Funding R.O.A.D. helps Reviving Our American Democracy provide non-partisan information and advocacy about important issues impacting our community, state and nation. Recently our efforts have focused on one critical issue – stopping the construction of a 4,000-head swine factory in the heart of the Flower Creek Watershed.
The people and communities near the proposed factory farm are nervous. They want to be able to eat the fruits and vegetables grown in nearby fields without worrying about accumulated heavy metals or undigested antibiotics. They really enjoy a deep inhale when the breezes blow in from the Big Lake. They are particularly partial to their water – quenching their thirst with a clean, cold glass of well-water, going fishing with their children and grandchildren, or maybe swimming in the creek or lake.
This factory farm threatens all of that.
We have hired professionals when necessary to help us in this all-too-familiar struggle of environment vs profit. Thanks to them, we presented precise and scientific information outlining the impact of the CAFO’s nutrient distribution on area farmland and the Flower Creek Watershed to DEQ officials at a recent public hearing. Irregularities in the Marsh Swine Farm Site plan and Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (or what to do with all that poo!) were also presented. These necessary and expensive reports are just the beginning. Many like-minded supporters have come forward with donations to help pay for these services, and we are most appreciative. More is needed.
We have an immediate, pressing need for donations to help us stand against Big Ag and this factory farm.
If clean air, water and earth matter to you, if you support the right to breathe oxygen instead of ammonia, methane and hydrogen sulfide, please donate now. You can help ROAD continue its work by safely and easily using PayPal or a credit card. Donate Now.
This pig factory will be under contract to feed Michigan’s new pork processing facility, which already has plans to butcher up to 20,000 hogs a day within five years. The processor is actively searching for farmers willing to build a CAFO, perhaps in your neighborhood. Be prepared!