I was struck by the incongruity of two pieces in the Sunday CHN (June 17) regarding food.

The Parade section featured Chef John Besh, his televised cooking show, and his push for a return to family dinners. The article refers to a wealth of research which promotes family dinners as deterrents to aberrant behaviors such as teenage drinking, depression, and pregnancy, and which result in higher self-esteem, broader vocabularies, and more resilience in our youth.

The CHN front page showcased Rob Hill’s career as a personal trainer who advocates not eating “anything he can’t theoretically kill or pick” in his pursuit of healthy living.

The incongruity refers to programs recently abolished in the CHCCS district.

Our schools used to offer horticulture classes. Students hoed a garden and maintained a greenhouse. Some plants were raised to sell (poinsettias at Christmas, begonias and Gerber daisies at Mother’s Day) to make the program self-sustaining. The district did away with that program about 15 years ago. Now it takes public figures like Michelle Obama and Rob Hill to reinvent the move toward eating what you grow.

The schools used to offer courses in food preparation, from basic terms and techniques to foreign cuisine, but cooking classes were eliminated as electives in favor of technology courses. The current generation now relies on TV shows like John Besh’s to learn how to cook.

Perhaps the time has come to incorporate the means to achieving a healthier lifestyle by reintroducing horticulture and food preparation as elective courses.

Karen Bell

Chapel Hill (Chatham County)

What about tenants?

I’m a little concerned about the recent buyout of Abby Court apartments in Carrboro (CHN, June 17). I, myself do not live there, but I remember when we were living at what was then called Tar Heel Manor, now Berkshire Manor. The company that bought out Tar Heel Apartments, which is the Aspen group, also kicked out tenants who had, or have mental problems, and disabilities.

I, like many other people in the Triangle, rely on the Shelter Plus care of OPC, and CASA to pay our rent, as we don’t make enough to pay for rent ourselves. So, my question is, what’s going to happen to all those tenants that also rely on some sort of section 8 at Abby Court, or should I say Carolina Commons? Will these people be kicked out too?

It’s bad enough to live in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, because of the high rental prices on homes, etc., now a company that owns so many appartments in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, and Hillsborough, is going to make it worse.

I and my wife, live in Estes Park Apartments, which is one of the most affordable appartment complexes in this area. We may not be here for long though, for personal reasons. Perhaps the Aspen group won’t raise the rent at the former Abby Court apartments, but I wouldn’t count on that. They did it before, and I know they will do it again.

Thayer Jordan

Carrboro

ASK about guns

June 21 wa National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day. This annual campaign sponsored by The Center to Prevent Youth Violence educates us about the importance of asking if there are guns in the homes where our children play.

We ask many questions to protect our children when they play in other people’s homes, but half of US adults state they never thought to ask about guns.

ASK urges us to:

• Ask if there are guns in the homes where our children play.

• Store guns unloaded and locked up separately from the ammunition.

• Treat pellet and BB guns with the same caution as other guns.

• Teach our children to alert an adult immediately if they see a gun, even if it might be a toy or video game accessory. They should never touch or pick it up.

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2002, found that gun violence tragically claims the lives of eight U.S. children each day. And more than 82,000 children in North Carolina live in homes where guns are unlocked and loaded, placing them at significant risk for accidental injury or death.

Join in sharing ASK’s life-saving message. Visit www.AskingSavesKids.org to learn more.

Kristen Rogers, MD

UNC pediatrics resident

Surprise visitor

First of all, I want to say how much we enjoy and value The Chapel Hill News inclusion in the News & Observer. Our congratulations to you and your staff for important and interesting coverage of news and events in Orange and Chatham counties.

As a gardener and lover of wildlife, I especially enjoy the “Your Best Shot” inclusion, but have never felt that any of my pictures were worthy of submission..up until now! Enclosed are two photos of a beautiful young frog that sought cover within a hollyhock leaf in my garden a couple of weeks ago … catching me totally by surprise.

I went out very early (to pick up my N&O!) and noted one of the leaves was strangely bent. Being curious as to what had bent it over so perfectly, I lifted the top and saw the little frog snuggled inside! He stayed long enough for a photo, but disappeared shortly thereafter and has not returned. Interestingly, the leaf straightened itself out during the day.

Many thanks for considering this submission, which I think is unique and would be interesting to others.

Kay Randolph

Pittsboro

Editor’s note: Your Best Shot is one of the most popular features, and we can publish only a portion of those we receive. Please see staff photographer Harry Lynch’s occasional tips on page 2 for increasing the chances of seeing your shot in the paper.

Rising, get ready

The NC-20 group wants to promote a narrative that sea rise is just unlikely and so we don’t need to do anything about it, but why? To promote a perception that preparing for sea level rise will be too costly?

As Orrin H. Pilkey pointed out in his Point of View article (N&O June 8), the evidence is overwhelming that accelerating sea level rise is imminent, and fortunately we have some decades to do something about it. What are the costs of doing nothing? The Outer Banks would sink under the water and gone would be the beauty, history and a huge chunk of our state’s economy. Instead we could take a view beyond today’s narrow political agendas and unfounded fear of restrictions on development.

We could, today, start investing in practical, common-sense approaches to mitigate against sea level rise. Anything we would build in preparation for sea level rise would also help revitalize the local economy and also better prepare against hurricanes, which recent experience tells us is all too devastating.

I would hate for my children and future grandchildren to think our generation was foolish enough to put misguided short-term objectives ahead of common sense precautions. We don’t have to.

Peter Lutz

Chapel Hill