[ecopath] newsgroups, etc

[Barry & Margarita Nichols]

I'd like to see if some local problems are really at my provider's end
or just inactivity in some groups.  Can anyone tell me if the following
have any activity on them?

news.misc.food.preserving
news.groups.food.preserving
news.admin.food.preserving
rec.gardens.organic
-- 
Please remove "faux." from my reply-to address above in order to send a
reply.  I'll try anything to try and foil the junk email mutants.