Eureka Springs Independent

Feeding the world’ at the peril of the food chain

March 21, 2018

For those feeling helpless and hopeless about the special interests that seem to have taken over our democracy, remember the right to vote continues to be our best and most effective weapon. To make your vote count, be an informed citizen, willing to dig deeper than sound bites and scare tactics. Learn to ask the questions that uncover the real motives lurking behind the blather.

Advocates for the Buffalo River recently had the experience of lobbying our state representatives and senators at the capitol in Little Rock. We spoke with just about anyone willing to come out and listen to what we had to say. Some forcefully asserted they had made their minds up about the issue, confident that Farm Bureau and the U of A Big Creek Research Extension Team (BCRET), one supported by corporate agricultural interests, the other paid with tax dollars to “prove the sustainability of an industrial hog operation in the Buffalo River watershed,” had told them all they needed to know.

But other lawmakers expressed skepticism, acknowledging that they were feeling pressure from moneyed interests. Quite a few of them actually thanked us for coming to intervene for the river. They understood us when we said we were there to represent the river because the river could not come to them. As concerned citizens, our motivation is to protect a shared resource that was set aside more than 50 years ago to be enjoyed by all Americans, past, present and future. As a National Park, the Buffalo River should enjoy the most stringent of protections. But every generation must learn greed never sleeps, and the forces of self-interest will find ways to work around the best of defenses if we are not constantly vigilant.

BCRET spokesmen had the privilege of coming before the entire House of Representatives to report there was “no evidence of degradation” in Big Creek or the Buffalo River. Yet independent scientists, using the raw data (formerly) posted on BCRET’s website, found nitrogen levels increased below C&H Hog Farms by 150%.  Data compiled by United States Geological Survey water monitoring, showed dissolved oxygen in Big Creek, the stuff fish and other aquatic creatures depend on to live, dropped below acceptable levels in 33% percent of tests, surpassing the 10% threshold to receive the designation of an impaired waterway. How had BCRET missed these trends? Apparently by not evaluating or analyzing any data that appeared to be problematic. If you don’t look, you can’t see, and you can then make claims that are “true.”

The environmental damages being seen where concentrated animal feeding operations proliferate are undeniable. To believe you can do the same thing over and over and get different results is the definition of insanity. Sooner or later, as was the case with cigarettes or Oxycontin, the truth will reveal itself. The only question is how bad the damage will get before that happens.

The Louisiana Thrush, also called the “Bobber Bird,” relies on clean water to eat, because stoneflies and caddo flies die off when their habitat is damaged. Mussels and other sensitive forms of life quietly vanish where once they thrived. That’s the nature of degradation. It’s a quiet and stealthy killer, a creeping catastrophe that will be denied and dismissed until it is finally too late.

Who will fight for a waterway clogged with algae or choked with dead fish?

Want to learn more about industrial agriculture and what the oft-cited claim, “We’re just trying to feed the world” is really costing us? Please mark your calendar and attend “What’s Next for our Buffalo River?” Saturday, April 7 from 6 – 8 p.m. at Mount Sequoyah Assembly Bailey Center in Fayetteville.

Gordon Watkins will provide an update on efforts to protect the Buffalo River, then participate in a panel discussion with national experts from the Waterkeepers Alliance Pure Water, Pure Farms Initiative, and EarthJustice, as well as Socially Responsible Agricultural Project. The more we all understand about the corporate take-over of American food systems, the more effective we will be in choosing who we want making the laws that protect our web of life. This is a free program.

Lin Wellford