Fwd: Invitation: Water quality scientist/researcher Chris Jones speaks at Drury University, Fri, Nov 17, 6 p.m.
Darrell Martin
From: Cheryl Y. Marcum <cyma...@windstream.net>
Date: Fri, Nov 3, 2023 at 2:00 PM
Subject: Invitation: Water quality scientist/researcher Chris Jones speaks at Drury University, Fri, Nov 17, 6 p.m.
To: Cheryl Y. Marcum <cyma...@windstream.net>
Dear friends of local control,
I am overjoyed to invite you to attend a rare opportunity to hear Dr. Chris Jones speak about Iowa’s “worst in the nation” water quality and what he knows about Missouri’s endangered water quality, Friday, Nov. 17, 6 p.m., at the Judy Thompson Executive Conference Center on the campus of Drury University, 900 N. Benton Ave. No reservations required for this free public event. Read the press release below; some of you will recognize panelist Tim Gibbons, our friend from Missouri Rural Crisis Center. Tim spoke at the very first SB 391 community forum in our Cedar County Courthouse in June 2019 and again at our “Right to Harm” documentary screening in El Dorado Springs.
I am currently reading Chris’ book, “The Swine Republic, Struggles with the Truth About Agriculture and Water Quality.” It is a collection of his essays posted on blog at the University of Iowa’s Website until he abruptly retired this past spring after a legislator continued threatening to stop funding aspects of the University if his research findings remained publicly visible. Chris cites his training and jobs he has held: Ph.D. in analytical chemistry, manager of a testing lab, environmental scientist for the Iowa Soybean Assoc., lab supervisor at the Des Moines Water Works (as of 2022, it cost $10,000/day to remove excessive nitrate from potable water), and until he recently retired, research engineer at the University of Iowa. He is responsible for the extensive water monitoring system across Iowa; Missouri has nothing similar.
In the book Forward, author Tom Philpott wrote: “Chris’s blog hit me like a revelation: Here was a scientist writing in blunt English, calmly laying out the wreckage wrought by his state’s dominant industry, with no need for elaborate translation. His most eye-popping post of that era, “Iowa’s Real Population,” published in the spring of 2019 (when we first started paying attention to SB 391 and its potential impacts on our quality of rural life), established Jones as an essential voice emanating from the ruins of the North American prairielands. In it, he pithily demonstrated the gargantuan scale of livestock production in Iowa, and how the state’s teeming herds of concentrated hogs, cattle, and egg-laying hens generated far more fecal waste than the land could absorb without fouling streams, rivers, lakes, and tap water. … In a state with an actual human headcount of about 3 million, Iowa’s 24 million hogs produce as much waste as 83.7 million people, he calculated. Add to that fetid gusher the rear-end output of the state’s cattle, chickens, and turkeys, Jones revealed, and Iowa’s landscape annually receives a serving of waste equivalent to that produced by about 134 million people, which would place Iowa as the 10th most populous country in the world, right below Russia and right above Mexico.” I attached his Manure Equivalency Map, which I shared with you a couple of years ago. The real kicker is that public tax dollars pay for farmers to voluntarily adopt “best management practices” to mop of the mess without regulating those responsible for making the mess, so they keep polluting and tax payers keep paying to clean up after them, which isn’t possible given the overwhelming volume of nitrate and phosphorus-laden waste and the lack of regulation of the sources.
We must remain vigilant because we know that industrial CAFO owners are targeting Missouri’s clean water and open fields, perfect candidates to land apply obscene amounts of untreated animal waste. I urge you to attend this event and to read Chris’ book, the very best opportunity we have to learn more about this threat to our rural way of life and what we can do to protect our water. If you are interested in organizing carpools, reply to this email and I will keep track and help arrange carpools. We expect a full venue, so encourage you to go early, if possible. I will go early to greet everyone and help set up.
Cheryl Y. Marcum
Cedar County
______________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—11/2/2023
Contacts:
Steve Semken (the publisher)
Phone: (319) 594-6022
Email: st...@southslope.net
Doug Doughty (Livingston County row-crop and livestock farmer)
Phone: (660) 247-1504
Email: dou...@greenhills.net
Renowned Water Quality Research Engineer Dr. Chris Jones to Discuss Agriculture and Water Quality in Missouri
Dr. Chris Jones, a long-time water quality research engineer at Iowa University, as part of his book tour for "The Swine Republic: Struggles with the Truth about Agriculture and Water Quality,” will be sharing his insights and expertise with the residents of Missouri during two events: Nov. 16 in Columbia at the Missouri United Methodist Church, and Nov. 17 in Springfield at the Judy Thompson Executive Conference Center on the campus of Drury University. Both events, set to begin at 6 p.m., will feature engaging panel discussions.
Dr. Jones, a respected authority in the field of water quality research, states, "People in rural Missouri and the rest of the agricultural Midwest deserve a clean environment, safe water, and prosperous towns. We need more than lip service – we need political leaders and action that will support this vision. Come hear our ideas at the upcoming ‘Clean Water Now’ meetings in Columbia and Springfield."
The panel discussions will also feature organizer and activist Jess Piper, who brings a unique perspective on the challenges facing rural communities. Piper, a former public school teacher with 16 years of experience, emphasizes the integral role of schools in rural areas and their decline due to the contraction of communities, compounded by the consolidation and/or closing of rural hospitals, small businesses, and family farms.
Piper adds, "The thing about rural decay and rural disinvestment is this: It's all related. The final straw can be an industrial CAFO coming to town and poisoning our air and water. It's all connected, but we are here raising our voices against the politicians and the corporations who are harming rural Missourians to turn a profit."
Tim Gibbons, communication director of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, will contribute to the panel discussion by shedding light on the detrimental effects of corporate agriculture consolidation. Gibbons highlights the alarming fact that a small number of multinational corporations exert excessive control over the U.S. livestock market, leading to dire consequences for farmers, consumers, rural communities, and the environment.
"For example, today, four multi-national and foreign corporations dominate the U.S. pork market at the expense of family farm hog producers. This consolidation has far-reaching implications for our food system, national security, and the livelihoods of countless farm families," warns Gibbons. "With a new Farm Bill on the horizon, we need a fresh vision and a Farm Bill crafted for and by Americans, taxpayers, farmers, and consumers—not one written by and for corporate interests."
Rounding out the panel in Columbia will be Livingston County row-crop and livestock farmer, Doug Doughty. Curtis Millsap joins the panel in Springfield. Millsap Farms raise broilers, turkeys, layers, goats, hogs, cattle, flowers, and vegetables; plus operates a home bakery and several other enterprises on their 20-acre farm.
During both events, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase Dr. Chris Jones's book, "The Swine Republic: Struggles with the Truth about Agriculture and Water Quality."
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