Chris, I would like to note another objectionable aspect of the current finance disclosure laws. Did you see that your state senator wrote checks TO the state party for $771,250? Whether designed to obscure the flow of political funds or not, state Senator A accepts the donation and forwards it for redistribution through the state party. The result is a laundering of the donation (in terms of financial clarity, a way to tie politicians more closely to the party organization using the redistribution, and in many cases funds being taken from rural areas to be spent in metropolitan areas. Both Republicans and Democrats are doing this. My state Senator was not on the ballot in 2022. The Senator’s campaign disclosure reports showed he sent $42,000 to the Iowa Republican Party of $43,500 raised.
I view it as a form of chicanery. I encourage people to view the reports available from the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Call out the politicians who play this game.
Actually, I like the fact that Wahls gave a good chunk of his campaign money to the Dem Senate majority campaign. Until we overturn Citizens united and limit how much money people and corporations can give to a politician, I see nothing wrong with this. Unfortunately, Republicans raise a lot more money from corporations and the wealthy that they can then give away.
It’s fair to think it would be political suicide for Ds to unilaterally disarm. It’s also fair to think that D willingness to take the big ag money has given Ag license to run rampant across many aspects of life in Iowa. And there can be no doubt we have forced D presidential candidates to embrace ethanol.
As to Wahls and the others, in my view people in Johnson County deserve better than people than are just money magnets that wheel money elsewhere. If you can’t have principled liberal positions on environment here, where can you have them.
All that being said, Wahls’ “third rail” comment while being a passenger on the big ag money train is what it is. It’s fair and necessary to call this out.
This vegetarian is not offended by your statement. This is not a knock on tofu or vegetarianism. This vegetarian understands the assignment. For the purposes of this conversation we're talking about someone who is fake. This is not a knock on fake meat, lol. But that would probably be another article. Yeah we've got some fake ass democrats here. My youngest daughter moved to la two years ago. With no intention of ever coming back. Why would she? California may have its problems but the push there is not towards ethanol. And her uterus has more rights than a gun. Not to mention the pool of men.... Oh, and to continue with this PCness, this is not a knock on men....
Well, all of the information about the democrats and campaign contributions was depressing, but so was this: "To be clear, this is not a knock on tofu or vegetarianism."
What you wrote sure felt like a knock on tofu and vegetarianism. I would think you might be more supportive because you know so much about the negatives of CAFOs.
I agree, but you also don't have to trash them. I certainly did not get the impression from reading your article that you are supportive of abstaining from meat. If that is how you feel, it would be nice to hear it. If we want to move away from CAFOs, people need to significantly reduce their consumption of meat, dairy and eggs.
I rarely eat meat unless it’s fish that I caught. Some people object to that. I also dont tell people they shouldn’t eat meat because a lot of cultural and religious factors figure in to what people eat. If animals are raised humanely and in ways that don’t pollute, I dont have a problem with that choice. That all being said, we’re not going to solve our environmental problems through vegetarianism. There’s plenty of scientific literature that supports that idea.
If someone wants to eat tofurky I support that but I also see no reason to abstain using it as a literary device to make a point. It’s fake turkey. There are a lot of fake things about the politicians. People eat turkey and tofurky this time of year. Thats all there is to it. I’m not judging anybody for eating tofu, which, as I said in the piece, is a choice I sometimes make.
Thanks for your response. I am glad to know you do not eat much meat. To me that would be consistent with your efforts to sound the alarm about CAFOs. I understand that there are many reasons people have to want to continue consuming meat etc. It does seem like more needs to be said about reducing consumption. What we are doing is not sustainable. Our environmental problems cannot all be solved just by reducing consumption of animal products---but I do believe that a huge reduction is necessary as part of the solution.
Many if not most of the ideas for sustainable farming in the cornbelt require inclusion of ruminants on the landscape. In the current framework we have with land ownership and other economic factors, that means cattle on pasture. If pasture acres replace corn acres especially on marginal ground, that is very likely an environmental good. Something to consider.
As someone who ate sustainably raised meat and chicken and then moved to vegetarianism, i've got a perspective. And that is no matter why you've changed your diet it's personal. And when we start getting into people's personal lives it often defeats the purpose. Do we have to move away from industrial food systems? Oh yeah, you bet! Bit we're not going to that by alienating and punching down on meat eaters.
