Collaboration Can Create Co-Existence For Children of All Kinds For Our Future

"Mama Knows Best" borrowed with credit
 from the Facebook page titled
"United Against Factory Farms,"
which I just joined of course :) - check it out for yourself!

What a pleasant surprise this little porker must have been for this mama hen!  This photo made me smile so much, but it also inspired me to add another entry for the blog.  This time of year, people think about the meaning of Christmas, Hannukah and other holidays, family-related celebrations or gift giving dilemmas or politically correct greetings.  My thoughts have turned to the lack of collaboration seen in the government as well as between human beings.  Seems like listening to someone else's opinion that might differ from our own is a truly lost art.

It's been a while since time has permitted adding a new posting on The Factory Farm As Neighbor blog as was blessed to receive a long term teaching assignment with Special Needs Children last September, as well as other things taking up my time like helping out in other ways.  We've also had a bunch of family stuff happening that reordered my usual priorities and volunteer commitments.  These other circumstances have prevented me from getting to things I normally enjoy in holiday season like church attendance, choir practice and other things.  My teaching assignment and the family happenings opened my eyes to the possibilities of what our children will see as a future if things don't change for the better where our environment is concerned when factory farms become the prevalent wave of future food production because our government seems to be turning a deaf ear and be blinded by the influx of PAC dollars into their pockets.  So it seems as it is the end of this year, it's time to ponder what 2014 was about before 2015 marches out in its New Year's diaper to herald its arrival.  

Baby pigs, cattle and chickens survive best in clean, sustainable and open environments.  Same is true of human or other animal babies, fish and fowl as well.   Seems like common sense to even non-farmers, right? The more facts that come out about factory farming, the more it seems like people who were reasonable, caring and good herdsmen would get motivated to return to a more natural environment for raising their livestock that does not involve inhumane containment of beings that were meant to live in the open air, free to graze and forage as intended in the light of day.

Curiosity got the better of me recently when my brother and I discussed how the Factory Farm next door and others like it dispose of the pork fetuses, dead newborns and other practices that are too unmentionable in a public forum.  Decided to go online - the research library of the masses - to look at mortality rates for factory farms.  Here's one that was particularly upsetting for a practical old farm gal who understands the logical business of farming, as well as the gentle nature needed to grow livestock that is healthy and yields results.  Just a few of the things on here should make you think about what you're putting on your table to feed your family and friends all year round - not just for the holiday meals.  This link was taken off  the Organic Consumers Association website originally found on the Grace Communications website, two nonprofit organizations focused on food safety and sustainable agricultural practices, and has plenty of noteworthy credible backup from knowledgable sources in the way of footnotes to accompany this information.  Do an article search on their website (click here) Organic Consumers Association for this article:  Disturbing Facts about Factory Farms & Food Safety to learn more.   

Two bullet points from this website article really hit particularly hard as related to this posting's subject matter because of the interconnected nature of improper raising of animals creating deaths in human and other species related or living close by wherever the factory farm was located:

• Since 1995, an additional one billion fish have been killed from manure runoff in estuaries and coastal areas in North Carolina, and the Maryland and Virginia tributaries leading into the Chesapeake Bay. These deaths can be directly related to the 10 million hogs currently being raised in North Carolina and the 620 million chickens on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
• The pollution from animal waste causes respiratory problems, skin infections, nausea, depression and even death for people who live near factory farms. Livestock waste has been linked to six miscarriages in women living near a hog factory in Indiana.

• Cached

As far back as May 2007, the Encyclopedia Britannica recognized the detrimental effects of factory farming chickens and published an informative article on its impact  "Factory-Farmed Chickens: Their Difficult Lives and Death"  (Click here to read the entire article)

A quote from this article explains how senseless and inhumane this industry segment is when it comes to raising a living, breathing animal that gives us food -- in eggs as well as baked or broiled for the family meals:  

• As in all factory-farming industries, chicken production is designed for maximum efficiency and maximum profit. With these goals, regard for the welfare of the animals involved is a luxury that reduces profits unless the extra costs can be passed on to the consumer (as on the much-publicized but less frequently seen “free-range” meat and egg farms). The results are overcrowding, disease, high death rates, and observable unhappiness for the animals involved.

 It is a fact that we are born into this world and then eventually die.   What we do with the time in between those two occurrences is our choice.  For animals, unless they are born in the wild, they do not possess the free choice of their own living circumstances.  That's up to their owners.  Living and dying are part of the rich circle of life that we all experience. 

As humans, we can talk, collaborate, cooperate and try hard to make things better on the planet, in our lives or for others - even those without a voice like animals or special needs children who were born without the ability to verbalize.  During this holiday season and into the new year, we all need to ponder how we can collaborate and cooperate to create better ways to grow our food, protect our environment, sustain the land that will give back if we treat it right and humanely treat the wonderful animals that feed and clothe us.  Wishing you and yours a magical and peaceful holiday season.  Thanks for reading and supporting those who are committed to sustainability in agriculture and humane treatment of animals.  To borrow from Dickens, "May God Bless You Every One" :)  

"Silent Night & First Snow."  Image courtesy of
Photoartdb Consulting.  Copyright 2014.

And the only Christmas gift that would sincerely be appreciated this year by me and others I know who worked against it is the "repeal" of Amendment One: Right To Farm in Missouri.  Be happy.  Be safe.

Here's another mama bird image to peacefully transition you into thinking of other soft holiday dreams and amazing things that have wings - like angels who are singing on high for a good reason.

Image taken from the internet with no clear source so I couldn't credit the photographer, which I'd be happy to do.  Still it's beautiful and the photographer was amazingly talented in capturing this image.
Photoartdb and The Factory Farm As Neighbor claims absolutely no copyright to it.  Enjoy!

