So many news stories describe situations that metaphorically stink, but when the topic turns to CAFOs - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (i.e. factory farms) - things start to stink literally. A friend sent me several articles this week describing current legislation in Missouri on this very topic.
If your hand is on your mouse, getting ready to click over to another Hillary diary, wait! Yes, this is about CAFOs (a pet topic of mine, of course) and about one state out of 50, but it DOES affect you. Hear me out for a few paragraphs before moving on to join another Hillary hatefest.
Why Does It Affect You?
I'll just back up here and tell you a bit about a Local Democracy convention I attended in Wisconsin last year. I wrote it up then but it was the week that the Foley stuff broke out so I think maybe 5 or so Kossacks read my diary, if that. I wasn't sure what the Local Democracy convention was going to be about before I showed up, but I realized almost instantly that it was worthwhile when I sat down in the first session.
That first session described several ways a community can maintain control over itself instead of ceding power to distant megacorporations. For example, you can have municipally-provided wireless internet, municipally-owned utilities, food cooperatives, biofuels cooperatives, etc.
The alternative would be when a power company headquartered in Iowa provides power to a multi-state area and they want to run a new power line through your town in Wisconsin. Your town's residents might not want it, but who are they to decide that? They only live there! The power company has enough money and connections to pretty much get what it wants a lot of the time - and if its execs all live in Iowa, what do they care if they mess up your town in Wisconsin?
One topic brought up in that session (which the current CAFO issue reminds me of) was Madison, Wisconsin's municipally-provided wireless. Years before Madison even dreamed up providing wireless to the entire city, a Wisconsin governor gave the telecoms a parting gift before leaving office: a law banning the government from providing wireless to Wisconsin citizens. So once those liberal hippies in Madison decided the whole town deserved free wireless... they were stuck. (They ended up doing some crazy thing to make it work, but it's not free.)
This is a pet tactic of corporations - if local residents want to pass laws that are truly for the good of the people (but not for the corporation), then override those laws at a higher level. And - if you can - get those higher level laws passed pre-emptively, before inconvenient local laws even start to crop up.
So... keep reading about Missouri, but keep in mind, if this works in Missouri, your home might be next.
The Big Stink in Missouri
A nasty bill is on the table in the Show Me state:
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Chris Koster, R-Harrisonville, would prohibit local governments from adopting or upholding agricultural health regulations that are stricter than the state’s standards. The act would expunge local laws for licensing and operating farms that are not identical to state regulations.
The bill, supported by Gov. Matt Blunt, also gives farms greater protection against lawsuits that accuse large-scale farms of creating nuisances.
Two years ago another bill, similar to this one, made it through the MO Senate, but not the House. Agriculture is the state's #1 industry, and 16 counties have laws on the books that would be affected by this legislation. These laws regulate things like where you can spread animal poop and how far away a CAFO must be from existing homes. Interestingly enough, the article noted that:
Cargill and Premium Standard Farms, two of Missouri’s largest hog producers, donated $26,500 to the state’s Republican Party or to its candidates in 2006.
A Few More Current MO CAFO Bills
There are two other current bills that you might want to take a look at. Both bills focus on a historic site (Arrow Rock) near where someone wants to build a CAFO. The Arrow Rock residents are protesting.
The first, sponsored by a Democrat (Rep. Jeff Harris D-Columbia), aims to prevent CAFO's from being built within 5 miles of a state park or historic sites. In the article, he is quoted as saying that it would promote tourism.
The second, sponsored by a Republican, gives CAFOs tax breaks to try new technology to control odor. If you've driven past a CAFO, read anything about CAFOs, or heard anyone describe one, you know they stink. What I've heard over and over is that the CAFOs initially come into an area by telling government officials and residents that there will be no odor... except there is one, and it is so overpowering that people who live nearby's property values drop.
In classic fashion, the Republican pushing this bill, Rep. Steve Hobbs (R-Mexico), is quote as saying:
that the universities have reported success in pilot projects using the tree screens - bands of native grasses, shrubs, small trees and taller trees.
"These keep the breeze from blowing the odor out, and the leaves of the trees absorb the odors," he said.
He wants to use the proposed Arrow Rock CAFO as his pilot site, to prove how well he can prevent tons of animal crap from stinking... just like the Iraq war proved that we were greeted as liberators...
Action!
What can you do about this? Raise hell, of course! Missourians, you can find your legislators here. Everyone else - what's going on in your state? The bad guys here, huge agribusiness corporations, have CAFOs all over the country - and lots of money with which to lobby. You might want to drop your state reps a line or two to let them know how you feel.
And, as always... vote with your fork! Go to http://www.eatwellguide.org to find local, sustainable animal products near you.
---
By the way, this week's VMD diary will be written by Land of Enchantment. Look for it around 9-10am EST on Sunday.