Pigs, Profits, and Rural Communities

Kendall M. Thu is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Iowa. E. Paul Durrenberger is Professor of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University.

"…combine[s] hard-hitting analysis with impressive attention to ethnographic detail. [It is] outspoken in [its] concern for contemporary rural life, especially in Iowa. [It includes] fearless voicing of calls for social justice. [It is] important, even crucial." — H-Net Reviews (H-Rural)"…this very well reasoned, documented, and deeply reflected upon collection of essays throws down a profoundly grave challenge to America, its changing lifeways, and especially to the massive desire for pig flesh that is met by the meat packing industry in general and the pig business in particular." — ANTHROZOÖS"Pigs, Profits, and Rural Communities addresses social impacts accompanying the transition from 'family' farm operated pork production systems to a more vertically integrated industrial model. Current economic and agriculture production literature often focus on the 'efficiencies' of the industrial model and give less attention to the consequences of this change for people, surrounding neighborhoods, and local communities. Pigs, Profits, and Rural Communities gives the reader a view from an alternative perspective." — Steve Padgitt, Iowa State University"This book challenges common assumptions of agricultural economics about efficiency and the pursuit of corporate profits, weaving together scholarly discussion, scientific data, and personal accounts of community problems associated with hog farming. The process of rural industrialization is occurring at a pace which is alarming, yet which has received little criticism from state legislators or others who might effectively prevent many of its costs to rural quality of life. It needs the kind of attention we find in this book." — David Griffith, East Carolina University

• Acknowledgments Introduction Kendall M. Thu and E. Paul DurrenbergerPart I Rural Community ConsequencesIntroduction 1. Parma: A Story of Hog Hotels and Local Resistance Laura B. DeLind2. Inside the Industry from a Family Hog Farmer Jim Braun with Pamela Braun3. Meatpacking in Storm Lake, Iowa: A Community in Transition Mark A. GreyPart II The EnvironmentIntroduction 4. The Impact of Industrial Swine Production on Human Health Kelley J. Donham5. Mood Changes Experienced by Persons Living Near Commercial Swine Operations Susan S. Schiffman, Elizabeth A. Slattely-Miller, Mark S. Suggs, and Brevick G. Graham6. Large-Scale Swine Production and Water Quality Laura L. JacksonPart III Justice and EquityIntroduction 7. An Iowa Farmer's Personal and Political Experience with Factory Hog Facilities Blaine Nickles8. Legal and Political Injustices of Industrial Swine Production in North Carolina Robert Morgan9. The Poultry Industry: A View of the Swine Industry's Future? John M. MorrisonPart IV AlternativesIntroduction 10. Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Economic Development, and Large-Scale Swine Production John E. Ikerd11. An Alternative Model: Swine Producer Networks in Iowa Randy ZiegenhornConclusion: The Urbanization of Rural America Walter GoldschmidtContributors Index