Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 8 · column 4 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
December 6
Graves Mountain
Lodge
Farming communities throughout Virginia are experiencing urban and suburban development pressures, rising land prices, loss of agricultural lands, and increasing economic and environmental challenges. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, between 1997 and 2002, the Commonwealth of Virginia lost 1,760 farms and almost 129,000 acres of farmland. In Virginia, between 1997 and 2002, agriculture lost over 331,000 acres of cropland. Nationally, over 86,000 farms and over 16 million acres of farmland were lost during this same period.
During this same time, Virginia communities faced the increasing threat of obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases. According to the Virginia Center for Healthy Communities, in 2002,24 percent of adult Virginians were obese, while 35 percent were overweight. The Virginia Center for Healthy Communities cites that one possible contributor of these incidences is because in 2003, 74 percent of Virginians reported
91.2%