Bellingham Comments from Digital Recorder - EISs for the Proposed ...

GATEWAY PACIFIC TERMINAL EIS SCOPING HEARING VOL. I
COURT REPORTER: GWEN BRASS PROCEEDING DATE: October 27, 2012
Page 12
So I want us to stand united and protect this area and
say no to coal.
Thank you.
MS. HULL: Number 3.
Number 4, 5 and 6 may come to the front.
THE SPEAKER: My name's Nicole Brown, and I'm here to
express concern for our family farm, Moondance Farm, that makes
up our livelihood for my family.
I moved to Whatcom County ten years ago to be a
teacher. At the time, my husband was a network engineer
relocating and we came here and he had a difficult time finding
a job that didn't require him to commute to Seattle. So what
we did is we sat back and we looked at the opportunities that
existed in the area and the way we could positively contribute
to this community. And we learned about a farming mentoring
program.
So he signed up, he trained to be a farmer, he was
mentored, he gave up his career as a network engineer; and, in
fact, he can't be here today because he's at the farmer's
market selling our produce to make a living.
So the markets that exist for our family's produce
rely heavily upon the healthy reputation of the soil, the air,
and the water of our region. The Capital Press reported
multiple times this summer on the current insatiable demand by
the Asian market for Pacific Northwest agricultural products