Kids can "adopt" a logger, farmer or fisherman in 'show-and-tell' program about rural life

By Sue Forde, Citizen Review Online

9/24/02

Take a moment and ask your children (or grandchildren) the following questions: Where does bread come from? Where does milk come from? Where did this chair come from?

If the response you get is "from the grocery store" or "from the furniture store", you may want to educate them a little further. That's easy if you're homeschooling. But if your children or grandchildren are attending government schools, you may wish to get involved in the "adopt-a-logger/farmer/fisherman" program.

Environmentalists have reached school children by using cute little wolves to get their message across. "Adopt a wolf," they say, and the children, not understanding the true nature of the wolf, readily jump on board.

Bruce Vincent, founder of Alliance for America, owner of Vincent Logging, Inc., a small family owned business in Libby, Montana, and property rights activist, was trying to reach children with a message, too - that there are always two sides to a story, and gives schoolchildren a more comprehensive picture of the issues framing debates over land use and the environment.

Vincent came up with the idea that came from the environmentalists' program: why not have the children "adopt a farmer, logger, fisherman or miner?" "Provider Pals" came into existence as a result.

"Provider Pals" takes the story of rural life and living to the urban areas across America. From panning for gold, to learning about where bread comes from and what it takes to get it to the table - children in classrooms across America have the opportunity to get a glimpse of a lifestyle which they had never learned about before in such a "show-and-tell" manner. The program is currently presented to middle school-age children.

"People who work on the ground are often faced with a public that doesn't understand what we do," the third-generation logger said. Vincent says he's received a positive response from teachers, students, parents and adoptees. He was so encouraged that he stopped at a Washington, D.C. school on a visit to the capital, and asked to share his story. He's been invited back three straight years - each time with a crop of new farmers, fishermen and loggers to begin the process.

Provider Pals is now in 125 schools across the nation. The goal, Vincent says, remains the same as when he started the program: a basic introduction of a people and their lifestyles.

One reader from Colorado says the idea should be expanded slightly to include all those adults whom live in rural areas and work hard toward the production of all commodities - including those that drill for petroleum natural gas & mine for the metals or coal. "The miners and drillers have been hurt just as badly by the environmental extremists and the strong dollar policy as any other commodity producer (most often with lesser subsidies) and are as necessary to the economic welfare of both rural America & our whole nation," says Richard Harman.

Reaching children with information that will open their eyes to the fact that stewardship does not mean "restoration" and removal of humans from rural areas may one day help turn around the drive to shut down rural areas. If you are interested in helping Bruce Vincent reach kids, you can contact Provider Pals at www.providerpals.com or by calling 406-293-8822.