Dear Friends, attached is an incredible letter written by Cindy Ballou and submitted to the editor of our Fairfield Ledger for printing. It is in response to a previous article in the Agricultural section of the Ledger last Thursday on air quality and hog lots. The article states that air quality is more affected by cat litter than hog lots.
Cindy has beautifully articulated a different a different and credible point of view that needs to be printed if the Fairfield Ledger truly serves our entire community. I urge all of us to write this very same Editor and ask that they print Cindy’s letter. It’s easy to do AND it’s acting locally!
Below is a copy of what I wrote to the editor if you want to just copy and paste, or you can certainly write your own letter. If they get lots of requests, they can’t ignore it. This is how grass roots works!
(You can send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
and put “Editor” in the subject heading. I also suggest putting a read receipt on your message so they can be sure the editor got it.)
Dear Editor of the Fairfield Ledger,
Earlier today you received a letter to the Editor from Cindy Ballou regarding a previous article in the Agriculture on air quality and hog lots vs. cat litter. I sincerely hope that you will print Ms. Ballou’s letter as it provides a meaningful and different point of view on this subject. It would only serve our community to do so.
Thank you for your fine newspaper.
Yours truly,
Lynn Waters
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Thursday April 13, the Ledger ran an article in the Agriculture section opposite the Opinion page. Written by the Iowa Farm Bureau, “Study shows air quality affected more by cat litter box than hogs,” the bureau associates the word “quality” with “lack of toxicity”. As I read on, I realized I felt bewildered at the twisted propaganda coming from the agriculture industry—especially the Farm Bureau. The Ledger should run such material on the Opinion page.
When I drive to the town of Washington to eat at the lovely Café Dodici restaurant and find myself gagging because of the stench in the air when I open my car door, and then dread leaving the wonderful aromas in their delicious restaurant knowing I will face that odor again returning to my car, I consider if I really ever want to revisit the experience.
Air quality isn’t just about toxicity—it’s about being able to breathe good air deeply into one’s lungs. When the air stinks badly enough (and I’m not talking about the earthy scents of a more natural, well-run farmyard), the satisfaction of breathing deeply doesn’t happen, because an odor that bad isn’t tolerable.
This “16-month scientific study” reports the supposedly relevant result that “a cat’s litter box, smoking, and everyday household cleaning products apparently have a more profound effect on air quality in the home than [do] nearby hog confinements.”
I don’t own a cat. I don’t smoke. I rarely use any household products that contain ammonia. Those are all my choices. I cannot choose to not have offensive odors emitted from “nearby hog confinements.” Nor can I choose my neighbors other living habits. However, I’ve never noticed any odor from my neighbors’ cat boxes, inside their homes, invading the air in or around my home. I suppose, in a fit of whatever, if one of my neighbors did happen to place their cat’s litter box underneath my window, and the prevailing winds wafted the odor (and toxicity) in my windows, I’d be able to ask the neighbor to move the litter box and find they’d comply.
If animal factories are so ethical and harmless, if factory owners are upstanding local citizens who care about their neighbors and contribute to their communities, then why not host some tours of their facilities and invite people to ride on the equipment that distributes manure into the farmland? And how about inviting scientists to test the heavily manure-laced soils to ensure the wellbeing of the important soil microbes being bombarded by this heavy concentration of nitrates?
Opposite the Farm Bureau article was Joe Ledger’s letter ripping into Francis Thicke for personally attacking Mr. Putze who wrote an opinion in the paper a few weeks back. Mr. Ledger’s attack of Thicke was far more vituperous than anything Thicke wrote about Putze.
Why can’t we be mindful of the bottom line—that animal factories and the manure they create, spread in huge quantities on surrounding farmland, STINK! These factories are not good for the neighborhood, they consume a lot of energy—both in the operations and in the production of feed—and there are certainly better farm practices that can earn good bucks in the heartland. Why not pursue them?
I also find the idea of animal factories hideous in terms of the living conditions they force on livestock. At the same time I feel sympathy for farmers trying to earn a living. I only hope that somehow peoples’ consciences will lead them to more caring, respectful treatment of the animals we use for food and profit.
Sincerely,
Cindy Ballou, Fairfield
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