Help Politicians Focus on Real Issues
- by: David Nuttle
- recipient: Guilford County NC County Commissioners
On 11 Dec 2014, 8 of 9 Guilford County NC Commissioners refused to lease 75 acres of available county-owned farmland to a local group of 85 poor Asian refugee farmers in need of this land to grow crops to improve their nutrient intake/ food security and provide some income from crop sales. The Commissioners real concern seemed to be over what other local farmers might think if they helped a group of minority farmers. In brief, the concern seemed to be over the possible loss of local farm votes in the next election.
Local farmers who I contacted had no objections to the above said lease because the refugees were mostly Montagnard who sacrificed greatly to assist U.S. forces during the Vietnam War ... and they were political refugees forced to flee communist Vietnam due to the democide (government genocide) against them. Technically, these refugees are veterans who engaged in the support of our troops and saved many American lives in the process. As a reward, these Commissioners gave these refugees a "slap-in-the-face" because they dared to ask to lease county-owned farmland.
The said Montagnard refugees are excellent farmers, and they will demonstrate crop production that will be generally new and helpful to American farmers; e.g. upland (dry) rice production. These refugees had agreed to assist Elon University in some of its agricultural research, and they also agreed to help the Piedmont Conservation Council train new farmers in North Carolina. None of this seemed to matter to 8 of 9 County Commissioners only willing to focus on votes for the next election.
To: Guilford County NC County Commissioners
Re: Your 11 Dec 2014 (on a 8 to 1 vote) refusing to lease Guilford County, North Carolina county-owned farmland (75 acres) to 84 Minority Farmers.
In addition to the reasons given, in the Petition presented herewith, the added reasons for your reversing this vote are as follows:
1) With the Guilford County poverty rate of 18.8 percent, and over 20 percent of local children experiencing frequent hunger, there is no valid reason to let 75 acres of productive, county-owned farmland remain idle.
2) There is a documented strong demand for local, fresh, organic/ natural foods free of most transportation costs. The subject farmland lease would help local refugee farmers grow the crops to meet that need.
3) Interviews with local farmers do not indicate any real objection to leasing the subject land to minority farmers. These refugee farmers have some unique farming practices that could benefit many N. Carolina farmers; e.g. upland (dry) rice production on poor soils.
4) The minority farmers in this case are mostly Montagnard (Asian) political refugees forced to flee Vietnam under threat of death for assisting U.S. forces during the Vietnam War ...and they are known to have saved hundreds of American lives. Technically, you are refusing to lease farmland to paramilitary veterans.
5) These Montagnard refugees have organized a farmer-producer cooperative, known as Hero Farms, Inc. (HFI). HFI has agreed to assist Elon University with agricultural research, and help the Piedmont Conservation Council train new North Carolina farmers. When you "killed" the farmland lease, you also ended these efforts for now.
6) Sacrifices the Montagnard made for U.S. national security are fully documented in a study entitled "Buon Enao Experiment ... JP Harris," as posted on Google. You have every reason to know that the Montagnard refugees are deserving of your support.
7) These refugee farmers were, and are, supporting the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by making agricultural training videos to help improve crop production for over 2 (two) billion nutrient deficient populations. The videos were to be broadcast, worldwide, using distance education means provided to HFI (the refugee farmers) by Needful Provision, Inc. and the Unlimited Learning Center using its advanced distance education facilities. Your refusal to lease farmland to the Montagnard refugees has harmed and delayed this effort.
8) The Montagnard, Hmong, and Tai Dam ethnic groups made many extreme sacrifices to assist U.S. forces during the Vietnam War ... and as a result the commuist governments of Vietnam and Laos started and have sustained a long campaign of democide (government genocide) against these populations. In most areas of the U.S., political refugees from these groups have been well treated; e.g. In Des Moines, Iowa, 600 Tai Dam refugees were given 100 acres (near the city) to construct a replicate of a traditional Tai Dam village that helped the Tai Dam and has produced a great deal of tourism income for Des Moines. (In Guilford County, the Montagnard have been treated like "trash.")
9) Many U.S. special operations forces depend upon tribal groups for operational support, worldwide. With the current free flow of information some of these tribal groups might not be so cooperative once they hear what Guilford County Commissioners have done to harm Montagnard refugees. In brief, 8 of 9 of you may have created wrongful death hazards for American forces overseas.
10) USDA/ Rural Development has promised to provide a $200,000 grant to assist Hero Farms, Inc. (the Montagnard refugee farmers) if they can lease not less than 75 acres of farmland (to grow crops on) before 09 Mar 2014. The said Commissioners acted to prevent this from happening.
Given all the above, I hereby respectfully request that you reverse your negative decision and lease subject farmland to HFI (the 84 Montagnard refugee farmers.
David A. Nuttle (npiinc2000@aol.com) Tel. 1-918-868-7090
Today, 22 Dec 2014, the Guilford County Commissioners refused to reconsider their refusal to lease county-owned farmland to the Montagnard refugees of that county. No reason was given.
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