Letter - The legacy of pig factory farms

To the editor:

I grew up on the farm just to the north of the proposed site for the super-sized pig farm. I love that farm. I love sharing memories with my two young sons whenever we come home for a visit: “There’s the pond where we used to go skating in the winter. This swamp was our dog Charlie’s particular favorite for sliming himself with mud. Here’s the ditch where I dumped an entire load of round bales off of the hay rack.” I feel I’m passing on a part of our heritage to them.

It saddens me to think what could become of our farm if the [Todd] county commissioners vote to allow this operation a permit. I wish I could convince myself that our loss would mean gain for the many. That, at least, would be noble. We and a handful of neighbors bite the bullet(s), allowing the rest of Todd County to prosper. We get the increased traffic and noise, the decreased air and water quality and plummeting land values, but the rest of Todd County, our country, the world are each forever a better place. Yes, I wish I could believe that.

Sadly, that’s not the track record we’ve uncovered for other areas where factory farms come in. In Poland, where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried unsuccessfully to convince government officials not to open their doors to factory farms, they are now reaping a bitter harvest. The legacy of factory farms there has been family farms decreasing, unemployment and crime increasing, and rivers so polluted that fish break in half when taken off the hook. These were not among the many promises made to Poland.

To learn more about how factory farms have impacted Poland, North Carolina and/or to learn more about factory farming in general, go to: nocorporatepigs.wordpress.com.

Mary (Walsh) Soupir

Lucan, MN

Tags: opinion, letters