Don't Forget The Census & Breast Feeding Could Save Lives

Don't Forget The Census & Breast Feeding Could Save Lives plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. This month you have two things to worry about..taxes and the census. You know what happens if you don't get your taxes done but what if you don't get your census forms returned. Cynthia Clark CLARK: If you don't mail it there will be an interviewer that will be assigned to the area in which you live and will be going to those households who haven't responded. And what if they can't find you? CLARK: They'll get the information from the neighbor, the postman – someone else who is in the area. Better to take a few minutes and fill it out. It only took us about 5 minutes. A startling new report says the lives of nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women breast-fed their babies for the first six months of life. The results, published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, are only an economic estimate. But several experts who reviewed the analysis said the methods and conclusions seem sound. The findings suggest that there are hundreds of deaths and many more costly illnesses each year from health problems that breast-feeding may help prevent. These include stomach viruses, ear infections, asthma, juvenile diabetes, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and even childhood leukemia. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. There's a brand new "movement" and I'm proud and shocked to say I'm part of it. It's the "Do It Yourself" movement. Whether it's because of the current economic state, or the desire to distance ourselves from the chaos that has become most people's norm, the final result is the same, a greater since of achievement and the self satisfaction that you did it yourself. Maybe you've decided to do something as simple as making your own lattes at home, or something as ambitious as fixing the roof, either way you definitely feel good about it. At our house the DIY movement hit because of a failing electric stove element. Rather than pay $250 to have it fixed my hubby decided to do it himself and save $200. That has started a wave of DIY projects. I'm eagerly awaiting warmer weather in order to do some much needed water saving landscaping. And after the eye opening sticker shock of shopping for new furniture I've decided to re-stain the existing pieces and go for new drawer pulls. The key here is not only about saving money but how good a person feels after a successful DIY project. We're able to again understand why our parents and grandparents always said, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without". Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.