Tamarack River Ghost: A Novel

19. Opposing Positions

116 Opposing Positions 19 Don’t Eat Meat Farm Country News, January 25 Amos “Shotgun” Slogum, longtime resident of Ames County’s Tamarack River Valley, says it’s time that we quit eating meat. He was one of several who spoke at an informational meeting, held in the Tamarack Town Hall last Tuesday evening, about a new hog operation planned for the valley. At the meeting, citizens of the valley heard Ed Clark, a representative from Nathan West Industries, explain his company’s plans for a large hog operation at the recently purchased former Tamarack River Golf Course. Attending citizens seemed evenly split between those who welcomed a new use for the golf course and an increase in the tax base and those concerned about harm to the environment and negative effects on the community and its people because of odors and increased traffic. A representative from an animal rights organization argued that confined hog operations were inherently cruel to animals, but those in attendance largely ignored her comments. Amos “Shotgun” Slogum stood up at the end of the meeting and spoke in opposition to the proposal. He said, “We don’t need another hog farm, not here, not anywhere. And the sooner all these pork farms begin closing down, the better it will be for all of us—for our health, and for the health of the environment.” Stunned silence followed his comments, but because it was already late in the evening, no debate ensued. Interviewed after the meeting, Slogum softened his comments somewhat by saying, “I didn’t mean we 117 Opposing Positions should stop eating meat, I meant we should eat a lot less of it.” He cited research indicating that people in the United States yearly eat about 220 pounds of meat per person. “If we ate less meat, say half as much, we’d be healthier, the environment would be less stressed with water and air pollution, and we’d have more grains available for human consumption.” When asked if he had a proposal for encouraging people to eat less meat, he said, “We can start by not approving any more big factory farms like the one Nathan West is proposing on the old golf course.” The Ames County Zoning Committee will meet at the library in Willow River on April 17, its regularly scheduled meeting. Prior to the meeting, the committee will hear citizen comments about rezoning the former golf course, changing it from recreational to agricultural. If the committee votes in favor, the new hog facility in the Tamarack River Valley will be on the fast track for development. ...