The following is my agricultural background.

I own a small farm outside of Ducor, which I have nicknamed the Rancho Dolores. There are more than 100 varieties of fruit and nut trees growing there, and I have experimented with other crops. I try to grow organically, so as I tell everyone, the birds and the bugs eat very well. Although I make a few hundred dollars of sales annually, I don’t have time to operate my farm efficiently because I am a full-time kindergarten teacher with Porterville Schools. I also teach college level Geography part-time at night. I know it may not seem like I am a real farmer, but in my heart that is what I truly want to be. It is in my blood as both sets of my grandparents were farmers and my great-grandparents came to the San Joaquin Valley nearly a century ago from Iowa in order to farm. When I was a young man, my father managed a Cotton Gin in Woodville, afterwards he worked for the Kern County Farm Bureau and the State of California. Throughout my youth, I always had a vegetable garden and I was a member of 4 H Club in Redlands, California. While there I saw the orange groves being ripped out and replaced with houses. I longed to go back to the farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley.

I attended college at CSU, Chico and received my degrees in Geography and International Relations. While there, I also studied Plant Science and Agricultural Education from Dr. Dennis Hampton. I concentrated on both branches of Social Forestry, Agroforestry and Urban Forestry. My Master’s thesis was on the Northern California Black Walnut Tree and its impact in Chico. I have many friends that went through the Chico Agriculture program and are now working in various ag-related professions. While in college, I had an internship with the Comision Forestal del Estado de Michoacan, Mexico, and I lived and worked there.

Besides teaching school, I have had a number of other jobs. In high school, I worked on my uncle’s ranch in Wyoming and helped setup his irrigation system. I also bucked hay in Arkansas and Oklahoma. I worked for plant nurseries in Las Vegas, Nevada and in Chico, and had a small hobby nursery in Tulare County. I am an arborist, because I love trees and I was an urban forestry technician and consultant in Los Angeles. I have done lots of landscaping. Now, even though my first priority is teaching, farming is still very important to me.

In the 1980’s, I was very interested in Community Gardens and Farmer’s Markets. I have tried to attend and patronize Farmer’s Markets whenever possible. While living in Fresno, I used to travel around the county visiting small farms with Agricultural Advisor, Dr. Pedro Ilyitch. Two of my closest friends are currently working as agricultural advisers in Southern California and the Bay Area. Another long-time friend and former employer is now an Arborist in the Bay Area.

I try to keep up on Agriculture in the Classroom and watch California Heartland. I have been a member of American Farmland Trust because I believe that Urban Sprawl threatens our quality of life and what we hold dear. I am not a fan of large corporate agri-business, and I believe that family farmers are what made America great. If elected, I will try to represent real American farmers, not large corporations. I know that most farms in California, especially here in Tulare County, are family farms.

I will advocate programs like increased agricultural and vocational education for our schools. I think that we need to develop alternative crops, and although there are drawbacks to ethanol, I am all for biomass, methane conversion and methanol and alcohol production as a way of decreasing our dependence on foreign oil. Ag waste burning does contribute to poor air quality, but we should develop regional biomass centers with affordable chipper-shredders for small scale farmers. I also believe that we import too much of our produce from foreign countries. We could pass laws that say if you want to sell it here, then you must meet OUR environmental and labor standards. This would place our farmers at an advantage because of transportation costs and help make the playing field level when it comes to other costs. To this end NAFTA and the WTO rules will have to be rewritten.

Other farm issues that must be addressed:

• urban sprawl and ag land conversion

• air pollution that not only affects our health, but also crop yields

• water availability

• genetically modified foods and food safety

• pest control and diseases

• chemical usage

• immigrant labor

• ag imports and exports

• energy and fuel costs

• the future of farming in America.

I do not believe that our incumbent representative has adequately addressed these issues even though he has been in a leadership position for four years.

I know that running on the Green Party ticket is a drawback for most farmers, however, I am a conservationist and I make no apologies for believing that we must take care of the land in order to take care of ourselves. Real farmers feel the same way because they work with the land every day and they care about passing it on to future generations. It is a shame that there is such a divide between most environmentalists and farmers because in many cases they want the same things.

Again, I am asking that you please consider endorsing my candidacy. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

 

John Roger Miller