As the federal and state campaign season collides with the opening salvo of the football season, both bring to mind a one-word tactic: Punt.
In football, when the team in possession of the ball is struggling offensively, and in no position to pull off a successful field goal kick, it typically punts the ball to the opposing team on its final down to avoid risking a turnover by failing to gain enough yardage.
In politics and in governing, the idiom, “to punt” means to give up, to defer action, or to pass responsibility off to someone else. How often do we see our leaders punt by adopting stopgap measures and expedient workarounds, essentially deferring a solution to future generations?
This past summer at least two state fairs made the novel decision to maintain some semblance of their popular cow-milking traditions while minimizing the transmission of avian influenza (H5N1) from dairy cattle to people. In Michigan, fairgoers could choose between Milkshake or Buttercup, two life-sized fiberglass cows equipped with rubber teats and water-filled udders. The Moo Booth at the Minnesota State Fair also punted by featuring a fake dairy cow named Olivia.
The Iowa State Fair shuttered its "I Milked a Cow" booth that attracted 5,000 fairgoers in 2023. However, the iconic butter cow remained safely ensconced behind a glass display case in its climate-controlled splendor.
Got Milk? Well, not so much!
Of course, H5N1 isn't simply an inconvenient nuisance for county and state fairs in 14 states, including California, the top milk- producer. It poses implications, not only for human health, but for the price of milk and eggs, as well as American jobs. A total of 13 humans with direct contact with infected cows or poultry have recovered. But in Missouri, a 14th individual with underlying medical conditions was infected without any known direct animal contact. (The total number of infections is likely much higher, due to inadequate testing. Pasteurization inactivates the virus.)
What's the problem? one person asked on social media: "Why can't more people drink oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, cashew milk, hemp milk, macadamia milk, or flax milk? Seems like a lot of this problem would go away." Well, yes, but none of these are "milk". This is a punt – pumped up on steroids!
H5N1 has wiped out 97 million birds nationwide. Looking back a few years ago, Boone County and hundreds of other county fairs canceled their poultry shows. In some cases, 4-Hers used fake stuffed birds in showmanship competitions, and filled their poultry cages with photos and cardboard cut-outs of their birds, or laptops displaying a remote video feed of their coops at home. What's next in this new world of zoonotic diseases – a virtual state fair?
Climate-ending Choices?
We haven't heard much discussion of climate change or its impact on our food supply or agriculture during this political campaign. However, one company is looking to punt on a key ingredient –some may consider it a staple – of the human diet. Half of the global supply of cocoa beans is grown in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. These countries, located just north of the equator, are especially vulnerable to drought, heat, and excessive rainfall. A harvest shortfall tripled raw cocoa prices last year.
Now some food scientists are focusing on creating a food substitute for chocolate. It's called ChoViva. Made of two commonly-grown crops, oats and sunflower seeds, it obtains its "chocolateness" the same way as cocoa beans: through fermenting and roasting.
Easily sourced closer to home, it could drastically reduce shipping costs, leading to less climate warming. How will this work-around help cocoa bean growers in those countries? Finally, do we want to live in a world without real chocolate?
Swimming Upstream
But losing hope in our ability to achieve positive change isn't what has made this country great. We're capable of resolving critical, seemingly intractable, issues. All too often, these hard-fought wins don't make it into the headlines.
For decades, the salmon populations on the Klamath River at the California-Oregon border were in the throes of extinction. In 2002, an estimated 40,000+ salmon perished. Climate change and warming waters exacerbated the decline. But at the end of August 2024, the last of four hydroelectric dams blocking the free flow of the river and promoting the growth of deadly algae was removed.
Klamath River native American tribes, working with environmentalists, successfully lobbied legislatures, corporate headquarters, scientists, attorneys, and agency officials, arguing that the dams had outlived their usefulness. In 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the dams' decommissioning. As a result, after more than a century, 400 miles of historical salmon spawning and nursery habitats are being restored.
It's the nation's largest ever dam removal effort. More work remains, but if you had told me in 2002 that this end goal would be achieved, I wouldn't have believed it. The good news is that similar efforts are underway from the Snake River in Idaho to the Penobscot River in Maine. Although dam removal is complex, in many cases, it's less controversial than the erection of the dams in the first place.
Righting a Wrong
Closer to home, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska has received 1,600 acres of Iowa land illegally condemned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1970. President Biden signed the Winnebago Land Transfer Act into law on July 12.
I grew up near the Snyder Bend Wildlife Area in Woodbury County. It contains a majority of the waterfowl refuge in an area known as the Winnebago Bend Wildlife Area.
When the Winnebago Indian Reservation was established by treaty in 1875, it included parts of Iowa and Nebraska. The condemnation of the Nebraska portion by eminent domain was ruled illegal in 1976. In 1985, an 8th Circuit judge came to the same conclusion regarding the Iowa portion. But it was unable to return the land.
The Land Transfer Act was co-sponsored by Senators Grassley and Ernst and U.S. Representative Feenstra. According to a news release from the Winnebago Tribe: "The land was promised to the tribe by treaty forever. The United States should honor the treaty and right this wrong."
Neither the Iowa DNR nor the Corps objected to the land's return.
Finally a Win for Women
The past decade has delivered a series of setbacks for women. However, there's one success to celebrate in 2024.
In 1935, a federal funding mechanism designed to address maternal and child health was created. But there was a glaring omission: Stillbirth and stillbirth prevention.
The annual number of stillbirths far exceeds these top five causes of death among children, ages 0-14 years:
· Unintentional injuries
· Congenital anomalies
· Pre-term birth
· Homicides
· SIDS
Yet, in the past two decades, the US. stillborn rate declined 0.9% per year. The U.S. ranks 27th out of 49 high-income countries in the rate of stillbirth.
Hundreds of women went to Washington, D.C. last September 19 on Stillbirth Prevention Day to advocate for passage of The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024.
It was passed with bipartisan leadership in Congress, including Rep Ashley Hinson. Signed into law on July 12 by President Biden, it will allow for funding in this block grant to be used for long-neglected stillbirth research and prevention.
Many Iowans also are increasingly aware of the Count the Kicks campaign, a 2009 initiative of Happy Birth Day, Inc. Thanks to a fundraising partnership during the annual Cy-Hawk football game it promotes research that counting the kicks of unborn babies, beginning in the third trimester, can reduce stillbirths by 30%.
Stephanie Chance shared her story in a TV ad this year prior to game. When she detected a lack of activity weeks before her due date, she went to the hospital, where her swift action likely saved the life of her now-healthy one year old.
In fact, this may be one instance when punting has a good outcome. Athletes, including punters and kickers, agree to raise funds for every score, punt, and kick in their game. Combined with new funding from The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024, it will be a game changer, turning stats on the field into a WIN for women and families.
A Hail Mary pass doesn't have to be the last resort if we keep our end game in sight. Today's seemingly unrealistic dreams can become tomorrow's realities, but only if we persist in challenging the predictable odds. We've all got skin in this game.
"The arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, but it only bends toward justice because people pull it toward justice. It doesn't happen on its own."
Former Attorney General Eric Holder 2016
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