  

Comments are by this individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. Am not a scientist, so can't claim my own scientific research but just comment on what is happening. These words are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks. Anonymous comments not accepted. Stand up for your opinion. Thanks for your thoughtful and kind responses. Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)

Recount in September, Recharge for November

Power Belongs to The People
Always Has In A True Democracy
Especially Those Who Grow Sustainable Food

Recount fever has hit hard in the Missouri where Amendment #1 is concerned.  This "so-called" Right To Farm legislation narrowly passed with three organizations demanding a recount to ensure transparency and accuracy in the vote counting process.  All of these organizations are ones that stand strong for the small independent farmer in the "Show Me" State:  Missouri Rural Crisis Center, Missouri's Food for America and Missouri's Farmers Union.  The recounts are scheduled in different voting precincts for this Friday in Barton County.  While I had planned to volunteer to witness the recount process, other things -- like paying gigs badly needed to pay medical bills -- are going to prohibit my participation this democratic validation of what really went down on August 8th in this State.  Too close to call is an understatement.  

As the President of the Missouri's Farmers Union stated in a press release, only a few votes per voting district could make a difference.  My silent prayer was that it was so close that it would end up on the November ballot where it really belonged in the first place.  Why Governor Jay Nixon claims that Amendment #1 was unnecessary in press junkets and then turns around and approves the move of this amendment to the August primary election instead of keeping it where it belonged in November is a mystery only he can answer.  Constitutional Amendments are harder to get rid of than ticks on a summer cat.  They're slippery creatures that slide in and out of places that you didn't think they would go, they stay forever unless something drastic is done.  A Constitutional Amendment can only be reversed if thousands of voting citizens' signatures are collected in petitions demanding that the amendment be voted on again in a later election.  How soon would the People be able to re-vote on Amendment #1 and have it removed?  Probably not until 2016 according to someone more knowledgable than me about these matters of state politics.  However, there are people out there who were motivated by the volunteerism that cropped up during this past effort to defeat Amendment 1 and they are not standing still.  Recently, Boone County held a People's Visioning Session with good ideas and pioneer spirits trying to unit for change in Missouri.  We need more of a balance of power in the legislative halls of Jefferson City.  Right now that balance is out of whack for sure.  My favorite States that I've lived in over the years have had a good balance between Republicans and Democrats who collaborated to bring about positive change that was driven by those who voted them into office.  Where have those days gone?  Where are those public servants?  Face it.  Our government -- state and federal -- officials have not been living up to their campaign promises. A friend back East refers to our dual Party system as the "Repuglicans" and the "Democraps."  Makes me laugh whenever I hear my friend use the terms because it makes so much sense to me these days.  My respect for elected officials has dropped to zero with the events of the past seven years.  My belief is that most of them say what they believe will get them elected, then proceed to forget every promise made to their voters because they think the voters will forget.  Let's not forget and go to the polls in force next November to show them that voting is still our right to choose who represents us. 

So, if the Amendment #1 vote stands, that means people who finally woke up and realized they probably didn't vote they way they'd intended for Small Independent Family Farmers practicing sustainable agricultural methods by voting YES on Amendment #1 cannot try to reverse the damage that their vote caused.  Some of them are waking up and are pretty upset about being fooled by those misleading television ads fueled by deep-pocketed, carpet baggers from out-of-state entities and foreign-owned monster corporations and employees of Political Action Committees funded by Big Ag companies.  But it will take until 2016 for that reversal to happen.  Two years with Big Ag and foreign-owned corporations calling the shots on Missouri farmland ownership and what gets grown in what way -- a sustainable way?  Don't think so.  What do you think will happen in those two years?  Well, GMO labeling will probably go to the back burner or be forgotten about entirely if some people have their way.  Other measures to protect humane treatment of farm animals, as well as domesticated breeds and hunting prey, will head for the back of that same stove as well.  What comes to mind as people lament to me that "I didn't understand what I was voting for" is the phrase when God's son was on the cross dying, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."  That's how I feel about every person who says to me, "Well, it was labelled 'Right To Farm' so I wanted to support small farmers like your family members!" or "Wow, you mean it wasn't about the right to farm but something else?."  Shook my head more than a few times and expressed dismay that they didn't ask or do their own research before stepping into the voting booth.  Makes me sad and mad at the same time.  Being a citizen in the United States enables us to practice something that many cultures in other countries do not have -- the right to vote on those who run our country, the laws that govern our country and the legislation that will chart the course for the future of our country.  How we exercise that right to vote is entirely up to us in this free country.  It means having the responsibility, intelligence and wherewithal to go out and investigate what we are voting for and what it will mean for the greater good and future generations.  People who voted "Yes" for this ill-formed legislation did not take the time to investigate those other states that have said "Yes" to similar legislation … states that are now facing water shortages, polluted land, poor soil and diminishing returns on crop yields.

A friend on FB queried today, "Wonder what the next big thing will be?"  He got some humorous and serious feedback.  What's my theory?  Man and womankind will wake up and realize that we are going backward where our Planet is concerned, but it will be too late to reverse the impact.  As a follower of Science Fiction movies as well as documentaries, certain parallels emerge when I'm watching both genres.  My future world looks something like a cross between Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling and Issac Asimov and could play out something like this:  Monkeys will finally be fed up with being in cages and treated like second class society so they revolt then turn the tables on mankind - Pigs are pretty smart, too, so they might join the revolution; water resources will dry up and become so precious that the only way you can have clean drinking water is to purify it from the ocean, which will lead to a drought of another kind as we drain the ocean to fill our never-ending consumption and tendencies to destroy without replenishing the natural resources that sustain this planet (Wait a minute!  That's a news story I heard this morning on CBS Morning News, so this is already happening in California, y'all.) . CAFO Country will become a reality as bogus "Right To Farm" legislation sweeps our nation.  Ecoli bacteria will create new strains of diseases that only a reemergence of the ebola virus will out shadow.  Wait a minute.  Saw that on the news as well.  Hmmm … reality and fantasy seem to be converging here.

