Opinion - Sunday, 7/13/08 Congrats to Francis Thicke whose guest editorial appeared in the Sunday Des Moines Register. Change Direction: Farm Sustainably In all the analysis by "experts" of various backgrounds and interests following the explosion of food prices in recent months, no new thinking is emerging to solve old problems. Merely rehashing ideas long proven to be politically expedient, environmentally and socially unsound or scientifically questionable will do little to change the situation of the poor, hungry and malnourished - or of the Earth, which is being mined and poisoned in the process of producing today's food, feed, fiber and biofuels... http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080713/OPINION01/807130313/1035/archive ------------ News - Saturday, 7/12/08 Dallas County hog lots to be built despite vote Adel, Ia. — Dallas County supervisors voted Friday to oppose construction of two large hog confinements, but they acknowledge that the move is little more than symbolic. Dallas is among 70 counties that have adopted a system of requirements used by state regulators to determine whether construction of an animal confinement is allowed, which means the Board of Supervisors and dozens of residents who live near the proposed buildings provide input but have little say over what happens in their backyards... http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080712/NEWS/807120319/-1/archive ---------- LTE - Monday, 7/14/08 July 11, 2008 Hog factories will soon be the norm Regarding a proposed 14,880-head hog factory in Dallas County: There are two hog-factory sites to this proposal. Each site will hold the manure it produces and a "dead"-compost bin. Is this your vision for rural Iowa? There are so many ramifications to these hog factories, some known and some yet to be discovered. The two factories will produce more than 4,285,000 gallons of manure a year, which will then be spread on the surrounding fields for as long as the factories exist. The runoff water from these fields goes into the Raccoon River and on to the Des Moines Water Works. How much money will it take Des Moines taxpayers to clean the water? In this manure will be antibiotics and heavy metals. On these sites, the "dead" compost bins could hold 350-plus dead carcasses apiece. What about the scavengers, flies and vermin attracted to these sites? What will happen to the health of the children and families living near these factories? What impact will it have on wildlife and plant life in the area? Some of you may be thinking since it isn't in your backyard you don't need to be concerned. Or, do you? Once these two hog factories are built it will encourage other mega-animal factories. - Jim and Janiece Thompson, Perry - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp