CAFOs dominate rural strategy session
INDIANA - A community input session Wednesday night on the state's proposed Rural Indiana Strategy for Excellence (RISE) became what the facilitators described as argumentative, emotional and volatile.The meeting was attended by about 100 people, the majority of whom made it clear that their vision for the Indiana countryside does not include an influx of industrial-size hog farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman last year initiated RISE, a 37-page draft of which is being unveiled in 16 communities throughout the state.
Skillman did not attend the meeting in Winchester, but in a letter that was read to the audience, she wrote, "Together, we can bring economic opportunity and develop strong, sustainable communities that provide a high quality of life for those who call rural Indiana home."
"These pigs farms are going to destroy what (economy) we've still got left," one member of the audience told facilitators Nancy Kinder, director of Eastern Indiana Development District, and Joe Pearson, staff associate at Purdue University's Center for Regional Development.
Source: The Star Press
14 April 2006
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