While the droughts take over formerly rich farmlands like California, Iowa, Missouri and other States, water will cease to be the blessing that it has been to the farmers for years because it will be depleted by irresponsible irrigation systems installed by ignorant factory farmers and others who think that water always comes back and will replenish itself.  It will be wasted on people who irrigate fields right after rainstorms while county water tables shrink.  Someday, we'll be restricted like other States are to our usage and when or where it happens.  Just moved here from Arizona -- and that is a reality.  Lots of water conservation projects there because in the High Desert, people know how precious water is to agricultural and urban populations.  My few early years as a radio newswoman who read the weather regularly taught me that trees attract storms and create conditions for those thirst quenching downpours that so many farmers seek this time of year right before harvest begins.  Trees are being pulled down right and left to make more room for these factory farming operations.  When CAFO Country becomes more of a reality in Missouri than it already is for those of us who'd hoped to live out our days in green pastures grazed by herds of grass-fed, hormone free cattle and other farm animals frolicking under blue skies surrounding us, life and peace will cease as we know it.  As we watch those beautiful stands of lush green forests be bulldozed down until our pristine green prairies give way to land that looks more like the deserts of Nevada or the Dust Bowl that Kansas became once upon a time with rain as only a distant cleansing memory.  Then, the changes in weather patterns become more severe so the devastation in the movie, "The Day After Tomorrow," happens for real.  Maybe then people will wake up and listen.  It's another good one to rent on Netflix or watch your favorite movie channel.  If you want to read a little before renting, here's what Wikipedia has to say about it:

The Day After Tomorrow, 2004 movie starring Dennis Quaid & Jake Gyllenhaal

It will make you think twice about Global Warming and whether or not it could be a reality someday.

What comes to my mind while pondering what's happening politically in this State where I was raised and our country in general is music.  This place that has changed so much most often is expressed in the music of Bruce Hornsby and his song, "Look Out Any Window."  Here he is singing that tune at a past Farm Aid concert in 1990: 

 Bruce Hornsby performing "Look Out Any Window."

A long road stretches ahead for those who want to try and preserve the agricultural sustainability of this State by fighting against those who would turn it into a wasteland of overused land that cannot yield the crops that it so easily brought forth in days past.  It will be a hard road and only the tough will survive the struggle ahead.  Let's all rest up, gather our spirits, assemble the people who believe as we do and get ready for the next round with those who would beat us down.  Well, the wind has shifted from the North so gonna take the dogs for a walk while they can breathe without coughing from our unwelcome neighborhood factory farm.   

It will be a tough road with impending clouds, but the rain, greener pastures and better sustainable food resources will bless those who persist.  And the future generation will be thankful to those who held their ground against bigger and tough opponents today.  A group of rag-tag soldiers and people with a dream to create a new vision of freedom for the colonies back in the 1770's did as much and created a great democracy as a result.  Let's see if we can restore that spirit for tomorrow's generation.  Get out and vote.  Tell your friends and do your "homework" to find out who and what you should be casting your ballot for in November.

"Missouri Farm Road and Storm Clouds Coming"
Courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting
Copyright 2014.  All Rights Reserved

Author's Note:  Comments are by this individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. Am not a scientist, so can't claim my own scientific research but just comment on what is happening. These words are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks. Anonymous comments not accepted. Stand up for your opinion. Thanks for your thoughtful and kind responses. Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)

Roads, Twists and Collisions on a Country CAFO Road

"Hot, Dry and A Less Traveled Farm Road"
Courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting.
Copyright 2014.  All Rights Reserved

The photograph above shows the path leading into my brother's pasture land where his grass-fed herd often grazes along the barbed wire fence that borders my backyard.  My dogs have learned that the cattle are not to be disturbed.  Before the herd was relocated here, my youngest dog who is a frisky lab mix and I strolled along this less traveled farm path to get some exercise and bond a bit more practicing some commands that he's been learning.  Often, my oldest dog who is a Pembroke welsh corgi that I've owned since she was ten weeks old sits majestically on the front porch and watches as these magnificent animals enjoy their afternoon snack of grass and hay.  It's a peaceful way to spend an afternoon if the wind is blowing from the right direction.

Sometimes, a car will come down this sleepy dirt road that I live on.  Occasionally, farming equipment or trucks go by at faster than necessary speeds kicking dirt up onto my porch that was just swept.  Very often, it is my brother and father doing their regular check of the cattle or performing other tasks related to the family farming operation.  Thank goodness they slow down as they pass by to keep the dust down or avoid hitting one of my dogs who might be out in the yard.  Sometimes they surprise the dogs and me by driving the tractors into the pasture to bale hay or feed the cattle.

This country road is very narrow where my little house is, without a ditch of any kind on either side and extremely dusty.  Some of my other neighbors now slow down since they've realized that my dogs occasionally "roam free" in the road or out in the yard.  This house was deserted for several years due to its prior tenants' neglect, irresponsibility and other characteristics -- like the toxic smell of the unwanted neighbor around the corner -- that made it hard for my brother and sister-in-law to keep it rented for very long.  We did some work together to make it more habitable, so at least the dogs and I have a retreat when the CAFO smell floats into the yard.  Since moving here a little over a year ago, people have started to realize that the little farmhouse has a new tenant with two active, barking and protective dogs, one of whom will pursue their vehicle before he comes back to me.  

Often, as I drive these country roads and the asphalt roads into town, it amazes me how the farming equipment sometimes does not seem to want to budge from the middle of the road.  More than once out of courtesy to the hard working farmer driving the equipment, I've turned my car into the nearest driveway so they can take passage without me having to head for the ditch.  Recently, this letter from Richard Oswald after the narrow victory of Amendment #1, the "Right To Farm" ballot struck a cord with me because the analogy of what has happened for Big Agricultural Companies and the smaller independent farmers in this State.  Read it for yourself by clicking below.

Letter from Richard Oswald, Pres. of Missouri Farmers Union on the DailyYonder.com

Hopefully, people will keep fighting and not give up on this hard fought battle.  We can't give in while there's still a possibility that Americans will wake up and demand better food, better ways of raising animals or insist that they know what is being put on their table, in their kitchens and in their mouths.  Do we want animals raised in an inhumane manner whose lives have been shut up in cages that provided them with direct exposure to disease and e-coli bacteria?  Do we want genetically modified organisms and seed used in the corn, wheat or soybeans that our food is made from?  It would be my hope that we would expect better and demand it as consumers from the people who produce our daily bread.