It sounds like you are implying that I was alienating and punching down on meat eaters. I think I was just stating facts---we cannot solve our water quality problems in Iowa without reducing the number of CAFOs and reducing the industrial production of corn and soy to feed the animals. That means we need a huge reduction in the consumption of meat, dairy and eggs. And if you look past Iowa, the excessive consumption of meat and animal products is a disaster for the planet. Please see the link to the article in my previous post for more. Eating plants is a much more efficient way to feed people and that is the direction we need to move. This is a good resource: https://awellfedworld.org/
When people's "personal " habits create an existential threat to life on this planet, it's not really personal, is it?
Thanks Chris. This is "where it is at" following Citizens United. Our politicians are bought. If the public were well informed this might change. Newspapers are losing out to the "new media." Old timers like me remember the warnings of Orwell and Huxley from the past. Thanks to you, Cullen, Belin, Hamilton, Mutel and Kimmerer for speaking truth. We must keep private universities, public schools, newspapers and books viable. The Dark Ages were not fun nor was Hitler's Germany.
Thanks for this column; I always learn from your posts. I continually receive donation requests from Zach Wahls despite my attempts to unsubscribe. I do not live in Johnson County; I live in Washington County where the total human population is about 23,000, although as you have pointed out, the number of hogs is 1.3 million. If only the hogs could vote. The Democratic Party has never seemed to care much about what happens in my county with its now overwhelming water and air pollution. Certainly, Zach Wahls has never shown any interest in the quality of my life or my neighbor's.
"If only the hogs could vote." I live in Minnesota. I'm pretty sure the hogs DO vote up here. Or maybe those are just people. Sometimes the resemblance is uncanny. In our state it matters not which party you belong to. Hardly any difference between the two. And when it comes to agriculture. . .none.
That's fatuous false equivalence. One only need look at the many substantive differences in Iowa (Republican-controlled) vs Minnesota (Democrat-controlled) law to give the lie to the statement that the two parties are the same. I can't speak to ag law, but the differences on everything from maternity leave to non-compete agreements to school funding to treatment of LGBTQ+ youth are enormous.
Sorry, should've been more clear that I was talking about ag policy (and anything involving the oil and gas industry). As to social issues, all the states can do with something like reproductive rights is minimize the negative impact of decisions made in Congress and the Supreme Court. I have to admit ignorance on maternity leave (it was six weeks when I was a working mom and the employer made the call and paid for it, not the government). I was given the choice of signing a noncompete or losing my job, again the employer's call. Schools up here are paid for by local property taxes, which is rich communities have great schools and the rest have to beg for pencils. Don't know what you mean about "treatment" of LGBTQ+ youth. In what way do states legislate that? I honestly don't know, beyond the issue of transgender surgery, which is allowed here. I'd really love to be better informed so please reply to this.
Minnesota laws changed quite a lot in the last session. As of July 1, new non-compete agreements are unenforceable. The state is providing for maternity leave, though I don't know the details about duration or pay. Iowa, by contrast, made it illegal to talk about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary schools, made it illegal to have multi-unit any-gender restrooms, banned all books that contain a "description or visual depiction of a sex act" from K-12 libraries (yes, this includes a lot of classic), and passed a law banning medical care for trans minors that was ostensibly aimed at surgery and hormone treatment but phrased in a way that has therapists refusing to provide care to trans minors. Iowa is also attempting to ban abortions, while Minnesota is trying to mitigate the negative impacts of the overturning of Roe v Wade. On school funding, our facilities come from local taxes and pay is from a centralized, incredibly under-funded fund. And the state instituted a program to give unlimited money to private school tuition, set up such that the private school can take the money, kick the kids out, and keep the money. The kids then go to the local public schools, which get no money for the kids and have to figure out how to do even more with even less. This has already happened to more than one "difficult" (read: disabled/ADHD/ learning disabled) child. Teachers are leaving Iowa for Minnesota.
Thanks for reminding my why I love my state! Would love to pick your brain about what's wrong with Iowa but, oh well. . . maybe you should move up here? How sad that a very different Iowa produced Henry Wallace, FDR's ag secretary and v.p. until he was deemed too "extreme" to run for president as a Democrat. History repeats itself, eh? Unlike Bernie, Wallace ran as a third-party candidate, got shellacked, left politics, and made a fortune in the plant-breeding biz. . before GMOs, needless to say.
There is a podcast called "What the Hell Happened to Iowa." It had a few episodes and then went silent without explanation. Fitting. Which is to say, we don't know, either.
