Lobby Day in Missouri

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Today was “lobby day” for the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. The capitol was packed with citizens working for one issue or another. Lots of farmers came with our group and another group of dairy farm supporters appeared. There were also a good number of folks from the faith community working on Medicaid expansion, a larger-than-usual contingent of motorcycle riders, but I don’t know what they were working on. Our farmers seemed to have good luck talking to the Senate. As I listened to the reports from the various little teams, I heard more optimism than usual. Senators and staff were all ready to talk, and they understood how bad the bills—especially HJR 7 and 11—were. We were joking—but it’s not really funny—that if HJR 7 &11 passes, a corporation could put a Confined Animal Feeding Operation with hogs or turkeys in the middle of St. Louis. Or, funnier still, in the neighborhoods like Clayton and Ladue where the big Monsanto execs live. There’s a big dead zone in St. Louis where the auto plants have moved out and the sites leveled, a big brown zone, and it would be perfect for a bunch of stinky hogs. Talk about your urban agriculture! Anyway, it was a good day and we’ll see what happens. March 12, 2013.