Fwd: Corporate hog farm study

[Ken Medlin <dev-plan@moscow.com>]

Subject:     Corporate hog farm study
Sent:        8/30/19 2:15 AM
Received:    8/29/99 9:01 PM
From:        DPlum65@aol.com
To:          smartgrowth@onenw.org

[My comment: I thought this piece on rural economics, as defined by farm 
ownership and product/income, would be of interest to all. As the natural 
and economic environments change in the Palouse, and if family farm 
survival becomes politically and economically unsustainable, the region 
may face aspects of what is described below. I have seen much of this in 
California where the traditional family farm is almost non-existent and 
the driving forces are the economies of scale and profit margins 
controlled by corporate interests. Is the Inland Northwest gradually 
moving in that direction? Is it inevitable? Community initiatives could 
possibly make a difference. Read on McDuffs - Ken M.]


=====  A message from the 'smartgro' discussion list  =====

from an undated fact sheet titled "Corporate Farming, Fact Vs. Fiction", 
by 
the Idaho Rural Council, phone 298-344-6184, fax 298-344-6382, e-mail 
irc@rmci.net   

"A University of Missouri study found that independent producers create 
three 
times as many jobs..."  Example given cites a 12,000 hog production and 
job 
displacement.

"Most corporate farms do business outside the local communities or buy 
direct 
from the supplier.  They don't add to the local community as much..."  
Example cites smaller producers re-investing 79% locally, Vs. only 49.5% 
by 
larger operations.

"Corporate farms tend to concentrate the production and pollution into a 
few 
areas of the state while driving producers out of other parts of the 
state."  
 Greater efficiency in smaller farm examples given.

"Diverse family farming means animals are spread across many acres which 
reduces the potential for pollution.  Corporate agriculture stores all 
the 
animal waste in one place which in many parts of the country equals 
pollution 
on a grand scale."  

"The "Charlotte Observer" began its "Power of Pork" series with the 
following:  "Imagine a city as big as New York suddenly grafted on to 
North 
Carolina's Coastal Plain.  Double it.  Now imagine that this city has no 
sewage treatment plants.  All the waste from 15 million people is just 
flushed into open pits and sprayed onto fields.  Turn those humans into 
hogs 
and you don't have to imagine at all."  End of quotes.

Other states are suing hog factories for environmental damages ranging 
from 
ground water contamination, offensive odors, sanitation problems, flies, 
inhumane conditions, etc..   

It doesn't make sense to allow contamination of any of our valuable water 
sources.  Western water wars are not that far off.  You cannot go back 
and 
clean up aquifers once polluted.  Recognize that small farms also usually 
add 
far fewer chemicals and hormones for meat production, protecting human 
health 
while also protecting the environment.  Maintaining the small farm 
retains 
diversity, heritage, and a training ground for sound working ethics.  
They 
also continue the legacy of caring for the earth, which the corporate 
world 
often does not.  The deep drawbacks of hog factories clearly outweigh any 
short term benefits for Idaho.

Cherie Cole




------------------------
William K. Medlin
Dev-plan associates
930 Kenneth Street
Moscow ID 83843
208/892-0148
dev-plan@moscow.com