Proclamation 3495—National Farm-City Week, 1962

Whereas this year marks the completion of the first one hundred years of service of the United States Department of Agriculture; and

Whereas this is also the centennial year of the establishment of the land-grant system of universities and colleges; and

Whereas an individual American farm worker can now produce food and fiber for himself and twenty-six others, the greatest farm efficiency ever known to man; and

Whereas this agricultural efficiency and abundance is necessary not only to the well-being of all our own people and to the strength of our Nation, but also to the growth of freedom in the newly emerging nations who look to us for the shared fruits of our land and the technology of our agriculture; and

Whereas this abundant production and skill of the American farmer has enabled our cities to grow, without fear of hunger; and

Whereas the American farmer is ever more dependent on the city worker to supply the machines and power and other tools necessary for this efficient farm production; and

Whereas there is a continuing need for mutual recognition and appreciation by farm families and city families of their interdependence:

Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week of November 16 through November 22, 1962, as National Farm-City Week; and I call upon our citizens throughout the Nation to participate fully in the observance of that week.

I request labor, business and civic associations, industry groups, women's clubs, and all consumers, along with farm groups, to join in this observance as evidence of America's appreciation to all those, in the cities and on the farms, who provide us with food and fiber for better living.

I request the Department of Agriculture and other appropriate Federal agencies, the land-grant colleges and universities, and the Cooperative Extension Service to cooperate with national, state, and local groups in preparing and carrying out programs for the appropriate observance of National Farm-City Week, including public meetings, exhibits, pageants, press, radio, and television features, with special emphasis on the interdependence of farm families and city families.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this 25th day of September in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-seventh.

JOHN F. KENNEDY

By the President:

GEORGE W. BALL,

Acting Secretary of State