It's certainly my hope that Missouri grassroots advocates will take the words of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers to heart and "not back down."  Will end today's blog with the music that I claim absolutely no copyright to and simply enjoy listening to when hanging out in my little farmhouse with the nasty factory farm next door.  After seeing Petty in concert several times, even once in Madison Square Garden in New York, his defiant Southern rocker image is a good one to put forth as we endeavor to carry on the "good fight" for independent and sustainable farming in our State.  Let's not hit the brakes now.  Let's keep rolling.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "I Won't Back Down."

"Overnight Delivery"
Courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting
Copyright 2012.  All Rights Reserved

Author's Note:  Comments are by this individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. Am not a scientist, so can't claim my own scientific research but just comment on what is happening. These words are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks. Anonymous comments not accepted. Stand up for your opinion. Thanks for your thoughtful and kind responses. Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)

Past Writings By Others & Truths Told

"God's Open Door Policy"
Photo courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting
Copyright 2014.  All Rights Reserved

With a result of only.02% voting "yes" and Amendment #1 passing on that narrow margin earlier this month, it will be interesting to see the final outcome when it is certified by the Secretary of State on August 26th and what will happen then.  People that I know are calling for a recount and to challenge the outcome of this vote.  

Bob Glenn, a candidate for Presiding County Commissioner in Dade County, recently reposted this past story on FB from The Turner Report as a foreboding turn of event and how the Globe viewed what the passing of this unnecessary constitutional amendment:

The Turner Report: Globe explores effect of political contributions on CAFO issue

Now we just wait to see what happens while other groups and lawyers scramble to sort it all out.  Such is the way of the world these days.  Lawyers, political action committees, politicians without consciousness or caring for a sustainable agricultural society and executives who do not truly understand the products they sell and their eventual impact on those exposed to them have won this round of the battle.  Do the People win in this kind of tussle?  I wonder.  Probably not and not if you love the land, want to see it flourish and produce for generations to come.  Not if you support humane treatment of all kinds of animals - farm animals, domesticated breeds, birds and bees who have their habitats destroyed with chemicals.  "Right to Farm" had nothing but a "right to harm" validated during this past ballot in Missouri.

This morning, my dear cousin's mother passed away.  Her mother was a Christian in the truest sense of the word:  kind, loving, humble, nonjudgmental and caring about her children and others before herself.  She suffered long from the effects of cancer throughout her body.  God has given her peace now and a chance to greet those members of our family in that better place.  From the title of my photo starting today's blog, you can see that I truly believe God has an Open Door Policy for everyone and especially those of us sinners who still believe that there is a Higher Power at work somewhere out there.  He invented this Earthly home as a paradise to begin, but look what mankind and womankind has allowed to happen once we gained control.

One thing that continues to disturb my thoughts since moving back here to Southwest Missouri is the high incidence of cancer among long-time residents and how quickly the cancer and other serious diseases seem to take over the young.  My church regularly publishes a list of prayer requests for health-related matters and don't believe since I left home way back in the 1970's or in the other states I've lived in like Texas, Connecticut, New York and Arizona that I have seen such a huge number of cancer victims in one small rural county concentration.   Some victims are very young and others with repeated bouts of the terrible disease are listed on these requests.  But we live in a "CAFO County" -- one of the lower county classifications that have a proliferation of these "smaller" operations that run under the regulation radars of the Missouri standards for CAFOs, USDA, EPA and DNR -- and that fact will not change, thanks to the passing of the vaguely worded and misleading "Right To Farm" Amendment #1.  It will just get worse now in my little part of the world and for those around me because we will be CAFO heaven.  

The effects of long-term exposure to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) will not be known for many more decades, but is starting to come to light.  University and other research studies have begun to strongly indicate that those who live in close proximity do suffer a higher incidence of some serious breathing disorders, even cancer, heart-related ailments and other terrible diseases.  

Some parts of Europe and other countries not considered as "advanced" as the United States of America in their agricultural practices have figured out the association of chemicals made by Dow and Monsanto on their less abundant farmlands, waterways and banned their use.  Now, even China is starting to ban GMOs.  Why do we Americans not understand what is going on despite continued evidence that these things are harmful and not really any more productive?  For me, it is the little things that directly impact my daily life and others in similar circumstances.  Expansion of CAFOs in the State of Missouri will not be a "little thing" to many of us living here.

Some things that come to mind are my inability to breathe outdoors without chest pains and dizziness when the wind shifts from where that relatively small CAFO barn operates unfettered by the regulations put in place to protect those who live nearby because of its size.  My dogs' inability to breathe while outside as they cough and wheeze from the stench without understanding what it is -- my dogs never had allergies anywhere else we've lived.  To listen to them cough and wheeze breaks my heart.  The reborn allergies that weren't prevalent during my tenure in other states like Arizona, Connecticut, New York and Texas  now have re-emerged in a fury on my sinuses and lungs requiring me to get prescriptions for these conditions that were handled easily with past herbal remedies like nettle and other supplements.  Finally, the sadness to me is the stillborn and twin-birth calves that my brother's cattle operation endures in those mother cows who graze in close proximity to CAFOs around here and drink the water contaminated by overflowing lagoons.  And the blatant disregard by governmental officials and departments who are supposed to protect our water from those who would harm it makes me more mad than sad as I consider the beauty of the State where I was raised and have now come back to in my later years of life.  Others are suffering just like me around the State where CAFOs run rampant and unchecked, because "Big Ag" will "Keep Missouri Farming."  What a crock of cattle farm-bred, grass-fed bull fertilizer!

A gentleman who has many more academic credentials than me on the subject of sustainable agriculture, University of Missouri Professor Emeritus Dr. John E. Ikerd, PhD, presented a paper to the Iowa Farmers Union Annual Conference in August 25-26, 2006.  His final words nearly eight years ago now resonate on my mind from his book, Crisis & Opportunity:  Sustainability in American Agriculture published in 2008:

    "America has perhaps a fifty-year window of opportunity to develop a sustainable, fossil-energy-independent food system.  It can be done.  Many organic and sustainable farmers today produce just as much per acre as their industrial counterparts; they just have to put more of themselves into the production process.  It will not take more land but it will take more farmers - more thinking, innovative, creative, caring farmers.  It will also take more caring food consumers who are willing to pay the full ecological and social costs of sustainable food production.  And it will make more independent food processors and distributors willing to work with farmers and consumers to build a more sustainable food system.  And all of this will take time.  So now is the time to get serious about creating the kind of agriculture that America must have to survive..."  

