odin stayed up a little later than usual to show his support for a local moratorium and livestock siting ordinance to prevent large scale confinement hog farms from coming to the region. for a variety of reasons the hog industry is targeting the area and it has become a hotbutton issue that boils down to the how to find the right balance between the property rights of a small number of farmers interested in large scale confinement operations and the public health and quality of life issues for every else, including the hogs themselves. and it’s certainly no small matter for those of us who enjoy the quality of life the region has to offer, considering the effects other areas have felt after being targeted:

"Klinkner, who is 61 years old and raises beef cattle while also selling insurance, says he has difficulty describing to the degree the large scale hog farms destroyed Davis County’s rural community.

“There is no more community, everybody hates each other,” Klinkner said. “About 10 percent of the people have completely ruined the entire way of life for the other 90 percent of the people.”"

take some time to read "swine of the times" and "boss hog" for some perspective on how conventional pork gets to your dinner table.

even if you don’t live in a rural area you can help by supporting small, independent organic hog farmers that believe in pasturing like those that supply organic prairie ( disclaimer: organic prairie is owned by my employer ).