I have been a vegetarian since I was 10 years old which means I haven't eaten meat for the past 18 years. Reading this essay I did not feel "knocked" for my dietary choices whatsoever. This essay made me laugh, it provided valuable insight, it demonstrated that in addition to adept research skills Chris Jones has amazing instincts for editorializing. And let's be real - Tofurky (the shit shaped like a dead animal, not the deli slices) is repulsive and tastes abominable. Thanks Chris!
I am sometimes amazed/ashamed as to how old I was when it finally became apparent to me that the majority of Iowans don't really give a fig about water quality, especially if attaining it in any way hinders the Corn/CAFO mafia running this state. Reading Chris' writings and research really opened my eyes , which is great, but sad too , in that I'm not seeing many voices except his and a few others, raising the alarm.
I know Dave Loebsack and am proud to count him as a friend, he and his wonderful wife Teri. I am sure he is well aware of the Corn/CAFO water connection too, so assume it's political reality/survival to look the other way, just like the other Dems listed in the piece. Not an excuse really, just an explanation.
The phrase" hard-working farmers" is now one word politically, though hardly the truth, they work no harder than any other trades person trying to make a living. Its just romanticized nonsense. Though the framing contractor, machine shop owner, electrician or hardware store operator have to make it all work WITHOUT taxpayer subsidy. Farms are just factories without walls. Any other production facility that dumped effluent into streams and rivers like row crop farmers regularly do, would be in handcuffs, or at least in court. But, when you own an entire Legislature and Governors office? Fuggedaboudit.
It's my understanding that the burning of ethanol in a combustion engine is cleaner than fossil fuel. However the production of ethanol is extremely dirty. And the push for the summit carbon pipeline is directly related to ethanol in the state. In addition, ethanol is made from corn. And I don't think I have to tell you how dirty our corn production is here in the state. Which is a direct hit on our water quality. Which is all to say it is disheartening when democrats and progressives in this state give lip service to water quality. But behind the scenes they're actually contributing to it's degradation.
Chris, I would like to note another objectionable aspect of the current finance disclosure laws. Did you see that your state senator wrote checks TO the state party for $771,250? Whether designed to obscure the flow of political funds or not, state Senator A accepts the donation and forwards it for redistribution through the state party. The result is a laundering of the donation (in terms of financial clarity, a way to tie politicians more closely to the party organization using the redistribution, and in many cases funds being taken from rural areas to be spent in metropolitan areas. Both Republicans and Democrats are doing this. My state Senator was not on the ballot in 2022. The Senator’s campaign disclosure reports showed he sent $42,000 to the Iowa Republican Party of $43,500 raised.
I view it as a form of chicanery. I encourage people to view the reports available from the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Call out the politicians who play this game.
Actually, I like the fact that Wahls gave a good chunk of his campaign money to the Dem Senate majority campaign. Until we overturn Citizens united and limit how much money people and corporations can give to a politician, I see nothing wrong with this. Unfortunately, Republicans raise a lot more money from corporations and the wealthy that they can then give away.
It’s fair to think it would be political suicide for Ds to unilaterally disarm. It’s also fair to think that D willingness to take the big ag money has given Ag license to run rampant across many aspects of life in Iowa. And there can be no doubt we have forced D presidential candidates to embrace ethanol.
As to Wahls and the others, in my view people in Johnson County deserve better than people than are just money magnets that wheel money elsewhere. If you can’t have principled liberal positions on environment here, where can you have them.
All that being said, Wahls’ “third rail” comment while being a passenger on the big ag money train is what it is. It’s fair and necessary to call this out.
This vegetarian is not offended by your statement. This is not a knock on tofu or vegetarianism. This vegetarian understands the assignment. For the purposes of this conversation we're talking about someone who is fake. This is not a knock on fake meat, lol. But that would probably be another article. Yeah we've got some fake ass democrats here. My youngest daughter moved to la two years ago. With no intention of ever coming back. Why would she? California may have its problems but the push there is not towards ethanol. And her uterus has more rights than a gun. Not to mention the pool of men.... Oh, and to continue with this PCness, this is not a knock on men....
Well, all of the information about the democrats and campaign contributions was depressing, but so was this: "To be clear, this is not a knock on tofu or vegetarianism."
What you wrote sure felt like a knock on tofu and vegetarianism. I would think you might be more supportive because you know so much about the negatives of CAFOs.
I shouldn’t have to endorse every food item in a vegetarian diet to be supportive of abstaining from meat.
I agree, but you also don't have to trash them. I certainly did not get the impression from reading your article that you are supportive of abstaining from meat. If that is how you feel, it would be nice to hear it. If we want to move away from CAFOs, people need to significantly reduce their consumption of meat, dairy and eggs.
