From: Tom Mee
Hope
There’s no denying that a healthy agricultural sector is critical to the economic success of rural communities. A healthy and sustainable community around here is equal to the health and sustainability of our farmers. That said, I don’t believe the current industrialization of our local farming system has led, is leading or will lead to a healthy and sustainable agricultural sector, or a healthy and successful rural community.
What’s the real economic impact of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) on rural communities? Do CAFOs improve the economic health of the communities in which they are located? How do CAFOs impact public health and the quality of life for the entire rural area where they locate? Do more CAFOS translate to more dollars going into local tax coffers, local retailers’ revenues and local employees’ pockets as increased income? Or, are there hidden negative implications of CAFOs to a rural community’s economic well-being, public health and natural resources?
If you want to learn more about this for yourself, please attend the free showing of “Right to Harm” at YES Cinema, 328 Jackson St. in Columbus, on Oct. 24. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. and the movie begins at 7:15. It’s free to the public, so get there, learn more and join the discussion of the public health and economic consequences of factory farming on rural communities — including ours.
