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Life & Times Transcript
06/08/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Farming has never been easy, but some local farmers are facing challenges their fathers never imagined. Phil McGrath>> You can get your fruit from Chili, Australia, Spain, Mexico or you can actually try to be conscious of the California seasons. Everybody thinks this is the endless summer. Well, it's not. Val>> And then, it's a throwback to another era. Small gatherings, beautiful music, in settings that are spectacular. These stories and more next on tonight's Life and Times. Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val>> They've been disappearing for decades, small family farms forced out of business by corporate enterprises. Agriculture is being replaced by agribusiness. So what can the remaining small family farms do to survive? As Toni Guinyard tells us, some farmers are getting creative using untraditional techniques to get their crops to their customers. Toni Guinyard>> An occasional visit to a roadside produce stand is often the closest many Southern California residents come to getting a taste of what farm life is all about. The visits give customers a chance to buy fresh produce and give farmers a chance to get to know their customers, but many family farmers say it's not enough. They've found they must alter the way they do business to stay in business. Craig Underwood>> We started doing direct marketing as a consequence to the fact that we were having trouble competing with larger and larger producers in the produce business. Toni Guinyard>> For many years, the Underwood Farm produce stand has helped do what Craig Underwood wanted so much to accomplish: connect people with their food. It's a classic example of direct marketing. Judy Blue>> Direct marketing is selling directly from the farm to the consumers so they can get the best, the high seller. Toni Guinyard>> But the business depends on the volume sold. Family farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to lure people from the city to the produce stand, so they're being forced to become more and more creative in finding ways to make ends meet. Craig Underwood>> As we got into direct marketing produce, we soon discovered that people weren't going to be attracted out here just to buy fruits and vegetables because the supermarkets are doing an increasingly better job of marketing and quality. So we needed other reasons to get people out here. Toni Guinyard>> Underwood is a fourth generation farmer. He's also a man willing to take a risk. He began using less than traditional methods to expand his farm operation, making it a destination for more than just purchasing produce. He has transformed a trip to the farm into a farm experience complete with the Farm Animal Center. It is the fastest growing segment of business at Underwood Farm, making the farm a rural oasis just a stone's throw away from city life. Behind you, you have two wagons of kids. Craig Underwood>> Yeah. Toni Guinyard>> Is that part of your entertainment? Craig Underwood>> Part of the entertainment-education. You know, we bundle the two together because we feel that, in order to educate, you have to entertain. Toni Guinyard>> It's called agritourism, farms becoming tourist attractions by providing a mix of entertainment while educating visitors about farming and of the farmers' role in the community. Judy Blue>> Agritourism is sort of a new buzz word here. Underwood is doing a wonderful job where they have schools come out on field trips and they have animal farms and they have You-Pick. Craig Underwood>> Well, right now it's up to a third of our overall business, so that's significant. It's a less risky venture than conventional growing which potentially you can lose thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in conventional farming. Phil McGrath>> Farming is great, and this is the best farm ground in the world. Toni Guinyard>> Miles away, another farm, a different approach to business. The three hundred acre McGrath family farm sits within view of the 101 Freeway in Camarillo. The family has been farming in the area since 1871, each generation responding to changes in the industry. Phil McGrath>> Being fifty-five miles north of downtown Los Angeles and surrounded by development, we are now farming just thirty acres of the three hundred acres. But everything I grow is for direct marketing. Toni Guinyard>> Direct marketing. It's a method of sales shared by McGrath and Underwood. Both men have taken very different approaches to boosting business, but farmers markets have been a mainstay for small family farmers for more than twenty years. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> But the popularity of farmers markets comes with a cost. Phil McGrath>> Competition at the farmers markets is very high right now. We definitely were learning to crawl in the 1980's, stood up and started running in the 1990's, and now there's a farmers market on every block, on every corner, every day of the week, anytime, anywhere. Toni Guinyard>> Farmers markets only represent a fraction of McGrath's overall business. Restaurants are a significantly larger source of his income. McGrath Family Farms sells organic produce to more than forty area restaurants. Phil McGrath>> When I walk into a restaurant and see my name, McGrath Family Farms, on the menu highlighting lettuce or strawberries, it's really cool. Toni Guinyard>> The Rodriguez brothers aren't as fortunate. A decade ago, Tony and Reynaldo Rodriguez purchased an eighteen acre strawberry farm in Oxnard. It's the only crop they