I rarely eat meat unless it’s fish that I caught. Some people object to that. I also dont tell people they shouldn’t eat meat because a lot of cultural and religious factors figure in to what people eat. If animals are raised humanely and in ways that don’t pollute, I dont have a problem with that choice. That all being said, we’re not going to solve our environmental problems through vegetarianism. There’s plenty of scientific literature that supports that idea.
If someone wants to eat tofurky I support that but I also see no reason to abstain using it as a literary device to make a point. It’s fake turkey. There are a lot of fake things about the politicians. People eat turkey and tofurky this time of year. Thats all there is to it. I’m not judging anybody for eating tofu, which, as I said in the piece, is a choice I sometimes make.
Thanks for your response. I am glad to know you do not eat much meat. To me that would be consistent with your efforts to sound the alarm about CAFOs. I understand that there are many reasons people have to want to continue consuming meat etc. It does seem like more needs to be said about reducing consumption. What we are doing is not sustainable. Our environmental problems cannot all be solved just by reducing consumption of animal products---but I do believe that a huge reduction is necessary as part of the solution.
Many if not most of the ideas for sustainable farming in the cornbelt require inclusion of ruminants on the landscape. In the current framework we have with land ownership and other economic factors, that means cattle on pasture. If pasture acres replace corn acres especially on marginal ground, that is very likely an environmental good. Something to consider.
I am not an expert, but my understanding is that taking land out of industrial production of corn/soybeans and animal ag and rewilding it would be the best thing for the planet.. This is what George Monbiot thinks: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/14/livestock-farming-soy-soyboy
No matter what we do, consumption needs to be significantly reduced. I appreciate your responses and the conversation.
As someone who ate sustainably raised meat and chicken and then moved to vegetarianism, i've got a perspective. And that is no matter why you've changed your diet it's personal. And when we start getting into people's personal lives it often defeats the purpose. Do we have to move away from industrial food systems? Oh yeah, you bet! Bit we're not going to that by alienating and punching down on meat eaters.
It sounds like you are implying that I was alienating and punching down on meat eaters. I think I was just stating facts---we cannot solve our water quality problems in Iowa without reducing the number of CAFOs and reducing the industrial production of corn and soy to feed the animals. That means we need a huge reduction in the consumption of meat, dairy and eggs. And if you look past Iowa, the excessive consumption of meat and animal products is a disaster for the planet. Please see the link to the article in my previous post for more. Eating plants is a much more efficient way to feed people and that is the direction we need to move. This is a good resource: https://awellfedworld.org/
When people's "personal " habits create an existential threat to life on this planet, it's not really personal, is it?
Thanks Chris. This is "where it is at" following Citizens United. Our politicians are bought. If the public were well informed this might change. Newspapers are losing out to the "new media." Old timers like me remember the warnings of Orwell and Huxley from the past. Thanks to you, Cullen, Belin, Hamilton, Mutel and Kimmerer for speaking truth. We must keep private universities, public schools, newspapers and books viable. The Dark Ages were not fun nor was Hitler's Germany.
Thanks for this column; I always learn from your posts. I continually receive donation requests from Zach Wahls despite my attempts to unsubscribe. I do not live in Johnson County; I live in Washington County where the total human population is about 23,000, although as you have pointed out, the number of hogs is 1.3 million. If only the hogs could vote. The Democratic Party has never seemed to care much about what happens in my county with its now overwhelming water and air pollution. Certainly, Zach Wahls has never shown any interest in the quality of my life or my neighbor's.
"If only the hogs could vote." I live in Minnesota. I'm pretty sure the hogs DO vote up here. Or maybe those are just people. Sometimes the resemblance is uncanny. In our state it matters not which party you belong to. Hardly any difference between the two. And when it comes to agriculture. . .none.
That's fatuous false equivalence. One only need look at the many substantive differences in Iowa (Republican-controlled) vs Minnesota (Democrat-controlled) law to give the lie to the statement that the two parties are the same. I can't speak to ag law, but the differences on everything from maternity leave to non-compete agreements to school funding to treatment of LGBTQ+ youth are enormous.
Sorry, should've been more clear that I was talking about ag policy (and anything involving the oil and gas industry). As to social issues, all the states can do with something like reproductive rights is minimize the negative impact of decisions made in Congress and the Supreme Court. I have to admit ignorance on maternity leave (it was six weeks when I was a working mom and the employer made the call and paid for it, not the government). I was given the choice of signing a noncompete or losing my job, again the employer's call. Schools up here are paid for by local property taxes, which is rich communities have great schools and the rest have to beg for pencils. Don't know what you mean about "treatment" of LGBTQ+ youth. In what way do states legislate that? I honestly don't know, beyond the issue of transgender surgery, which is allowed here. I'd really love to be better informed so please reply to this.
