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| St. Lawrence Church in Jefferson is the site of one of the rural life listening sessions. (Catholic Herald photo/Kat Wagner) |
MADISON — Catholic Charities’ new Rural Life Office will be holding listening sessions throughout the 11 counties of the Diocese of Madison.
“It will be an opportunity to help address the needs with rural pastors and work shoulder-to-shoulder with the farm community,” said Brian Cain, executive director of Catholic Charities (CC).
Tom Nelson, coordinator of the CC Rural Life Office, said there is a great need “to listen across the 11 counties to the many concerns and challenges of farmers and farm families and all those who are impacted by the financial crisis across all segments of agriculture in our area.”
Need for food
With an ever-increasing worldwide need for food, Nelson said “it is alarming to watch the continuous eroding of our farming base across the bread/corn basket of our nation as farmers lose their family farms to financial failure, all the while being more productive than ever before.