Consumers have the POWER

Outside of Scio, there is a group of community members boycotting a proposed large chicken farm in their community.  I share their concerns for how it will affect them and that they were not informed of this development until it was late in the process.   I understand the community’s desire to keep their air, water, and land serene and healthy.  I also understand the chicken farm business seeing a consumer demand and trying to meet it. I see both sides and fighting back seems like the only option now, but I believe this difficult situation outside of Scio could have been prevented and that we can create a better path going forward.  
 
Our food chain is an industry seeks profit over people and planet.  Where do most people in the United States purchase eggs? At mega-chain grocery stores that make billions of dollars a year and purchase eggs from factory farms.  We are keeping these factory farms and grocery stores in business and they grow to meet demand!!  We, as consumers have the POWER to change our food system by CHOOSING to support locally-owned grocery stores, which supply locally made products. If we choose to buy our products from small farms and the locally owned cooperatives that stock their products, we get to slow the growth of big factory farming. 
 
This is why I want a community owned cooperative grocery store in the Mid-Willamette Valley region.  I want to encourage more sustainable farming practices and create thriving wage jobs in our region  and for developers and farmers to have an economically viable choice when considering a factory farm or a regenerative farm and I want to support the farmers who are already farming in this way.  I want us to have a CHOICE when it comes to where we put our money, what we eat, and to help make the area more viable for sustainable farming. This method is circular, local, and resilient. We have the power to shift our food system through our voices and our choices.  Let’s support cooperative movements that work for the people and honor the land.  
 
Links:
The article about the mega chicken farm in Linn County can be found at the Statesman Journal
FYI - In December 2021, Willamette Egg Farm has also been bought out by an Iowa and Ohio based company:  

Cayla Catino
ere to edit.