Fifty years is not that far away and my life will probably not continue that long. However,  the lives of my nieces, nephew, grandnieces, grandnephews and their children, as well as the children of my friends, will extend into that time.  It would be nice to see them healthy and happy in those years breathing clean air and enjoying the green quiet of a Missouri forest or the clean water of a big river winding through Missouri.  Dr. Ikerd continues to speak out today on the impact that Big Ag, fossil-fuel-driven economies and CAFOs can have on our environment and the future of agriculture.  You can seek more of his wisdom on his website:  www.johnikerd.com .  He is someone who makes sense to members of my farming family and me.  You also can check out his many books on Amazon or his website if you have the interest to seek more learning about how you can be part of trying to make sustainable agriculture a reality in our country as a total, not just in the farming-strong Midwest.  Other quotes from the same book strikes a deeper cord with me in his presentation to the Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association in 2003:

    "Now is the time to create a new American food system -- a network of community food systems linking independent, local farmers with independent, local food processors and retailers, to provide food for customers willing to pay for quality and integrity.  It's time to create a food values chain linked by the principles of ecological integrity, economic viability, and social responsibility.  This task will take time and effort to complete, but now is the time to begin. 
  The  new food system will reconnect people with the earth and with each other, and thus will contribute to a more enlightened concept of quality of life.  In creating this new and better food system, a sustainable food system, we will be leading the way to a brighter, more sustainable future for American and for the rest of the world."

America often has led the way in many things during years past.  Not so today in 2014 where European nations and even China have figured out that the way of Big Ag companies who push harmful pesticides, destructive industrialized farming practices and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) might not be the best way to produce food for their consumers.  As a matter of fact, their consumers are demanding better.  Why aren't Americans?  Why aren't we screaming our outrage so these giants can hear us? 

Saying a prayer for my dear cousins' mother this Sunday.  And please say another prayer for those of us who are fighting the detrimental impact that the passing of Amendment #1 - a  "Right To Harm" constitutional addition - will have on this beautiful, green and lush State of Missouri.  Speak out if you believe the same is true.  The silent majority will not get this accomplished for us all.  May we all survive its impact to come.

One of my favorite inspirational groups is Eden's Bridge from the Celtic Isles, a land where Green is Pristine.  Their music gives me peace, helps me drift away to sleep sometimes when my mind is troubled and instills love where none seems to exist in this world plus extends a hope that God may see what is happening and intervene in some divine way for his amazing creation:  The Earth.  Not since Noah's time has God made a decision about the best way to cleanse society and its worship of false idols like money, but maybe He is pondering some way to solve it through those of us that have charge of his lovely creation and will help us in some way.  Believer or nonbeliever - music is always a good connector for cultures and societies that might not seem to have much in common.  And music seems a fitting way to end today's entry to "The Factory Farm Around The Corner" on this beautiful Sunday morning in August.  Blessings on those of you out there who still believe in a better and greener tomorrow for our planet and Missouri:  

Eden's Bridge - Psalm 23.

"August Hay Bales" Copyright 2014
Image courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting
All rights reserved.

Comments are by this individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. They are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks. Anonymous comments not accepted. Stand up for your opinion. Thanks for your thoughtful and kind responses. Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)

A Commentary on Comments and Life

"Self Portrait Behind The Camera 2014"
Courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting. Copyright 2014.
All Rights Reserved.

Comments are interesting snapshots of people and their inner thoughts.  Some remarks are made or written quickly without much fact checking or self-edification at first; others are longer in coming out of the mouth or pen with painstaking research, reconsideration and editing by trusted sources.  Over thinking things has often been a personal problem of mine.  Keeps me awake at night sometimes.

Cameras, typewriters and other visual mediums like film or video have always helped me express my feelings better than face-to-face confrontations.  My brother is a better debater today than me, despite it being me that won the scholarship to my first year of college at Missouri Southern State University by winning a Statewide competition in speech and debate communications.  It is my firm belief though that a person should be upfront with their comments:  honest and forthright, yet courteous and respectful of the other person's right to think differently.  "Agreeing to disagree" has always appealed to me in debates, arguments or social situations.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if it's wrong from my own point of view or past experience.  Who am I to judge?  Our minister at the Lamar United Methodist Church recently delivered a great sermon on Judgment this summer using passages from the Book of James, which got me to revisit those verses so long ago read and put aside.  Always good when a thought leads you back to your Bible to further learn more.

Even if you know that your audience will not be receptive to what you have to say, one should always open the door to a new relationship by putting all their cards out on the table and sharing what's on their mind or bothering them. If you spit the words out, maybe a dialog will ensue where both of you will learn something, gain new information to consider and walk away a more informed individual.  Change of mind and locale can be refreshing and a good thing.  Some of my best education has been gained in traveling to different countries and seeing different cultures' ways of handling things.

Recently, this blog received two Anonymous comments about "checking my facts."  Well, I chose not to post those comments because if a person can't be upfront about who they are in their personal remarks, then it's not fair to those who are upfront about what they think and are not afraid to standby it by revealing their names.  Those people who sign their name to their comments will always get posted on this blog.  Apologies now to "Anonymous," whoever you are, but it did instigate this one-time commentary about comments for the future.  Anonymous commentators remind me of the KGB, Nazi SS or other clandestine organizations committed to dark purposes.  They are there, but don't want you to know they're there.  They hide behind a cloak of anonymity because maybe what they are doing is not totally right, possibly harmful or something that should be hidden done in the interest of protecting some dark force or government.  Usually the Anonymous commentators in the world are fearful of confrontation because they haven't checked their facts.

