Proclamation 3933—National Farm-City Week, 1969

As our society becomes more complex, it also grows more interdependent. The behavior of each individual has a direct impact on the lives of others. What happens in one area of the country affects events in other areas. Occurrences in every walk of life and every section of society are inextricably intertwined.

One significant example of such interconnections can be found in the interdependence of urban and rural America. It is important that the people of our country come to understand that interdependence more fully than we do at present.

It is not well known for instance that agriculture serves as a $50 billion customer to our economy. The marketing and processing of food and fiber provide almost 5 million non-farm jobs and a $25 billion annual payroll. At the same time, technological changes on the farm have so increased agricultural efficiency that record production has been achieved by fewer people. Many rural residents have therefore migrated to the cities. While some have become productive contributors to urban society, many others have been unable to find new economic roles.

The relationship between urban and rural America will never be constant—but it will always be important. It will always require close examination and careful rethinking. It is to that end that I, RICHARD NIXON, President of the United States of America do hereby designate the week of November 21 through November 27, 1969, as National Farm-City Week. I call upon all Americans to participate in this observance.

I particularly urge the Department of Agriculture, the land-grant colleges and universities, the Cooperative Extension Service, and other appropriate organizations to carry out programs to mark this occasion, including public meetings and exhibits, and presentations in newspapers and in magazines, on radio and on television.

I urge that such programs emphasize :

—the development of better understanding and more effective working relationships between those who live on the farm and those who live in non-farm areas;

—the enormous scientific and technological advances in agriculture and their significance for the lives of both rural and urban dwellers;

—the vital need to plan more effectively the way we will use our land, conserve our natural resources, and protect the quality of our environment;

—the importance of maintaining and enhancing the social and economic health of farms and rural communities;

—the urgency of providing opportunities for disadvantaged people in both rural and urban areas to participate more fully in the economic life of the nation.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-fourth.

RICHARD NIXON