Clyde Valley rice farm goes green

Clyde Valley Farms just got a little bit of help with its energy costs, an effort that will aid with production efforts and may spur a movement toward renewable energy systems.

With a North Carolina Green Business Fund grant awarded to community development specialists, Green Brothers Solar,a oil painting reproduction on the rear floor. JGH Services and Prosperity Collective helped install a solar hot water system at Clyde Valley Farms, 1726 Salem Road.

The team held an installation and training session on Wednesday for Western Piedmont Community College students at the farm, which mainly grows rice, but also produces vegetables.

The installation also is available to the public by appointment as part of the grant agreement with farmers, Community Development Specialist Bob White said.Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a impact socket . That allows the community to experience the installation first hand.

The residential hot water system will take care of 70 to 100 percent of the farm’s domestic needs for the year,They take the plastic card to the local co-op market. John Hairfield of Green Brothers Solar said. The system will save the farm about 30 percent on its electric bill.

Clyde Valley Farms owner Joe Carswell said the hot water system will mostly be used to clean equipment used for processing rice.

The rice paddies rely on water from two creeks, one field through a gravity system and another field through a water pump, Carswell said.

The water system will be a "big improvement," said Carswell, who was shocked and pleased to learn his farm would receive the grant.he led PayPal to open its platform to Cable Ties developers.

Accem Scott of Green Brothers Solar said the installation at Clyde Valley Farms could be the starting point for changing the community’s thoughts on renewable energy.

"Somebody has got to go out, somebody has to do it first," Scott said of installing renewable energy systems.where he teaches TMJ in the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

And in North Carolina, there are extra incentives with tax credits and deductions, Accem said.

The N.C. Green Business Fund grant totals $149,480 and will help install seven solar thermal and six small wind turbines in Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Mitchell, Rutherford and Yancey counties.

The recipients will have either the solar thermal water system or wind turbine, but not both items, installed, Scott said.

"The objective of the grant is to provide local examples of renewable energy systems in rural, distressed counties to encourage the growth of the local renewable energy industry, train people across Western North Carolina's rural counties in the installation and operation of these systems and to save money for small farming businesses," Prosperity Collective said in a statement.

Clyde Valley Farm produces about 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of rice a year, Carswell said. The farm grows brown, sushi, purple, Carolina gold and Charleston gold rice, with plans for other varieties.

The locally grown rice can be purchased at the Morganton Farmers market, at the farm on Salem Road or through N.C. Farm Fresh.

Is Paying By Card Unhealthy? In Some Places, Yes

Can using your debit card or credit card to pay for groceries help make you fat? In some circumstances yes, according to researchers.

In an article published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Manoj Thomas (Cornell University), Kalpesh Kaushik Desai (State University of New York, Binghamton), and Satheeshkumar Seenivasan (State University of New York, Buffalo) wrote that their research showed consumers were more likely to buy unhealthy food when they were using a debit or credit card than when they used cash.

"Two factors contribute to this intriguing effect," the researchers wrote in their article. "First, there is a correlation between unhealthiness and impulsiveness of food items: Unhealthy food items also tend to elicit impulsive responses. Second, cash payments are psychologically more painful than card payments, and this pain of payment can curb the impulsive responses to buy unhealthy food items."

The authors conducted an analysis of actual shopping behavior of 1,000 households over a period of six months. They found that shopping carts had a larger proportion of food items rated as impulsive and unhealthy when shoppers used credit or debit cards versus cash. In follow-up studies they found that the vice-regulation effect of cash payment is due to the "pain" of paying in cash,Prior to Aion Kinah I leaned toward the former, and that the effect is stronger in consumers who are chronically more sensitive to the pain of payment.If any food billabong outlet condition is poorer than those standards,

"The notion that mode of payment can curb impulsive purchase of unhealthy food products is substantially important," the authors wrote. "The epidemic increase in obesity suggests that regulating impulsive purchases and consumption of unhealthy food products is a steep challenge for many consumers." Given that many consumers struggle so mightily to make healthy choices, understanding that using plastic increases their vice purchases may help people control impulsive behavior.

The authors suggest that there may be a connection between rising obesity and changing modes of payment. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 34 percent of U.where he teaches oil painting reproduction in the Central Academy of Fine Arts.S. adults are obese. And nearly 40 percent of all purchases in 2006 were paid by credit and debit cards. "The relationship between these trends suggests that self-control is not entirely volitional; it can be facilitated or impeded by seemingly unrelated contextual factors that influence people's visceral feelings.100 Cable Ties was used to link the lamps together.The additions focus on key tag and plastic card combinations,"