After leaving the corporate whirlwind back East for a quieter life in the Southwest, a retirement late-life career transition into the nonprofit world in my new home state was initiated by taking courses in a nonprofit management certification program at Arizona State University.  My intention was to work in part-time fund development for a small arts school that was gaining national recognition with their programs and build a small house upon two acres in a rural community outside of Sedona.  It was my decision to be less front and center on my stance on issues and other things, because who really cares what my opinion is any way?  It was my desire to become a little more "Anonymous" while working to support state or community nonprofits behind the scenes and help people thrive in the world around them.  Some good prior volunteer activities had provided personal inner fulfillment in Connecticut when my corporate schedule allowed the time to help out my community plus my corporation encouraged their employees to volunteer.  So decided it would be great to work in supporting the "Triple-A's"  - as I called them - once retired to help further the Mission of the worthy organizations involved in these causes:  The Arts, Animals and Abuse (all kinds - domestic, drug, etc).

Even when doing college and community theatre in my younger years, my favorite place was sitting in a light or sound booth running the technical parts of the production - making the actors and actresses front and center look magical or like ethereal beings as they spouted Shakespeare, Noel Coward, Henrik Ibsen or Moliere on stage.  A tech booth seat is the best one in the house.  These skills even helped a working college student make some money while running lights or sound for a few concerts that came to the schools attended like Jackson Brown, Rolling Stones and other bands.  Started college on a speech and drama scholarship in Missouri, so it was necessary to do my time on stage as well in those early days.  My Mother told my Father that he must attend every performance at The Barn Theatre that I was in to show their support.  She loved theatre, cultural events and the arts of all kinds.  My Dad agreed, but did not love the theatre as much as he did football or baseball, but he did play guitar and violin so music was always a part of our upbringing.  Poor Dad.  As part of my scholarship requirements, it was necessary for me to audition for a certain number of performances every semester.  During my freshman year, I was featured in every single production at Missouri Southern State University in either a supporting or lead role.  My family came to every single theatrical production that year.  That's how supportive our family is of one another and, if we say it, we usually do it unless there is some good reason preventing us from following through on the commitment.

There was much discussion in the family when I made the retirement decision to take an early package due to the company's move to the manufacturing headquarters down South from the current Manhattan location.  My sister-in-law and I already had made plans that year before the company announced the move to start visiting states where I might want to retire.  The first place was Arizona because my plan was to escape winter snows and wanted to see The Grand Canyon.  Living in Connecticut had made the allure of a white blanket of snow not as appealing in old age.  We even had our mothers on board to join us for a while, but then they both decided they didn't want to fly or go due to other things related to old age and other fears of travel that come when you've been in one place for a little too long.  So, my sis-in-law and I went on our own to see what was unique and wonderful about Arizona.  The Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona really captured my fancy.

Over a decade working with an international Fortune 100 company had taken a toll on me in the health department as well as relationship category with family and others close to my heart.  In my mid-30's, it was necessary for me to have surgery due to a change in a breast tumor found in a routine mammogram.  This change instigated the doctor's decision to take it out, even though prior tests showed it to be benign. Many prayers and thanks go up to the Spirit in the Sky that the tumor was found to be benign once removed, but the time leading up to its removal was scary for those close to me.  And my then-husband and still friend who was an internal medicine doctor at Yale University Medical Center nearly came into the operating room with me because he was so worried.  The surgeon said to him, "Doctor if you suit up you can come in and assist me if you like." And his response was "Well I will but I don't want you to wait on doing this for her."  He is a good man and still is.  We still have special feelings for each other today, though he is now in Cairo trying to help his family struggle through the challenges happening there politically and medically.  He is a good doctor and has a great heart for his family.

Then some years later, my physician discovered that I had celiac's disease, an autoimmune disease that makes gluten impossible to digest without some pretty unpleasant side effects and detrimental effects on internal organs.  As I tell well meaning friends who want to invite me over for a meal, "No wheat, no oats, no barley and no rye or I die."  My doctor in Arizona told me that I needed to view those four things as "death" since the advanced symptoms of the condition cause you to become unable to gain weight and get deathly ill.  If untreated or misdiagnosed, people who have the disease can die from it.  The only treatment is a gluten-free diet, which is harder than you'd think to do around here.  The condition also makes me sensitive to preservatives and non-organic foods.  GMO Labeling is something that I would like to see instituted everywhere like it is in more progressive countries because it is important and essential to others like me who struggle with celiac's disease and other food-related allergies.  My personal eating needs and others in my family with other autoimmune conditions requiring a mostly organic, clean diet to deal with their own individual conditions are sometimes difficult to adhere to when farmers' markets are not up and running.  As my brother astutely points out, we have a country of origin label on the clothing we were and care instructions for that clothing.  Isn't what we eat more important and essential to our lives that what we wear?

In 2003, an early retirement within the next 5-to-7 years made sense to slow things down and started looking at places that it would be nice to live a quiet life into old age.  On my list were:  Arkansas (close to home and beautiful green lush land), Missouri (possibly but maybe Northern Missouri or even SW Missouri where the whole family was like Joplin or Springfield where I attended colleges), Arizona, Montana, New Mexico and even parts of Texas because truly loved the lake country of Austin when I went to UT-Austin or even Mexico where I have travelled often since college for vacations into the coastal areas, as well as the mountains. The people I've known there are gentle, courteous and friendly to Americans who show respect for their culture and country.  My experiences with people living South of the Border have always been positive ones, as have those interactions with the common people of other lands outside the boundaries of the USA.  Most human beings want the same things no matter what country they are living in:  Peace, Freedom from Persecution, Safety for Their Family, A Decent Living Wage, Food, Water and Shelter.  Standards on some of these things differ from country to country, but these ideals remain common to all of mankind around the world. 

