Proclamation 5117—National Farm-City Week, 1983

The Nation's farms and cities provide the framework for American economic and social life. Each serves as the economic lifeline for the other.

Farms provide the basic food, fiber, and timber for consumer needs. The rural countryside also provides watersheds, and natural environment for clear water and clean air, outdoor recreation, open spaces, and landscapes. The cities sustain industry, services, cultural centers, and house 97 percent of the population.

Each year the people of our farms and cities pause during Farm-City Week to reflect on their interdependence and the strength and vitality that each brings to our national life. It is appropriate that Farm-City Week comes near Thanksgiving, the traditional time since Colonial days for Americans to reflect on the rich bounty of the harvest. As a people we are indeed blessed to live in a land with a plentiful supply of wholesome food.

In a short period of time, the United States has developed from an agricultural economy with scattered rural outposts, clinging to life in the New World, to an efficient production system in which only three percent of the Nation's people feed and clothe the entire population. This rapid growth has been made possible through the unparalleled productivity and cooperation of farm and city people working in close harmony.

In order that farm and city people may continue to reflect on the benefits of mutual support, and to show their grateful appreciation for their combined efforts, the American people have traditionally set aside a week each year to pay tribute to farm-city people.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the period November 18 through November 24, 1983, as National Farm-City Week. I call upon all Americans, in rural areas and in cities alike, to join in recognizing the accomplishments of our productive farm families and of our urban residents in working together in a spirit of cooperation and interdependence to create bounty, wealth, and strength for the Nation.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of Oct, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eightythree, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

RONALD REAGAN