Opinion
This year marks the 234th anniversary of the adoption of Declaration of Independence. Pause to take a look at this remarkable document and what it means to the history of the United States.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
- Details
- Written by: The Founding Fathers
“Solving the Problem of Obesity Within a Generation” is a comprehensive document released by the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity that addresses where we as a nation stand on the obesity subject, along with solutions.
The goal of the White House Task Force is to reduce childhood obesity rates to the levels they were 30 years ago. It’s hard to comprehend that in less than three decades we have gone from a country where over half the states had an obesity rate less than 10 percent to a country with an obesity rate that now averages 25 to 29 percent.
Bringing this a bit closer to home, in Lake County, obesity samples of our children show that:
28 percent of 4- to 5-year-olds are overweight or at-risk (well-child visits);
29 percent of seventh graders are at an unhealthy weight (2008 Food Policy Advocates);
80 percent of overweight adolescents become overweight adults.
Our communities are paying for this epidemic in medical costs as well as poor health.
Our health: Recent studies indicate that body mass index (ratio of height and weight) is the most significant factor in cancer prevention. A 2003 study by the American Cancer Society of more than 900,000 men and women showed that the heaviest men had death rates from all cancers combined that were 52 percent higher than the rates among normal-weight men and that women had cancer death rates 62 percent higher than normal-weight women.
Obesity is also linked to high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart disease and other chronic health conditions.
Our economy: Economic costs for obesity, overweight and physical inactivity in Lake County totals $78 million annually for health care and lost productivity, according to a study conducted by Chenoweth & Associates based on a similar study by CA Dept of Health Services.
The good news is that we are doing something about this in our community.
For instance, have you noticed that there is a strong movement to eat more locally grown produce? Our local restaurants, schools, senior centers, and other institutions are purchasing more locally grown products. This helps our health and our economy.
Fresh vegetables and fruit provide numerous nutritional benefits and help to maintain a healthy weight. Fiber intake has been shown to be the single greatest dietary factor in maintaining a healthy weight over time. Dried beans are particularly high in fiber, but all plant based foods from whole grains to vegetables, fruit and nuts provide good fiber.
Be sure to visit your local farmer’s market for fresh, farm-direct produce during the months ahead. Conveniently located Farmer’s Markets are popping up all over Lake County:
Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Steele Winery, Kelseyville;
Wednesdays, 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Library Park, Lakeport;
Thursdays, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Coyote Valley Plaza, Hidden Valley Lake;
Fridays, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Redbud Library, Clearlake.
Naturally, our local grocery markets also supply a bounty of produce.
School food service directors are playing a leadership role in preparing healthy meals for students while having to operate on a shoe-string budget. They are creating innovative programs and developing relationships with local farmers, thereby steadily increasing their purchase of fresh produce.
In the Kelseyville school district, the food service director has tripled her purchase of locally-grown produce over the past school year. This is a great way for all children to have access to nutritious food. Other school districts also are increasing purchase of local produce.
To continue supporting wellness polices in our schools and to augment these important farm-school efforts in our school cafeterias, elementary schools in nearly every school district are now using the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) curriculum.
Sutter Lakeside Hospital was awarded a grant on behalf of the Health Leadership Network in 2008 that has funded teacher, food service, and administrator training on the CATCH program. CATCH is a grab-and-go, evidence based program with proven results. It integrates nutrition lessons, physical activity, food service and parent participation. The program was launched in 2008 and approximately 25 elementary school classrooms have hosted CATCH demonstrations. Teachers appreciate the unique “grab-and-go” style curriculum, and additional educator trainings are in the works.
Community collaborations are an important component in helping fight this obesity epidemic in our communities. Along with the CATCH curriculum, several Lake County school districts are working with other organizations, such as the Hunger Task Force and AmeriCorps to help educate children, teachers and parents.
One example of these successful collaborations are the school garden projects that are spreading across the county, as they are a proven way to get kids excited about eating fresh vegetables.
A very exciting garden project is under way in Upper Lake, utilizing a 2.5-acre parcel of land adjacent to the high school.
According to Tammy Alaksay, of AmeriCorps, this project has the potential to incorporate literally the entire community from the Head Start preschool, to the elementary school, high school, agricultural department, and Upper Lake community members.
“This group has great vision, and it is so exciting to see these kinds of dynamic ideas taking root here in Lake County,” she said.
Alaksay is optimistic that they will be able to get “something in the ground this year, which will just be a first step toward our ultimate goal, and something really special.”
The Hunger Task Force wants to be a support to any school interested in starting their own garden. “Help in the form of garden starts or even labor may be available through the Hunger Task Force, with support of partners like AmeriCorps,” said Alaksay.
The Lake County Hunger Task Force is also supporting local community gardens throughout Lake County. Last year alone they harvested 6,201 pounds of fresh produce, which was distributed to food banks and schools, as well as others in need. Their primary goal is for all Lake County residents to go to bed each day having had enough good, nourishing meals available.
County Health Services also was awarded a grant from California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) to increase consumption and production of fresh produce (vegetables, fruit, and tree nuts). They are partnering with local community agencies and members of the Health Leadership Network to implement the project. One exciting element in the works is the development of an online ordering system through which institutions and the public will be able to purchase these products directly via an online system.
Obesity and poor nutrition are real challenges throughout the nation, and Lake County is no exception. These innovative and exciting programs are effective ways we can fight back.
Alaksay explained, “One of the very serious issues with our bad economy is that people don’t have enough food to eat. We want to encourage people that you can put a few seeds in the ground and eat for the summer.”
In the days when obesity was not increasing at such an alarming rate, folks often had their own gardens and ate more locally grown produce. These are good ways to support population health and a vibrant community in any era.
It is going to take everyone working together to prevent obesity and its related health conditions. We are fortunate that our community is already taking many action steps toward improved health and well-being.
Stay tuned for more developments that promote “Eat Fresh ~ Buy Lake County Grown.”
Susan Jen is director of the Lake County Health Leadership Network.
- Details
- Written by: Susan Jen
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