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. :)