Buying local food, helping local farmers

There is a push going on among some aid agencies and in Congress this year to change U.S. aid policies. Until now, U.S. food aid to developing countries has usually involved sending U.S.-grown agricultural products to the affected countries. The problem is that such aid can put local farmers out of business. So many aid agencies, and some members of Congress, have proposed a solution that involves buying local food and helping distribute it rather than relying entirely on U.S.-produced food.

President Bush discussed the proposed U.S. change at the UN General Assembly this week.

This change makes a huge amount of sense to me. I’m wondering if the Church should follow suit and buy more locally produced goods, thereby developing local industry and helping local farmers, rather than sending most of its aid from the United States.

UPDATE: We got a response for Church humanitarian services. Read on.

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I love to see the temple

One of my favorite things to do with my family on Sunday night is to go down to the temple grounds and visitor’s center.

My son loves to look at the reflecting pools, my daughter loves to sit in her stroller and enjoy the sites and sounds, and my wife and I enjoy the peace and solitude of the temple gardens.

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Spencer W. Kimball on priesthood duties and inaction

One breaks his priesthood covenant by transgressing commandments, but also by leaving undone his duties. Accordingly, to break this covenant one needs only to do nothing.

Could I ask Millennial Star readers to respectfully to discuss this quotation from President Kimball?

Source: “The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball.”

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‘1984,’ Orwell and religion

I haven’t read George Orwell’s “1984” since high school, but I decided this week would be a good time to re-read it. One gets dozens of new insights re-reading this classic, but one thing that interested me, post-conversion, is Orwell’s relationship with God. Like many atheists or humanists, such as Carl Sagan in the book “Contact,” Orwell unwittingly makes the case for why God exists and why He is necessary.

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