If you read the front page story in the Globe today concerning behemoth hog confinement pens that are being constructed in Northwood and somewhere around Ventura, you can easily see the direction things are moving. This proposed inventory will feed the needs of Prestage and it will only grow larger and larger.
A short while ago I touched on this subject, and at that time I advocated all things involving pigs move south to Mexico. It is all pluses, no negatives. It eliminates the health risks….of which there are multiple. It provides employment for the Mexican population, lower wages and broader profitability to the packer – no ocean between us. The processor can build all the CAFO’S they want.
If China was awake they would own and run these facilities. They already own ocean going container ships. Iowa could legislate laws prohibiting anyone from owning more than two pigs per family. In addition Iowa could shift 100% of all agriculture needs to crop production. This would not entirely solve our water problem because of spraying chemicals on the ground that go into the ground water and into the streams that come to our kitchen faucets. But it would be a big start to cleaning up mother earth and the damage we’ve done to that segment of our state for decades. Also there is strong evidence that the farmer and their families are at a higher risk of cancer due to working with these materials in a race to get inside the meat case or the cereal boxes.
You might think that moving everything labeled pork is a far fetched idea but you would be wrong. It makes perfect sense in today’ climate with health concerns and what has been increasing meat costs that have accelerated steadily year after year. I have seen whole ribeye loins priced in the meat cases of supermarkets at $88.00….and this isn’t prime.
Now someone wants me to tour a modern day farm; what am I going to see….thousands of gallons of carcinogenic chemicals from Monsanto that they’re going to spray on the ground to kill weeds, along with that we’re going to see a large amount of steroids that are injected into the baby pigs to get them to market faster; the chemicals in these injections are not something you want to digest. I think I’ll pass on the tour……I already know what corn looks like.
Peter Children
Mason City, Iowa
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