Upsetting the Apple Cart

Holy Chicken S**t!

On the front page of the business section in today's Oregonian, reporter Alex Pulaski wrote of a proposed Foster Farms chicken factory in rural Canby.  Read the story, Plan puts chicks, lots of them down, on the farm.

According to the report, the proposed operation is being brought by a Washington man, looking to grow his Foster Farms' chickens in someone else's backyard.  Well this facility won't be a problem for just a handful of folks, but rather roughly 200 landowners who all have property within a mile.  And this operation is so big (to the tune of 1.5 million chickens per year) property owners will be out numbered by chickens approximately 7,500 to 1. 

Holy Chicken Shit! That's a lot of birds and hence a whole lot of poop, which will have the potential to foul the air and the water. Too bad Oregon laws are set up to benefit  a newcomer industrial factory farm over residents who have lived and farmed in rural Clackamas county all their lives.

This story will be continued so stay tuned. In the meantime, if you would like information on the public hearing visit the Friends of Family Farmers website for time and location.

Democrats Fold to Agribusiness Pressure

Multi-generational family farmers and rural residents are being threatened by industrial, corporate, out-of-state factory farms, setting up shop and colonizing Oregon's rural communities.

Today, our elected officials in Salem had an opportunity to take a stand for family farmers and rural residents by requiring that emissions from factory farms be regulated with the adoption of SB 235A. 

But instead of taking a stand for Oregon's family farmers, Democrats folded to the pressure and money of the corporate agribusiness lobby and gave factory farms a free pass to continue polluting and externalizing their costs of production onto neighboring communities and the environment.

Today is a sad day for Oregon's family farmers and rural communities.  Democrats, who campaigned on the need to protect family farms in Oregon broke their campaign promises by affording corporate mega farms the same protections as Oregon's family farms.

Clearly campaign cash is more important to some elected officials than preserving our air and water, our rural communities, and our way of life on Oregon farms.

Citizens banding together to fight Big Dairy

Citizens from across the country have joined together to fight corporate dairies that are bullying their way into rural communities, polluting the water, fouling the air and not being good neighbors.  The alliance, called the Dairy Education Alliance will be working hard over the next several years to educate the public about the true costs of industrial milk production, working on legislation to protect communities and filing lawsuits. 

Oregon's very own, Friends of Family Farmers is a part of the alliance and will be doing their part to protect Oregon's rural communities right here in our backyard. 

Read about the Dairy Education Alliance.

Oregon's Bovine Star: Rosie

Organic Valley picked Oregon bovine, Rosie as their poster cow. 

Read Alex Pulaski's story, Organic dairies use cows to milk their message over at the Oregonian.

Learn about the Bovine Bill of Rights and what you can do to ensure that your milk comes from cows raised by real family farmers who treat their animals humanely, and don't pollute the environment at: www.cowsunitie.org.

Join the Revomooocion!

If you drink milk, join the Revomooooocion!

These Bossy Bovine Sisters at www.cowsunite.org are fighting for a Bovine Bill of Rights that calls for all cows to have the right to be cows, have access to grazing, clean air and the right to dignity and joy. 

If you drink milk, buck the factory farming system and support farmers who respect their bovine beasts, their neighbors, and the environment.   

To find out more, click here and read about how you can join the revomoooooocion!