LETTER: There’s no ‘we’ in restored

Niagara Gazette

April 20, 2009 10:39 pm

— There’s no ‘we’ in restored
I am responding to a letter March 29 regarding the issue as to what to do about the Robert Moses Parkway. The writer made clear not only that she wants the parkway restored but that we, the local residents, both want and need it back to four lanes. I, as a lifelong resident of Lewiston, am part of the we and I did not give permission to speak for me. She also asserts that she does not see people using the hiking lanes. Well, I force myself to travel the RMP once a month or so to check the conditions there and I am actually amazed by the number of people running, walking and bringing their pets out, considering what a poor state the hiking area is in. Mine is usually the only car cruising around. When another appears behind me it usually speeds across the yellow lines, passes me, and quickly disappears, which is both illegal and dangerous. It is fortunate there are not many vehicles using the parkway or there’s bound to be many accidents.
I speak for myself only, though I could easily use we to refer to the thousands of people who have signed the Niagara Heritage Partnership’s petition for parkway removal. The letter writer wants the perception to be she speaks for more than herself while disparaging the real movement. She want the perception to be that the RMP is an important artery when it is, in reality (with its cost to use ratio), more a ruptured appendix. She is like a CEO claiming more assets than she actually has, and we know where that leads.
As for her argument that the RMP is good for an emergency evacuation route, it certainly has been for people fleeing from Niagara Falls to the suburbs for over a generation. I hope this irony does not escape her.
George C. Carveth
Lewiston

Fight the fat
As a dietitian and a mother, I know that healthy school lunches can help children develop good lifelong eating habits. That’s why I am appalled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture just announced a plan to fill school lunch lines with millions of pounds of unhealthy, high-fat foods.
To boost high farmers’ income, the USDA will buy $25 million worth of pork and dump it on the National School Lunch Program and other food programs. Huge additional payments will be made to lamb and turkey producers, and their products will also end up on children’s lunch trays. Meat-heavy diets are fueling the childhood obesity epidemic and raising children’s risk of developing Cancer, Diabetes and heart disease later in life.
We need support for fruits, vegetables and other vegetarian foods that can help children stay slim and avoid chronic diseases. As Congress revises the Child Nutrition Act, we must ensure that healthful school foods are a priority. Sign the petition today at www.SchoolLunchPetition.org.
Jennifer K. Reilly, senior nutritionist, The Cancer Project, Washington, D.C.