Letter to the Editor: Pork processing plant is part of the problem, not the solution

By Shannon Walker, Iowa CCI member, Clive

When the state’s largest newspaper prints “many rural towns are dying, but a new pork processing plant in northwest (Iowa) offers hope” they fail to mention why rural communities are dying in the first place, nor the negative effects this slaughterhouse has on our community and environment.

Rural communities are dying because of the factory farm industry. They exploit our rural communities by extracting profits to big corporations, meanwhile leaving us with the pollution.

According to Food & Water Watch over the past three decades, Iowa counties that sold the most hogs and had the largest farms had declining county-wide incomes, slower growth in median household income and declining numbers of local businesses compared to the statewide average.

Slaughterhouses and factory farms are a cancer not a cure. What we really need are more independent local farmers that create vibrant rural communities. Not corporate-owned factory farms and slaughterhouses that extract profits from our rural communities and leave us with the pollution.