Minnesota laws changed quite a lot in the last session. As of July 1, new non-compete agreements are unenforceable. The state is providing for maternity leave, though I don't know the details about duration or pay. Iowa, by contrast, made it illegal to talk about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary schools, made it illegal to have multi-unit any-gender restrooms, banned all books that contain a "description or visual depiction of a sex act" from K-12 libraries (yes, this includes a lot of classic), and passed a law banning medical care for trans minors that was ostensibly aimed at surgery and hormone treatment but phrased in a way that has therapists refusing to provide care to trans minors. Iowa is also attempting to ban abortions, while Minnesota is trying to mitigate the negative impacts of the overturning of Roe v Wade. On school funding, our facilities come from local taxes and pay is from a centralized, incredibly under-funded fund. And the state instituted a program to give unlimited money to private school tuition, set up such that the private school can take the money, kick the kids out, and keep the money. The kids then go to the local public schools, which get no money for the kids and have to figure out how to do even more with even less. This has already happened to more than one "difficult" (read: disabled/ADHD/ learning disabled) child. Teachers are leaving Iowa for Minnesota.
Thanks for reminding my why I love my state! Would love to pick your brain about what's wrong with Iowa but, oh well. . . maybe you should move up here? How sad that a very different Iowa produced Henry Wallace, FDR's ag secretary and v.p. until he was deemed too "extreme" to run for president as a Democrat. History repeats itself, eh? Unlike Bernie, Wallace ran as a third-party candidate, got shellacked, left politics, and made a fortune in the plant-breeding biz. . before GMOs, needless to say.
There is a podcast called "What the Hell Happened to Iowa." It had a few episodes and then went silent without explanation. Fitting. Which is to say, we don't know, either.
Great work, Chris, and giving me some research ideas!
I have been a vegetarian since I was 10 years old which means I haven't eaten meat for the past 18 years. Reading this essay I did not feel "knocked" for my dietary choices whatsoever. This essay made me laugh, it provided valuable insight, it demonstrated that in addition to adept research skills Chris Jones has amazing instincts for editorializing. And let's be real - Tofurky (the shit shaped like a dead animal, not the deli slices) is repulsive and tastes abominable. Thanks Chris!
Are there any clean water Democrats we can support?
Maybe Claire Celsi?
Thanks. I'll keep an eye on her.
Chris you are too good
Sadly all you say is true and it is hellishly depressing
I am sometimes amazed/ashamed as to how old I was when it finally became apparent to me that the majority of Iowans don't really give a fig about water quality, especially if attaining it in any way hinders the Corn/CAFO mafia running this state. Reading Chris' writings and research really opened my eyes , which is great, but sad too , in that I'm not seeing many voices except his and a few others, raising the alarm.
I know Dave Loebsack and am proud to count him as a friend, he and his wonderful wife Teri. I am sure he is well aware of the Corn/CAFO water connection too, so assume it's political reality/survival to look the other way, just like the other Dems listed in the piece. Not an excuse really, just an explanation.
The phrase" hard-working farmers" is now one word politically, though hardly the truth, they work no harder than any other trades person trying to make a living. Its just romanticized nonsense. Though the framing contractor, machine shop owner, electrician or hardware store operator have to make it all work WITHOUT taxpayer subsidy. Farms are just factories without walls. Any other production facility that dumped effluent into streams and rivers like row crop farmers regularly do, would be in handcuffs, or at least in court. But, when you own an entire Legislature and Governors office? Fuggedaboudit.
Great column! Thanks.
How much water does ethanol production use? How does that effect water quality?
It's my understanding that the burning of ethanol in a combustion engine is cleaner than fossil fuel. However the production of ethanol is extremely dirty. And the push for the summit carbon pipeline is directly related to ethanol in the state. In addition, ethanol is made from corn. And I don't think I have to tell you how dirty our corn production is here in the state. Which is a direct hit on our water quality. Which is all to say it is disheartening when democrats and progressives in this state give lip service to water quality. But behind the scenes they're actually contributing to it's degradation.
Thank you for this! I truly didn't know, and once gave a few bucks to Zach Wahl's campaign. Ouch.
Thank you for your continued great words & work! The truth is beyond sad… wake up Iowa!