rural legends

“Tom Cruise abducted by aliens” used to be the kind of story reserved for supermarket tabloids. But today, thanks to Web sites, text messaging and e-mail blasting, we’re inundated with fantastic stories of albino alligators in the city sewer and the woman killed by spiders nesting in her elaborate hairdo.

Called “urban legends,” these exaggerated, astonishing fables are spread quickly and widely via modems and word of mouth. Mostly these yarns are easy to discount – spontaneous human combustion is a little hard to swallow – and are generally harmless. But occasionally these urban legends somehow manage to gain traction, evolving from fairy tale to fact. Such is the case with the newest version of outrageous tall tales – the rural legend.

You’ve likely seen, heard or read them: Farmers are polluting the water, fouling the air, torturing animals, avoiding taxes and causing everything from mutant frogs to post-nasal drip. Unlike their urban legend counterparts, rural legends are easy to track to their source: local activist groups backed by an organized protest industry.

Now, before I’m strung up for being un-American, allow me to explain my thinking. I don’t oppose these local concerned citizens groups. I respect them. Most are committed, passionate advocates who have legitimate questions about how livestock farms affect their families, communities and environment. Their vigilance causes the agricultural industry to monitor itself and respond to reasonable expectations. I commend their enthusiasm and understand their motivation. What I don’t agree with are some of their tactics.

My biggest complaint is when the truth is ignored. I frequently read their claims that livestock farms are unregulated, that manure holding facilities leak into our water, that animals are routinely mistreated and that big farms put small farms out of business. While certainly captivating, these dire warnings are also just plain false. Rather than debate facts, protesters often prefer a tactic recommended in the primer The Activist’s Handbook: Inspire fear and loathing.

Another factor that moderates my sympathy for these local groups is that they’re not quite as local as they appear. So-called community activism is increasingly a front for well-funded national anti-farming organizations. Recently, the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE), a multi-million dollar organization that publishes a guide for confronting large livestock farms, sent organizers to Ohio hoping to spur anti-livestock activities. This is hardly the kind of grassroots initiative worthy of our admiration.

So what’s to be done? First, move the disagreements off the front page and on to common ground. Newspaper rhetoric creates animosity; private dialogue creates understanding. Activists: accept that farms, of all types and sizes, have a right to be a part of Ohio’s rural landscape. Farmers: acknowledge that your neighbors have a right to an acceptable quality of life. Interested bystanders: be healthy skeptics. The old adage “believe half of what you see and none of what you hear” is probably good advice. And for all parties: stick to the truth.

Honesty and accommodation, by farmers and their neighbors, should be the hallmark of rural Ohio. Achieving that is a worthy goal and the kind of stuff from which true legends are made.

John C. (Jack) Fisher, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation executive vice president

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