Editor, Times-Union: As the Times-Union correctly reported, our group, wanting local ordinances for CAFOs, was voted down and seconded before anyone could even begin to know what was going on!
It seemed like it was all up to a man who has a decided conflict of interest. I had told the APC of my concerns of ever getting a fair vote from the panel. There are some very fair people occupying those seats but there are also several who are too close to the situation. I am wondering why we do not have some representatives from many of the small towns in our county. I also wonder who has jurisdiction over the APC?
There must be a check and balance system for all concerned. Our group submitted petitions signed by nearly three hundred people wanting local CAFO ordinances. Are they to be disregarded? Will this action by the APC open up our county to more and more CAFOs?
Will the rural residents, who have been on their farms as many as five generations, just have to grin and bear the onslaught of the impact of the growing inequality between family farms and the monopolistic agribusiness corporations? Will we just have to take any and all of the environmental and health hazards as common place? Will Kosciusko County cease to be a desirable place to live?
As I attended the Farm Bureau forum and was able to talk privately with three of the presenters, I found that they all had minimal knowledge of CAFOs and their impact on surrounding areas. They have not been concerned because none are in their personal space. I did find them willing to be educated about the effects on health and environment and was even encouraged, by two of them, to continue my campaign.
I can’t stand by and do nothing while my grand-children’s future succumbs to the ravages of factory farming. As we contemplate passing the farms on to the next generation, what kind of inheritance will that be? We may leave them nothing but a memory of what a real, sustainable farm used to be.
