someone about anything that’s bothering them, and develop good listening skills in order to help the child sort out his or her thoughts.

It isn’t always obvious when your child shows signs of upset in response to what they see on television, just as it isn’t easy to initiate a conversation and

answer any questions your child might ask. However, it’s important that children have an outlet to express their feelings whenever they equate what they see on the news to their own lives.

Dr. Susan Shuman, a board-certified psychologist with The Center, a Samaritan center for outpatient counseling services, says children’s reactions to what they see on the news can differ due to many factors, including their age, the relationships they have with peers, their family environment and the neighborhood they live in.

A common reaction she sees is children beginning to fear that whatever happened on the news could happen to them or their loved ones.

“They might start to wonder, ‘Could this happen here, could this happen to us?’” Dr. Shuman says. “Their normal behaviors might change, and they might withdraw from situations they might normally be a part of.”

She says parents should follow their gut instincts if they believe something might be bothering their child, because instinct is usually true. Allow the child to ask questions, listen carefully and clarify what they ask to better understand where the questions are coming from.

Kathy Roberts, counselor at Hall Elementary School, writes in an e-mail that a good way to tackle hard questions is for parents to monitor children’s access to the news.

“Parents must be aware of what news stories their children are watching, and to what degree,” she writes. “The best scenario would be that parent(s) and children watch news stories about such tragedies together so questions can be answered immediately in an age-appropriate manner.”

If children don’t have a way to express their fears, they sometimes can act out in response to what they have seen, even so far as believing they had a role in the tragedy that has taken place.

“Sometimes children will turn their worries inward and show more depressed affect. Or turn worries outward and become aggressive to others or themselves. Children might also think they have personally done something to cause a tragedy, or exaggerate their role in the

experience,” Mrs. Roberts writes.

Counselors and teachers usually have programs and policies in schools that allow children to talk in a safe and understanding environment. If something a child has seen on TV or in the community is bothering them, school officials can provide support for them and ease their worries.

Unfortunately, parents can’t control what content is put on the news, nor can they protect their children from everything.

The best approach for addressing violent news is to limit a child’s exposure to television content meant for adults, communicate with them often and allow them to just be a kid. Although world news issues are important for general public information, most children simply don’t care, and until they reach a certain age, perhaps they shouldn’t need to.

“Let them know it’s OK to be cautious of their surroundings, but to not live life in fear,” Dr. Shuman says.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Do you need to filter your water?

Q. What is the best water filter to use in the mean40, 50, 60 range. You have time?

CONTINUED FROM page 2

A. Look for a product that uses a combination of technologies. The reverse osmosis systems come with carbon filters. If you use two technologies together in a single system, Q. Can you taste the con- potentially you would have the a better ability taminants?

No, most of these you to reduce contaminates cannot physically sense in than one system alone. the water through taste. That would be the best Especially a lot of these suggestion I would have suspected carcinogens, at this point in time.

Q. Will the water pipes gosuch as chloramines, trihalomethanes and arse- ing to your home change the nic. Some mineral content water quality?

A. It depends on the you can taste, but a lot of things you can taste don’t age of your home. In 1998, have a health risk asso- the EPA changed the lead ciated with them. Sulfur content law for fixtures. would be one of those. But Today the fixtures are it’s one of the things that not allowed to have anythe carbon filters on the where near the amount of lead content prior to 1998. market can absorb.

Q. Do we always need a wa- So some of the homes built prior to World War ter filter?

A. No, unless you have II will have lead service a contaminate that’s pres- lines. The service line ent or present at a level is the pipe that connects that concerns you. In St. the home water supply Joseph, there is nothing to the city’s distribution that comes close to the system. So if you have an state’s maximum of im- old home, it’s a good idea purities. Everything from to have the water tested the report looks like there for lead, especially if you is a very good quality of have young children.

Q. What is the most imwater there. If you have portant thing to know about a compromised immune system, you might want filters?

A. You need to keep up to be protected. Once you look at the water report on filter changes. If that and discuss it with your filter gets full of contamihealth care provider and nates, your water will want to treat for contami- be passing through basinates, we are here to help. cally untreated. So you Q. Does the water qual- may think you are getting ity report include amounts protection against lead or of pharmaceuticals found in parasites, but you won’t the water? In 2008, an Asso- be. You will have a false ciated Press investigation all sense of security.

very low levels of disinfection byproducts, which is very good to see. That’s one of the things I look for in water reports because they are suspected carcinogens.

Q. Does the NSF International make product recommendations?

over the country found low concentrations of dozens of pharmaceuticals in drinking water including antibiotics, aspirin, blood pressure medications and antidepressants around the country.

A. Those are not being regulated yet, so there are no health standards and there is no protocol for water treatment systems yet. We don’t know to what extent they are in everyone’s water supply, and we don’t know what the health risks are yet.

The EPA is looking into doing studies on that, and we are setting up a protocol for testing the basic compounds, but what will have to happen first is some health limits need to be set.

A. We are not like Consumer Reports and recommend one brand over another. But once we have the list of contaminants, we can narrow them down to a product style and a list of five or 10 products that meet their specific needs.

For more information and to get help with choosing a water filter system, visit www.nsf.org or call the Consumer Affairs Office toll-free hot line at (800) 673-8010.

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LIBRA - Sept 23/Oct 23 This is the week to shop for something new, Libra. It may be a new wardrobe, some new furnishings, or even a new car. Your purchasing power is high right now.

SCORPIO - Oct 24/Nov 22 Your academic history and workload don’t leave much room for creativity. But if you want to go out and do something, then simply do it.

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