grow. Tony Rodriguez>> We have to sell a lot of berries in the farmers market here and there. Ten years ago, it was real nice and enjoyable. We don't have a lot of competition. But right now, we have about a thousand acres like in Ventura County and you got to fight with the big companies and it's pretty hard to survive. Real tough. Toni Guinyard>> Now forty percent of their income is made by selling strawberries at farmers markets. Reynaldo Rodriguez>> Before, it used to be like only two or three strawberry growers selling theirs in farmers markets. Now it's like seven to ten different booths with the same product. Tony Rodriguez>> We make less a month and we can't afford it. Toni Guinyard>> But yet you continue doing it. Tony Rodriguez>> Right now, probably it's our last year. Judy Blue>> As soon as the farmer has no more business, they'll be selling their land to developers and then this will all be gone. This way of life will be gone. Toni Guinyard>> Judy Blue is on a mission to make sure that does not happen. As General Manager of the Gold Coast Growers Collaborative, Blue is the marketer, public relations representation and spokesperson for more than thirty Southern California family farms. Judy Blue>> All around us is housing developments and, without the small family farmer, we have urban sprawl. Toni Guinyard>> Blue is out to change the way the public thinks about farmers and buying produce. She's an advocate of direct marketing and a supporter of new ways to deal with the old issue of farm survival. Judy Blue>> We need to look at other avenues. One is agritourism which is a wonderful one, and I would love to see expanded here in Ventura County into other farms. The other is into schools and institutions. Toni Guinyard>> The Gold Coast Growers Collaborative is helping forge a relationship between local family farmers and schools. Jim Churchill>> We wanted to build a local direct market for local growers, so it seemed like all of those things would work together if we could sell to school lunch programs. Judy Blue>> It's really important for people to realize that, if they buy local produce, they'll be able to get the best tasting fruit and vegetables for their money and they'll be able to preserve the land. Phil McGrath>> You can get your fruit from Chile, Australia, Spain, Mexico, or you can actually try and be conscious of the California seasons. Everybody thinks this is the endless summer. Well, it's not. Tony Rodriguez>> If the government brings vegetables from Mexico, from all over, they don't support us to keep growing. Toni Guinyard>> And that's the goal: to keep going and stay in business. They may define success differently, but these family farmers have all embraced one slogan. Phil McGrath>> Buy fresh, buy local. Toni Guinyard>> Convincing the public to forego convenience and go the extra mile for fresh produce is the challenge. I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Val>> In the ongoing debate over illegal immigration, one idea keeps popping up: a national ID card. Now in the past, that idea was shot down pretty quickly by civil rights proponents. But now there's a new version of that idea and it's gaining traction in Congress. Orange County reporter, Roger Cooper, talked with Republican Congressman Ed Royce from Fullerton who says that states should add certain important information to driver's licenses. Roger Cooper>> Congressman Ed Royce, you are a co-sponsor of what has been passed by Congress and is now a law of the land. That is Real ID. What do we mean by Real ID? Ed Royce>> You know, the 9/11 Commission told us that it was important that we know people are who they say they are, and Real ID is an attempt to make certain that we don't have another 9/11 attack. On 9/11, the hijackers had multiple forms of identification. Had they been forced to use their passports as identification, the plot probably would have unraveled because a number of those hijacking pilots had actually over-extended their valid visa. So what they had been able to do was to go state to state and pick up licenses in Maryland, Virginia, Florida, California, and then use those licenses to establish the presumption that they were in the country legally and carry out their attack. This legislation will now preclude that because there is a system whereby you can't shop state to state. You will have to prove that you are who you say you are and the 9/11 Commission tells us that that will help prevent another 9/11 attack. Roger Cooper>> So to follow the provisions of the new law, you'll need multiple identification to get your driver's license, four I believe. How is it going to work? Ed Royce>> You know, it will be a big change in many states, in eleven states. But in California, you already need to take a thumbprint, you need to give your social security number and have that verified, you need to have a photograph taken and you need to prove that you're at that address by giving your utility bill or you've got to give your valid address. There won't be a great deal of change in California, but in a number of other states, the types of states where these identifications were abused on 9/11 by people like Mohammad Atta who had, you know, a visa for six months and a driver's license for six years. This brings all of those states into compliance with a new federal guideline. Roger Cooper>> Your colleagues who argued against this in Congress said it's not really an anti-terrorist act as it was couched. It's more to do with immigration. It's kind of a back door way to fight immigration. What do you say to your colleagues? Ed Royce>> Well, there is a component of immigration