Address the hog farm

Arkansas has been reading about this CAFO in the Buffalo watershed for going on five years, with many thanks to a columnist in this paper, Mike Masterson. But … it’s still there. Why? I think three truths about human nature are at fault.

First, ignorance. Most of us are ignorant of many things; who has time to become well-versed in all the issues facing us, let alone this issue? Of CAFOs in Arkansas and the U.S., how many of us can speak intelligently about how many there are, how they are growing, who owns them, what percentage are owned by and exported to China (which accepts the hogs, but leaves the pollution in the U.S.), etc.? Who can speak intelligently about how much money is funded through lobbying to keep this situation as it is? Who of us in Arkansas has driven by the hog factory in Newton County and smelled the air? Who has observed the changes in the waters this factory drains into?

Second truth of human nature: habits of thinking. We habitually think of farmers as people who own a few acres, who love the Lord, go to church, and care about animals and the land. We don’t think of them like Smithfield (owned by a Chinese company), Tyson, etc., who contract with large industrial farms for the feed, and contract with CAFOs for their product, and who pass the pollution issues on to the least able to do anything about it.

Third, indifference (perhaps the worst of these three truths about human nature). I recently participated in a few question-and-answer sessions with candidates for state office. The question of this hog factory in Newton County, or the plans for another in wine country, never came up, and when I brought it up, I could sense the indifference to this question in the room.

I’m asking you not to be ignorant and indifferent to this issue. Make it an issue … it’s nonpartisan, and needs to be addressed.

RG SMITH

Rogers