Years of education, career and different team building exercises have involved getting my personality tested and analyzed to figure out how I could work most effective in a team environment.  If you know about personality testing, my Myers-Briggs type is an INTJ.  Here's a definition so you gain a little more insight to how this writer operates in life.  Have taken the test numerous times always with the same result.  The only difference is that in my old age, my results are shifting more to the "P" (Perception) stage and away from the "J" (Judging) category.  Learn more and click here for more info on Wikipedia:  Definition of an INTJ  

There's also the Colors method of assessing personality and my personality color is Green.  Analytical, quick, multi-tasker, fun-loving types who like the behind-scenes role of making things happen quickly and choosing to lead with their emotions or dreams.  A good quote on this personality type comes from Dr. Carol Ritberger, PhD, who wrote a great book in 2000 called What Color Is Your Personality:  "Greens live in a world of hopes, dreams, and emotions where the intangibles of life are the most important.  Their rich imaginations thrive when using their creative abilities -- their minds work quickly, bouncing from one thought to another."  Well, she nailed this blogger alright down to a tee.  If you want to check out the book and find out about yourself, here's a link to the page:  Amazon - "What Color Is Your Personality? Red, Orange, Yellow, Green"

It was fortunate that my efforts and involvement in leadership programs helped me find ways to try and adapt my personality to others with very different "colors."  And to help me "edit" my own comments about things during collaboration in creating something new and different for my community.  For that experience, I will be eternally grateful to people that encouraged that involvement especially those who engaged my help with several other founding members in launching an educational nonprofit aimed at building community leaders.  Watching this organization grow and prosper from afar in the past few years has given me great satisfaction and am still good friends with the other five individuals involved in creating it.  We are known as the Founders, which is a very lofty term but each of us were different people with unique approaches who were not afraid to roll up our sleeves together and get in the trenches to make things happen for something we believed in.  Even though we had different styles, we collaborated well and had a mutual commitment to the Vision:  "Inspiring Individuals To Action." Am so impressed with how the graduates of this program initiated in 2006 has become an important part of the Verde Valley community leaders' education and development.  For more information, please check out their website and, if you know someone in North Central Arizona specifically the Verde Valley (Cottonwood, Cornville, Sedona, Clarkdale and Jerome) who would benefit from the experience, there's probably still time for them to enroll in an upcoming session or find out more about the two-year trek.  Please click here to learn more:  Verde Valley Leadership Program  My belief in that Vision still extends into every action taken in my own life related to education and community service.  We must inspire individuals to action about things they believe in achieving, either in comments, written or spoken or our democracy will come to an end.  Hopefully, the Anonymous commenter now understands why only comments made by those who are strong enough to step into the spotlight on stage and speak their lines without judgment or consequence will be posted on this Blog in the future.  After all, Freedom of Speech is one of my favorite things that our democracy has granted to every single citizen in this country.  

Thanks for reading my thoughts and tolerating my outlook.  But you must stand up and face people; not hide behind being "Anonymous."  My future postings will deal more with the experiences of living next door to a Factory Farm and less about this commentary or my personal stuff, which gets more interesting every day that God allows me on this good, green Earth while it's still green.  Believe I'll leave the computer now and go give the dogs and me a break with a short walk before the rain comes and the wind shifts again carrying the scent of my unwanted neighbor back this way.  Blessed is the rain in August.  Blessed are the Meek for They shall truly inherit the Earth.  This blog post was about who I am.  Now, who are you?  Tell me your story because I'm genuinely interested to hear it.

"Summer Hay Bales 2013"
Photo courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting.
Copyright 2013.  All Rights Reserved.

Author's Note:  Comments are solely by this individual writing the blog and no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed them. They are my personal opinion and no one else is responsible for my actions. Anonymous comments are no longer accepted. Stand up for your opinion.  Being open is the first step to a productive interaction.  Thanks for your thoughtful kind responses.  Keep anger out of it.  Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)  Thanks!

Slayed In St. Louis By Slay and Clouds Gather Over Missouri

"Evening Noir Missouri, Early August 2014," 
Copyright 2014. All Rights Reserved.
Photo courtesy of Photoartdb Consulting

Politics and agriculture have connected since the 13 colonies first established a fledgling government with the arrival of immigrants looking for something better for their children and themselves.  Our forefathers forming that new government started writing the Constitution of the United States and conceptualizing what The Bill of Rights could do for people who came across oceans for freedom of speech, religion and individual choice.  Farming this abundant and bountiful land that this relative new country possessed helped a new democracy get off the ground with a commitment to the people governing themselves, instead of being controlled and enriching a dispassionate monarchy across the ocean.  Colonies morphed into counties and then into cities that grew larger as the rich land of the United States opened new trade doors with countries overseas.  Mayors for large urban areas became influential and profitable individuals as their communities prospered.  

That growth and expansion into the 21st century eventually led to what happened yesterday in the largest urban demographic in the State of Missouri.  Why would a popular Mayor of a major city support something that is in totally opposition of his prior stance that encouraged humane treatment of animals and who was on fairly good terms with environmentally friendly groups in that same large urban area?  

Simple answer:  Money.  Always follow the money.  

Even though my house stands far away from St. Louis in the southwestern part of the State, I lived in St. Louis for years working in advertising, communications and marketing there.  Still love to visit this city because I have good friends who still live there plus the museums and other cultural attractions are fun.  It's a nice change from my quiet country life now and then.  However, living in the country suits me better - wide open skies, prairies with floating clouds and some trees still left on the horizon above.  If only there weren't a factory farm around the corner with its accompanying stench and weird health effects that emerge after being outside when the wind has shifted to bring these smells into my backyard.  It is my sincere wish that Mayor Slay will have an industrial farm - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation or CAFO - constructed right next to his St. Louis home or the schools he patronizes or even his church so he experiences the effects first hand.  Just so you have a better understanding if you don't know about these operations, here's the Wikipedia definition of this industrial farming method:  Definition of a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)

It would be nice to ask Mayor Slay if he would be all right with drinking a glass of water from the faucet of a town located in the midst of CAFO country where one or more of these lagoons have overflowed into the water tables or even a glass taken directly from the lagoon.  He won't.  Most intelligent people wouldn't.  

