Words of a DNR nutjob
From the Iowa Great Lakes Eco-Activists group on Yahoo!:
I agree with Donna. While the odor from CAFOs is unhealthy and intolerable, the larger enemy is what is happening to our surface and subsurface water. Look at how bad our water resources are now after less than a century of intensive farming/livestock production and picture what it will be like in 100 years especially if more CAFOs are added.
Your strongest vote is how you spend your money. Buy organically grown foods and organically produced meat and encourage local merchants to offer it. Be willing to spend extra for a more nutritious and environmentally healthy product. Try to avoid financially supporting the inefficient government subsidy junkie system.
Thanks to all for sharing information.
Maury
This is from Maury Muhm, a DNR Wildlife Biologist in Clay County, and is an example of the hyperbola spin that eco-activists use to win over fellow NIMBYs.
First, the things I agree with Maury on:
1) Locally grown food is a good idea.
Things I disagree with Maury on:
1) Our water resources are probably better today than 100 years ago when we had no buffer strips, no-till, terraces, etc and we were all "organic" farming, plowing up and down the hills. We have more deer and wild turkeys now than we did 100 years ago. Iowa's natural resources are probably at their best since the settlers appeared here.
2) CAFOs are not significantly contributing to the degradation of natural resources. In fact, the properly applied manure can increase the organic matter of soils over time, along with conservation tillage. Yes, problems do occur if/when a spill takes place from a CAFO, however. A detriment to the environment could also occur if the batteries in your hybrid aren't disposed of properly.
3) If you want to eat organic, that's fine, but just being organic does not necessarily mean healthier than conventional food. Remember the E Coli spinach issue recently? Organic spinach. "Organic = healthy" is not always a true statement.
4) Not everyone can afford "organic" food. Maybe if you had a good paying government job or were a lawyer you could subsist on organic food alone, but lower middle class workers, when given the decision between $2.50/gal AE milk vs $5.00/gal organic, the AE will win out everytime.
5) Maury exhorts us to avoid financially supporting the "inefficient government subsidy junkie system", but aren't we as taxpayers subsidizing his employment? Kinda calling the kettle black there, Maury. While its noble to try to buy food that is not "subsidized", the fact is we all subsidize it somehow through our taxes. Buying "non-subsidized" food is simply paying twice as much as its worth.
This group up in "The North of Iowa", the Iowa Great Lakes Eco-Activists, are quite an interesting bunch. Watch for more posts about the NIMBYS of the North.
I agree with Donna. While the odor from CAFOs is unhealthy and intolerable, the larger enemy is what is happening to our surface and subsurface water. Look at how bad our water resources are now after less than a century of intensive farming/livestock production and picture what it will be like in 100 years especially if more CAFOs are added.
Your strongest vote is how you spend your money. Buy organically grown foods and organically produced meat and encourage local merchants to offer it. Be willing to spend extra for a more nutritious and environmentally healthy product. Try to avoid financially supporting the inefficient government subsidy junkie system.
Thanks to all for sharing information.
Maury
This is from Maury Muhm, a DNR Wildlife Biologist in Clay County, and is an example of the hyperbola spin that eco-activists use to win over fellow NIMBYs.
First, the things I agree with Maury on:
1) Locally grown food is a good idea.
Things I disagree with Maury on:
1) Our water resources are probably better today than 100 years ago when we had no buffer strips, no-till, terraces, etc and we were all "organic" farming, plowing up and down the hills. We have more deer and wild turkeys now than we did 100 years ago. Iowa's natural resources are probably at their best since the settlers appeared here.
2) CAFOs are not significantly contributing to the degradation of natural resources. In fact, the properly applied manure can increase the organic matter of soils over time, along with conservation tillage. Yes, problems do occur if/when a spill takes place from a CAFO, however. A detriment to the environment could also occur if the batteries in your hybrid aren't disposed of properly.
3) If you want to eat organic, that's fine, but just being organic does not necessarily mean healthier than conventional food. Remember the E Coli spinach issue recently? Organic spinach. "Organic = healthy" is not always a true statement.
4) Not everyone can afford "organic" food. Maybe if you had a good paying government job or were a lawyer you could subsist on organic food alone, but lower middle class workers, when given the decision between $2.50/gal AE milk vs $5.00/gal organic, the AE will win out everytime.
5) Maury exhorts us to avoid financially supporting the "inefficient government subsidy junkie system", but aren't we as taxpayers subsidizing his employment? Kinda calling the kettle black there, Maury. While its noble to try to buy food that is not "subsidized", the fact is we all subsidize it somehow through our taxes. Buying "non-subsidized" food is simply paying twice as much as its worth.
This group up in "The North of Iowa", the Iowa Great Lakes Eco-Activists, are quite an interesting bunch. Watch for more posts about the NIMBYS of the North.
posted by bgunzy at 10/08/2006 05:16:00 PM
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