“Although we understand that the pork industry is important…”
Words said by activists opposing North Carolina hog farms and their efforts to implement innovations.
They say that they understand that the NC pork industry is important, but do they really?
Do they comprehend what 44,000 jobs looks like?
Do they understand what $10 billion does for the state’s economy?
Do they know that our hog farmers feed 20 million people every year?
Do they realize just how important the pork industry is to NC families and communities?
The same families and communities they are supposedly advocating for and protecting.
Saying “we understand that the pork industry is important,” while suing us, filing legal complaints against us, attacking us, blocking efforts to implement innovative technology, and even effectively causing farms to shut down — saying we’re important while simultaneously scorning us is a backhanded compliment that no one is falling for.
They don’t believe we are important. They only say that to save face and bolster credibility. To them, we are a scourge to this state. We cause egregious injustices, pollute the environment, and are greedy. We are not important. It would be just fine if we were run out of town.
And even if they do mean what they say and understand the positive impacts the pork industry has on North Carolina communities, their actions and words tell a different story.
Here are two examples:
(1) “Although we understand that the pork industry is important, researchers have repeatedly found that pollution from the state’s industrial hog operations disproportionately affect African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans in a pattern that they concluded, ‘is generally recognized as environmental racism.’’’—Robert Moore, president of the Duplin County Branch of the NC Conference of the NAACP.
The research that they refer to is flawed and inaccurate. Hog farms do not disproportionately affect these groups. The pork industry does not impact communities in such a way that is to be considered environmental racism. Whatever importance they see in the pork industry is clearly nullified by their opinion of the affect hog farms incur on certain communities. What’s more, their incessant need to use bogus and negligent research shows they are not interested in truly recognizing the benefits the pork industry offers.
(2) During the nuisance lawsuits against hog farmers, covered lagoons were highlights as an example of a better, more sustainable option than the current lagoon system. But when the pork industry made efforts to implement covered lagoons that would create renewable energy, the opposition was fierce. Why are these activists trying to stop farmers from implementing sustainable and innovative technology that is good for the community? Because they don’t truly believe the pork industry is important.
Long story, short, when these groups say that the pork industry is important, it rings hollow and untrue. It’s an effort to play the good guy. They don’t believe it, not really.
Farmers are humble, hard-working people who don’t like to shout about our importance. But we know our worth. We just wish these groups did, too.