Amendment #1 was "slayed" by a number of things but one especially upsetting thing was the fact that the Mayor of St. Louis actually participated in "robocalls" to people on the day of the vote.  This vague, ill-thought-out piece of legislation passed by an .02% margin.  Unbelievable.  Now it could realistically become a constitutional amendment in the State Constitution.  And the low voter turnout did not help.  The people working to oppose this amendment were outspent 2-to-1 in marketing dollars, some of which were from questionable sources that are now being looked into by others more astute than me.  There is a recount underway because of the close call.  Your right to vote is the only real voice that you have in a democracy.  Why do people take this important right for granted?  Because often they say, "I'm only one person.  My vote doesn't matter."  It certainly does when people get together and make things happen just like our forefathers and foremothers did in the times of the Revolutionary War.  What if they had said, "Well, I'm just one person.  What can I do against the King of England?"  You could join with General George Washington and make a difference, take a stand and fight for your rights.  We need more of the ethical, moral outrage of that time now in our political system and citizens.  If you are right, you must fight.

Does that action taken by Mayor Slay not tell you something?  And there are questions now emerging about whether or not the robocall campaign was paid for with legitimate funds for marketing purposes.  Now there is an uprising on social media being organized by people outraged at Mayor Slay's actions off of a FB page called "Right To Farm or Right To Harm?" supported by other grassroots organizers who are working for sustainable agriculture to prevail in Missouri. Slay betrayed people who thought he was a humanitarian and champion for animals' humane treatment.  Maybe he was confused as voters were by the vague and convoluted language used to craft this masterpiece from Jefferson City?  Only he can tell you.  At least the people of St. Louis City and County were on top of things and voted no despite the Mayor's ill-advised action.  According to the Secretary of State's unofficial count listed on the Jeff City website, combined totals for St. Louis/St. Louis County was 147,214 votes against Amendment #1 and only 74,613 people voting in favor of Amendment #1.

No wonder there were some confused and uninformed voters who didn't understand the language, changed their minds and voted "yes" on Amendment #1.  My retort to people who said they were unsure of what to do during my advocacy work for the grassroots movement against the amendment was "If you don't know, then please vote no because it is a constitutional amendment and it trumps all local control and prior statutes voted in by the people."  And some of us reported that there were people who were working the polls that there were ballot box workers who were discussing the amendment loudly, expressing their opinions in clear violation of the law and unaware of the appropriate behavior in their role at the polls.  Slay's action still did not sway people in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, because they still voted against the amendment. But, what has happened to ethical behavior in our political system these days?  It should tell you something when you look at the unofficial voting results in Greene County where Springfield is located and there is a mixed urbane atmosphere with numerous colleges combined with a mixture of farmers and other residents in rural communities outside this hub on the way to Branson, once touted in the NY Times Travel Section as the "New Nashville."  In that county, the vote was overwhelmingly against Amendment #1 and the turnout was pretty good.  Less so in the rural communities where the impact of industrialized farming will truly hit home hardest.  Those voters in Greene County obviously were educated and well informed enough about the eventual impact that this legislation would have on local controls put into place to protect their homes, their children and their health.

And then, Slay back in St. Louis goes on to give a few lame excuses as to why he participated in this effort.  Listen and decide for yourself by listening and clicking on this link to the interview on St. Louis Public Radio:  Slay Explains Why He Participated in Robocall

Well, even though my place of residence is not in St. Louis now, it was still compelling enough of an action for me to make a phone call to his assistant at the suggestion of folks who are raising this social media effort to tell him that he has lost my support if he wants to run for something else outside of St. Louis County after being Mayor.  My message was left that I was a registered voter in SW Missouri who lives around the corner from a factory farm.  And, that I sincerely hoped he would have one built right next door or near someone he visits often so he would understand how disgusting a way to farm these things are.  He won't care, but at least if he gets calls from enough people, he might understand why a huge number of people will probably vote against him if he decides to run for office outside of St. Louis County.  

The next upsetting news that came across the media exactly one day after Amendment #1 passed is this press release that the USDA has approved a controversial GMO seed for marketing for Dow Chemical.  This action signals the beginning of a bad trend.  Read on and learn more.  

http://www.panna.org/usda-signals-approval-dows-24-d-resistant-seedsUSDA Approval of Dow's Controversial Seed.

Missouri was used as another "test ground" for this "right to farm" legislation that has been voted down in some environmentally savvy states and approved in other states that thought it would save farming revenue because "bigger is always better, right?" and now suffer from things like water pollution, e-coli outbreaks in their water, crop deterioration, animal infestation and other problems associated with industrialized farming.  It is unfortunate that Missouri did not pass the test, but those of us working against Amendment #1 certainly opened some eyes and raised some awareness attracting international and national attention appearing in such big media giants like the New York Times on the weekend before the vote.  This article even shows that the issue has pitted "farmer against farmer,"which is an unfortunate thing.  Read on if you haven't seen it already:
NewYorkTimes/missouri-considers-adding-right-to-farm-to-state-constitution.html?_r=4  

And in St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch recognized the actions of the Mayor in this recent article.  Please click here to read:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Article on Slay's Actions


However, the thing is now moving toward becoming part of the constitution if the recount does not yield something good.  

It's always good to try and focus on something positive after a negative thing happens.  Now, maybe we'll be able to educate people better about the hazards of industrial farming and what it will do for future generations.  Maybe they will listen better and not be so quick to call someone a "tree hugger" or "animal activist."  Well, any good truly wise and caring farmer is a good steward of both the land and the animals that graze on the grass of their pastures.  They both are important to his or her future.  And the land and water beneath it are what will feed your children and future generations, if this precious resource is not depleted, burned up and destroyed by poisonous practices and politicians who don't have a clue of what they are supporting.


Blog Author's Disclaimer:  Please be advised that the comments written by this individual are made without any commercial endorsement or compensation.  If that changes, will certainly advise the readers.  This blog is intended to document my personal experiences living right next door to a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) or otherwise known as a Factory Farm.  And no other company, nonprofit or other organization has approved or endorsed these words. Everyone is constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and their own opinion, thank goodness.  These words are my sole opinion and no one else is responsible for these remarks except me. Thanks for your thoughtful and kind responses in comments. Please keep language clean and our farmlands green. :)