Pork Stench Payout
The nation’s second largest pork producer, Premium Standard Farms, is in the process of being purchased by the number 1 player, Smithfield Foods, Inc., but first it is paying a jury verdict against it for $4.5 million. The lawsuit was brought by neighbors of one of the company’s hog farms in Missouri who complained of the smell. The company agreed not to appeal the verdict:
The same Jackson County jury also found grounds for punitive damages against Kansas City-based Premium Standard Farms, but the company agreed not to appeal the actual damages award and the plaintiffs in exchanged dropped their request for punitive damages.
Link (Kansas City Star).
The article notes that this is one of more than 50 lawsuits pending against the company, along with a class action lawsuit seeking to represent anyone who resides within 10 miles from one of the company’s farms. Clearly, the neighbors of these farms are not happy. IT is important to note that these challenges to big farms are coming from traditional rural families. As Mike Platt, the new president of Indiana Pork (Indiana’s Pork Producers Association), recently noted:
It’s not coming from animal rights activists who think everyone should become vegetarians or from environmentalists who think the only way to save the world is by eliminating modern farming practices. It’s coming from right across our road… our neighbors with whom we have lived beside for many years. There’s an increase in community activism fighting the expansion of livestock production. It may not have hit your community yet, but don’t be surprised if you, or a fellow pork producer who’s applied for a permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), find your quiet neighbors have turned into activists leading the charge to stop your operation.
Link.
