RURAL  (CONT)

Farmers and veterinarians, who because of their jobs can spot problems before they reach consumers, guard the front lines when it comes to America's food defense. Both groups have a part in the Illinois Food Systems Policy Council, which was created last year and has been tasked with developing a strategy to improve food and agricultural security.

"We need to do everything within our power to assure the safety and security of the food we supply for our families and for families across the world," Gov. Rod Blagojevich remarked this month at the state's first food security "tabletop exercise." There, public officials and private industry discussed ways to improve safety in agriculture, which contributes $14.4 billion annually to Illinois' economy.

Similarly, the Kansas City conference aimed to bring together representatives from the military, law enforcement, agriculture and academia, said Jamie Berlowitz, a USDA director in the Elk Grove Village office's smuggling interdiction and trade compliance division."There are a lot of different perspectives we can get here," Berlowitz said. "You want to meet these people now rather than when there is problem."

Back on the farm, Findley relegates the threat of such a problem occurring on his 68-acre spread somewhere out toward the horizon--it just seems too unlikely. Here the concerns are gas prices, the cost of feed grain and whether the high school football team can maintain its undefeated season.

Focus could of course change, he said, mentioning that the once rarely traveled road in front of his farm now handles regular traffic.

"Everything's changing in Pleasant Hill."

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