Martha Stevens is livestock farmer who lives and farms near Hatfield, Missouri. This article is part of an ongoing series by Martha Stevens - Straight Talk - commenting on the life and politics of farming in Missouri and the U.S. as a whole.

I have been asked where I get info to keep this column going. It’s not difficult! I actually seem to get much more out than I can ever hope to relate from people across the country who take the time to relay to me articles and information that they have come across. My thanks to all those so willing to share. Such is the case in this column.

Hurricane Floyd hit the East coast with a vengeance, wreaking havoc economically, socially, and environmentally. My sympathies to those unfortunate enough to be in its path. North Carolina was particularly hit hard. I talked to Don Webb (Alliance for a Responsible Swine Industry) briefly the other evening; he had been out since 3:30 a.m. checking on his own operation, his neighbors, his mother, and a thus far fruitless search for his dogs. Don was hard hit, but as he said, looking down the road, there were others hit harder. He was too busy counting his blessings to cry the blues.

Early reports indicated that the mega hog factories escaped serious damage; I greeted that report with open skepticism. While I fully believe in the parting of the Red Sea for Moses, I didn’t believe that that was the case in this instance. And it wasn’t. Don gave a graphic description of collapsed cesspool dams spewing their toxic waste, cesspools and buildings totally under water, and a virtual sea of dead hogs and poultry floating in and near confinement buildings and across the countryside.

One can’t help but wonder how long this massive introduction of human and animal waste will continue to contaminate both ground and surface water supplies. One authority said it could take years for the water to cleanse to safe drinking levels; at the best, months. The threat of disease from the waste and dead carcasses is both very real and intensely frightening as the people of the area try to get their lives back on track.

Rick Dove, Keeper of the Neuse, pointed out that there was a major pollution problem in North Carolina long before the arrival of Floyd. Much of the problem appears to have originated with a state agency that permitted construction of waste treatment plants and CAFO’s with open cesspools in the flood plain. While the force of a hurricane like Floyd could hardly be foreseen, Dove pointed out that there has been flooding in much of the area four times in the last five years. Other states with similar situations would do well to learn by what has happened on the Eastern seaboard.

And hey! President Clinton is riding to the rescue! Now, I certainly have no quarrel with the President in his effort to help those who have had their lives so disrupted. But I do have a problem with an emphatic promise to "rebuild facilities and purchase replacement livestock." Given the primary ownership of those mega hog/chicken facilities, I think we all know who will benefit from that giveaway, and it won’t be the people of North Carolina.

On to a bit of disturbing news from my neighbors to the northwest, Nebraska. When I read this report from Nebraska Pride, my initial reaction was "no way would our government allow this type of thing to happen." Then I recalled having similar feelings about the takeover of the swine industry from family farmers and the lack of intervention and realized that it was indeed, possible.

According to that August Nebraska newsletter, our good friend Monsanto has other irons in the fire besides GMO seed. Robert Farley of Monsanto is quoted as saying, " What you are seeing is not just a consolidation of seed companies, it is really a consolidation of the entire food chain. Since water is as central to food production as seed is, and without water life is not possible, Monsanto is now trying to establish its control over water."

Now folks, that is scary. If indeed Monsanto has as its goal control of the water supply, they could be in a position to dictate their will to our government entities; we will be held hostage to their every whim. The report goes on to describe in detail the plan for beginning their water monopoly in such countries as India and Mexico, then on to China and the U.S. While I cannot say with any certainty how, when, or what Monsanto’s agenda really is, we should all be on the alert for any attempt to purchase or take control of such a necessity of life by anyone. Nebraska Pride is a grass roots organization located at 2369 Jansen Road, Wolbach, NE 68882.

Today’s Quote: "The privatization and commodification of water is a threat to the right to life."--Nebraska Pride

Published in In Motion Magazine - October 3, 1999

Also read other essays by Martha Stevens