October 2008 NHC NEWS A Monthly Bulletin of the Northwest Horticultural Council ECONOMIC REALITY The nation’s financial crisis will certainly have mixed direct and indirect impacts on the growers and shippers of apples, pears, and cherries.  Operating lines of credit may be more difficult to secure.  The dollar may strengthen as corrective action is taken by our government, thereby making all U.S. exports more expensive.  With housing and construction in significant downturns, labor feeding into these industries may be more available for agriculture.  Fuel costs may drop as a result of reduced demand for energy in the larger economy.  Consumers under stress may reel back spending habits and avoid unnecessary purchases at retail. It might be hoped during such difficult times for the U.S. financial system, consumers will return to valuing basics while resisting imposed costs on suppliers that have no tangible benefit.  When a sector of the food supply, such as our tree fruit industry, poses no real public health risk, does it make sense to impose intrusive and expensive regulations, standards, and audits whether driven by retail chains or the federal government? Can an orchardist grow and sell an apple without hiring a wild animal exclusion expert, a microbe-testing scientist, a food safety auditor, a “green” marketer, and a liability attorney? ¨ OUR GOVERNING BOARD In 2004 it was decided that our governing board of trustees, for reasons including efficiency, would be reduced in size from fifteen to the present nine seats.  Five of our current trustees date their service to the Northwest Horticultural Council from at or before the 2004 reorganization: Dar Symms of Caldwell, Idaho; Fred Duckwall of Odell, Oregon; Bob Price of Yakima, Washington; Mike Wade of Wenatchee, Washington; and Mark Zirkle of Selah, Washington.  This year has seen the addition of trustees Brian Alegria of Tieton, Washington; Harry Noah of Newport, Oregon; Dave Smeltzer of Wenatchee, Washington; and Richard Thomason of Brewster, Washington. ¨ FINE ART The product of orchards has played a significant role as a subject of artwork going back to when those in caves first used their talent to draw for pleasure.  In The Accidental Masterpiece, the author and critic, Michael Kimmelman describes one 18th century artist’s vision: His pictures of extraordinary hushed reverence for the dignity of modest things, for paint’s ability to stimulate those things, and for a viewer’s elevation through extended looking at those things.  With Chardin, one loses track of time staring, say, at a bunch of cherries—there are five—and noticing that five matches the sum of two peaches, a green apple, and two sections of a split apricot to create perfect symmetry in the picture.  A tiny observation, but like many simple facts of life, strangely marvelous when it turns out to be a key to some greater truth in life.  Chardin’s work is a compilation of these little facts that together make a true record of the value of seeing the world in all its details… ¨ Travel October 2 – Foreign Trade Committee meeting, Yakima, Washington..   Christian Schlect October 6 – Annual meeting of the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association, Wenatchee, Washington.   October 14-19 – GlobalGAP 2008 Conference, Cologne, Germany. October 20-23 – SIAL 2008 (international food industry show) and meeting with the Global Food Safety Initiative, Paris, France. October 23-26 – Minor Crop Farmer Alliance meeting and Produce Marketing Association’s International Convention and Exposition, Orlando, Florida Mark Powers   October 23-27 – Produce Marketing Association’s International Convention and Exposition, Orlando, Florida. Mike Willett   October 19-25 – Annual meeting of the North American Plant Protection Organization, Guadalajara, Mexico. She called Churchill out of the movie and told him that Rudolf Hess had arrived in Scotland.  Churchill’s face ‘puckered with incredulous joy,’ according to one account.  ‘The worm is in the apple,’ he said. Nicholson Baker Human Smoke Northwest Horticultural Council 105 South 18th Street, Suite 105 Yakima, Washington 98901, USA Voice: (509) 453-3193, Fax: (509) 457-7615 E-mail general@nwhort.org