To the Editor:
Apparently, the symbol chosen to commemorate Vermont’s 250 years was created in a vacuum!
For the most part, Vermont was built by the hard work and determination of family farmers.
But today these family farms are all but extinct. Could it be the last 50 years of central planning, diminished the mood for celebration?
There is a distinction to be made here, a trend that must be pointed out and it began with the advent of top down governance.
This distinction seems to separate the first 200 years, as a time of building & harvest. From the last 50 years, as a period of dismantling control. Is it even possible to celebrate a turning point, that has taken us from self-sufficiency to dependency?
During our first 200 years we celebrated the fruits of our labor with annual agricultural fairs.
Now there is little or no fruit to harvest and even the tradition of celebration is threatened by the likes of an arbitrary 3-acre rule, which could possibly shut down the Vermont State Agricultural Fair in Rutland.
Something changed 50 years ago!
Now we seem confused about what to celebrate!
Lynn Edmunds