Letter: Free workshop available to educate ourselves on CATO

From: Rick Hand

Hope

It has been three years since the Bartholomew County Board of Zoning Appeals decided to allow yet another concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) to impact Hawcreek Township. After all, what is one more CAFO in Hawcreek Township when it is already the site for all but one CAFO in Bartholomew County?

However, as a community located in Flat Rock-Hawcreek townships, we are pulling together and looking forward to a more promising future. In the quest for this future our community will continue educating ourselves about the fundamentals of CAFOs by attending the workshop offered by Hoosier Environmental Council. Because of the recent ordinance changes pertaining to CAFOs, my neighbors and I understand the importance of learning strategies that will equip us to protect our basic needs such as clean water, clean air and good health.

Kim Ferraro, Hoosier Environmental Council’s senior staff attorney and director of agriculture policy, will provide us with these essential skills as well as discuss the impacts of CAFOs on Indiana’s environment, economy and human health. We will learn about the role food choice plays in ensuring a healthy environment for all and what we can do to help build sustainable agriculture in our area.

My neighbors and I hope the surrounding area will join us for this free workshop to help us obtain and maintain a higher quality of life for all residents. Please join Hoosier Environmental Council from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Red Room of the Bartholomew County Public Library. Feel free to come and go as you please. Any questions, contact Hoosier Environmental outreach adviser Michael Poppa at [email protected].