Proclamation 6231—National Farm-City Week, 1990

For nearly four decades, we Americans have observed National Farm-City Week in honor of this country's farmers and all those who play a role in the production and distribution of U.S. agricultural goods. It is fitting that this week coincides with our annual celebration of Thanksgiving, a time when Americans traditionally give thanks for our many blessings -- including our abundant supplies of safe, wholesome, and affordable foodstuffs.

American farmers are the most enterprising and efficient in the world. Constituting less than 2 percent of our population, these men and women feed the other 98 percent -- and millions of people around the globe as well. Nowether else does such a small percentage of a nation's population feed so many.

These hardworking Americans are assisted in their efforts, however, by millions of people in urban areas -- by researchers who develop improved methods and technology for farming; by the manufacturers and supplies of equipment, seeds, and fertilizers; by those who transport and process raw agricultural goods; and by retailers who distribute and sell finished farm products to consumers. Viewed in its broadest sense, agriculture is one of our Nation's largest employers, involving the storage, transportation, processing, distribuiton, and merchandising of U.S. agricultural products. Millions of Americans earn their living in farming and agriculture-related industries.

The rural and urban ties we celebrate during National Farm-City Week are steadily being strengthened as more and more American farmers begin to supply not only food and fiber but also raw materials for industrial use. These materials include biodegradable plastics, alternative fuels and fuel additives, as well as printing inks and newsprint. The development of these and other products is contributing to the creation of new and diverse agro-industries.

The Americans who work in our Nation's thriving agricultural sector make an invaluable contribution to the well-being of our families and to the economic strength of the entire country. During this special season, as we prepare to share a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with our loved ones, we do well to recognize all those who bring this Nation's agricultural bounty from field to table.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the week of November 22, 1990, as National Farm -- City Week. I call upon all Americans, in rural areas and cities alike, to join in recognizing the accomplishments of our Nation's farmers and all those who cooperate in producing the abundance of agricultural goods that enrich and strengthen the United States.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteen day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth.

GEORGE BUSH