'Mad Cowboy' To Discuss Sustainability At CWU

April 9, 2004

Contact: Leslie J. Webb (509-963-1685/fax 509-963-3561/e-mail: webble@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- With the increased interest in organic foods, safe food processing and a general concern for the environment, Howard Lyman's visit to Central Washington University comes at an appropriate time.

Lyman, the self-proclaimed "Mad Cowboy," will deliver two free, public presentations on "Sustainability." The first is slated for Friday, April 23, at 4 p.m., in Hebeler Auditorium. The second will be held Saturday, April 24, at 3 p.m., in Black 201.

His Friday talk will be followed by questions and answers. Saturday will feature a roundtable involving community and university members interested in what is happening in the Kittitas Valley to preserve good health and the environment.

A fourth-generation family farmer from Montana, Lyman has nearly 40 years of experience in agriculture, including growing wheat, barley, oats, corn, alfalfa and grass; working in a large organic dairy; raising registered beef cattle; and owning a large feedlot.

"I speak from a background of personal experience when I say that chemically-based agricultural production methods today are unsustainable and, therefore, ecologically disastrous," Lyman noted. "Convinced that we were going the wrong way, I decided to become a voice for the family farmer and the land."

In 1983, Lyman sold most of his farm and started helping farmers in financial trouble. That led to his work with the Montana Farmers Union. He then went to Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist for the National Farmers Union, where he helped to get the National Organic Standards Act approved.

Even so, Lyman said, "I became convinced that the changes needed had to come from the producer and the consumers at the grassroots level. Until that alliance is put into play, the big money interest will continue to control public policy in the Congress of the United States."

A former director of the "Beyond Beef Campaign" and the Humane Society of the United States' "Eating With Conscience" Campaign, Lyman now heads up "Voice for a Viable Future" which educates people about organic sustainable agriculture and the dangers of current methods of food products.

For more information about his CWU presentations, or for persons of disability to arrange for reasonable accommodation, call (509) 963-1685, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-2143.

In addition, a by-ticket-only vegan dinner in Lyman's honor will be held at the Peace Cafe at 6 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available through the Peace Cafe for $7.50.