President Obama’s administration has done several things toward making Americans more aware of their close connection to our nation’s farmers, (you can’t get much closer than the food on your plate!) There’s the Whitehouse Farmer’s Market, Healthy Food Healthy Children, and Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food programs to name just a few, but we still seem to be fighting an uphill battle when it comes to produce imports far exceeding exports, or local food for that matter. On average each American consumes roughly fifty pounds of imported fresh fruits and vegetables in any given year. That’s a lot of food NOT benefiting local communities, economies and farmers. And as we have so tragically discovered in the not so distant past imported produce is four times as likely to have illegal levels of pesticide residue or illness causing bacteria as domestic produce. The current administration appears to be working hard to develop more sustainable agriculture in America, but there is still ample room for improvement. Guess it’s a good thing the United States is a continuing work in progress.