reform also in the bill. For example, there are some provisions that end the process of abuse of our asylum laws. The originator of the first World Trade Center, Ramzi Yousef, was able to use the argument of political asylum, that he was a member of a terrorist organization at home and therefore he filed for asylum here. While he was here on asylum, he orchestrated that first Trade Center attack. So, yes, we did close that loophole, but I frankly think that was very important. Roger Cooper>> Some opponents argue that, by making it more difficult to get these driver's licenses, undocumented people will drive anyway and the roads are going to be more unsafe. Ed Royce>> I think it's incumbent on us to recognize that, yes, border security is national security and, post-9/11, we have to weigh this in the balance. The cost of that attack was sixty billion dollars, so the recommendations set forward should not be taken lightly. I think the reason Congress reacted to this -- and it was a bipartisan vote and a fairly large vote -- was because we recognized that the Commission has spent a year studying this problem and came up with a solution which makes it very, very difficult for al-Zarqawi or others who have ordered attacks to have those successfully implemented. At least, it will be close to impossible to board that plane, given the fail-safes that we're building into the system, and that's the reason for this legislation. Roger Cooper>> What are you going to say when cash-strapped California says, Congressman Royce, here's another unfunded federal mandate. We've got to do our DMV over? Ed Royce>> That's a good question. But for California, there is pretty much compliance with most of those recommendations or new standards now. If we look at California law in terms of the DMV, you have the provision for offering up the social security number and that is supposed to be checked. You know, you have the provision for valid birth date, birth certificate, establishing who you say you are. A lot of data will become available on people. A lot of it will be contained perhaps electronically on your driver's license. Some argue that this is the first step toward a national ID for American citizens. I don't think it's too much to require that, when state driver's licenses are being handed out, you don't have multiple driver's licenses being given under different aliases to someone who's not who they say they are. I mean, that's the intent of the standard. This is not a federal, you know, card. What it is is simply minimum standards for state driver's licenses and I think that was the practical way. Why? Because we know how the system was abused. We know exactly what form of identification the 9/11 hijackers used in order to move around the country, plan their attacks, take those classes in taking off flights and then ultimately what form of identification did they use to get on those planes? They used a driver's license. Roger Cooper>> There are provisions which deal with the fences at the border. It's directed at finishing some that are not. What's that about? Ed Royce>> There is a fence on the southern border which ends at the area where the California Coastal Commission has jurisdiction. It goes from the foothills down to the area where the Coastal Commission -- it's about a three-mile area there. And over the years, the California Coastal Commission has opposed the completion of that fence. So what this legislation does is give the Director of Homeland Security the authority to go forward with the fence rather than allow the Director of the Coastal Commission to block that. Roger Cooper>> Well, it's legislation you worked on and it's now law. Thank you for telling us about it, Congressman Royce. Ed Royce>> Thank you. I appreciate it very much, Roger. To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val>> Imagine living in that romantic era where civilized people would gather in elegant places and listen to chamber music. Well, that era is not dead. In fact, it's brought back to life beautifully here in Southern California, compliments of a group called the Da Camera Society. Its arched portal beckons. Once inside, it's like meandering through an Italian villa. This Sunday afternoon, people have gathered to hear a cappella masterpieces from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries by Italian, Spanish and English composers. [Film Clip] Val>> Performing today is the Orlando Consort, a visiting quartet from the Early Music Center of Great Britain. They're known not only for their voices, but for their musical scholarship and authenticity. [Film Clip] Val>> This concert is one of a series called "Music in Historic Sites" sponsored by the Da Camera Society of Mount St. Mary's College. Mary Ann Bonino>> It comes from the Italian Musica Da Camera, which was the original term for chamber music. In the seventeenth century, they wanted to distinguish chamber music from music in a church, music in a theatre, and chamber music was music in a home, in a small room. It was a form of entertainment. Val>> Mary Ann Bonino founded the Da Camera Society in 1973. She has the enviable job of choosing the artists and the venues for twenty-five concerts a year. Mary Ann Bonino>> Well, today we have the Orlando Consort which is a vocal quartet which specializes principally in music of the Renaissance. They're four of them, each fine singers, but they also are a terrific ensemble. [Film Clip] Mary Ann Bonino>> They know how to really connect with an audience and they engage them in ways that only somebody with that kind of background and a great British sense of humor can. [Film