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Straight Talk
A series of essays by

Martha Stevens
Harrison County, Missouri


Full list of essays:
Biography of Martha Stevens, author of Straight Talk: Martha Stevens and husband Pren operate a cattle ranch in Harrison County in northwest Missouri. She is "Mom" to three sons and a daughter; "Grandma" to nine - 7 boys and 2 girls. Always active in politics and community issues, she became involved in the Hog War in 1993 when Continental Grain announced plans to locate in northern Missouri; PSF was already in operation. By 1994, she was working closely with the Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC) on various agricultural issues, now serving as a member of the Citizens Task Force. The column Straight Talk was launched in August 1995, as an Agriculture opinion editorial by the Quad River News, and expanded to the MRCC Web site (the Rural America column of In Motion Magazine) in 1998.

She was featured in Ms magazine regarding her move from housewife to columnist/feature writer in 1997, and in The Planet in 1999. On top of her computer is a small sign that keeps her focused: "It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog." (Other publication credits include guest editorials in Successful Farming, Progressive Farmers, Iowa Farmer Today, Western Livestock Journal, Kansas City Star, and St. Louis Post.) Comment: "For what it’s worth, Big Pig is on notice: I will work until my last breath to do all I can to rid northern Missouri of the stench and destruction brought by the mega polluters and to hold them responsible for their mess."

Published in In Motion Magazine - August 26, 1999