Clip] Val>> The Orlando Consort adds another element to their performances. They intersperse the music with bits of history, readings from letters, like this one about the Black Plague and a supposed remedy for the horrid disease concocted by the king's physician. >> "Only the other day, the king's physician, Dr. Fitzpatrick, announced that he has made a breakthrough. He proposes to make a mixture of herb and wax, stuffing it into the stomach of a cat roasted whole and apply the dripping grease from the said mixture into the patient's armpits and groin. Good Lord Jesus, if it is thy will that I should fall ill, I beseech thee that I should be at that hour as far away from Dr. Fitzpatrick as possible." Val>> How did you get the idea for doing this in historic places? Mary Ann Bonino>> Well, I think it came out of the days when I lived in Europe as a student and saw that they naturally did concerts in historic places. They didn't think of it as anything special. These were the buildings that were available and it was such a wonderful experience to hear music in a beautiful old building or a church, especially when the music was related to what the building was about. Val>> There are three hundred historic locations in the Da Camera Society's database. Over the years, they've brought live music to the Guasti Villa on West Adams, the Hotel Bel-Aire, landmark churches, the Egyptian Theatre, Chinatown, and elegant private homes. Fluff McLean>> There are some that we return to all of the time like the Doheny Mansion which is our home base. That's a pretty spectacular environment with a Tiffany dome of 2,836 pieces of gold glass and a room filled with marble and other beautiful decorations. That's a wonderful and small room in which to hear chamber music. Val>> The Ebell of Los Angeles was the city's very first woman's club started more than a century ago. Fluff McLean is the current President. Fluff McLean>> And it was founded by a man in 1894 for women and the purpose was for educating women. And the women that actually started in the club were professors' wives from USC, which is really unusual. First of all, you have to realize that in the 1890's -- we didn't build this then, but when they started, women did not have clubs. They had, you know, sewing circles, social groups and so forth. So for us to be able to put a club together with women and clubs in the same sentence was quite a step forward. Donald Greig>> "These singers were also often composers." Val>> For early arrivals, the baritone Donald Greig gave an informal talk, a chance to learn a bit about how music has changed. Donald Greig>> "A lot of people start on the piano and one's image of music often, I think, as a musician derives from the keyboard. Dizzy Gillespie, the famous trumpeter for example, said he couldn't improvise unless he could see the tune picked out on a piano. Now for medieval musicians, their instrument was a hand by which I mean that the notes, the range of notes, the gamut indeed from gamma, the lowest note, to ut, the highest note, was written down when they were choir boys probably in ink. They would have looked at their hand and they would know that that step sounded like that and then that step sounded like that. That's their mental image they would have had of music." [Film Clip] Mary Ann Bonino>> When you perform this kind of music in an architecturally appropriate setting, the acoustic is perfect. There isn't any such thing as one acoustic fits all, but a special acoustic for chant, a special acoustic for a Mozart string quartet, a special acoustic for jazz. So each of these places has a special atmosphere and a special sound. Val>> And contrary to common impression, chamber music can be contemporary. Mary Ann Bonino>> Jazz is now considered a form of chamber music. It takes place in social settings where people are eating, drinking and having a great time, very convivial. Donald Greig>> "The most illustrious Maria asks me to thank you greatly for the effort you have made concerning the tenor, Andrea. He wishes to have him and says that he pays tenors twelve ducats a month, more than he does for any other voice, obviously because tenors are more skilled than any other singers (laughter)." Mary Ann Bonino>> I think as the world gets bigger and more media-driven, there's a real need for people to come together closely in a small environment and get to know each other. [Film Clip] Mary Ann Bonino>> I'm very optimistic about the future. We keep getting new audiences and relatively young audiences, which is a good sign. As I say, how can you beat it in the combination? It's something beautiful to look at and something beautiful to hear. When you hear music in a small and intimate and elegant environment, it takes on a whole other dimension. It's incredible to be up close to the really great artists and hear them perform. That's an experience that happens only with chamber music. [Film Clip] Val>> For more information on upcoming concerts by the Da Camera Society, you can go to their website or give them a call. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val>> Next time on Life and Times -- Critics said it would lead to layoffs and business closures. Were they right about the living wage? >> The idea is that these companies that benefit from public funding should be providing high-quality jobs so that people can support their families. >> The firms in some cases cut benefits, cut overtime, which is not good because overtime is nice to get. Val>> That's next time on Life and Times. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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