"Chicken Poop" (and other songs for the Illinois River)!

[Heidi]

Sorry for my long absence from this forum, friends. I live in Switzerland, but I grew up in northeastern Oklahoma (Owasso/Collinsville, then Muskogee area, then Tahlequah).

Thought ya'll might enjoy a link that a girlfriend of mine in Stilwell sent me: http://www.songsfortheillinoisriver.com/

My favorite song here is "Chicken Poop": http://www.songsfortheillinoisriver.com/music/chicken_poop.mp3

A "Songs for the Illinois River" CD will come out at Thanksgiving, with (if I understand correctly) 15 to 18 songs written "by us locals" about the Illinois River written over the last 30 years, according to my dear girlfriend (a DUer :thumbsup: ) who told me about the project.

Enjoy!

[Heidi]

1. P.S. Please be sure to visit STIR!

Save The Illinois River! http://www.illinoisriver.org/

[4BunnyMon]

2. My letter to the Washington Post about this subject

Here's a letter to the editor which I sent to the Washington Post tonight:

Bev Saunders wrote a guest opinion editorial in the Washington Post this weekend, "No more manure rules needed." It was her response to an article written by the Post on August 28th entitled, "Pollution in the Water, Lawsuits in the Air." There is another point to be made about the conflict over poultry waste in the Illinois River Basin. Family poultry farms are stuck in an unequal bargaining position with the large poultry integrators who resist pricing chicken to reflect the accurate, true cost of production.

I believe that Bev Saunder farms her best. I believe the poultry producers in the Illinois River Basin are sincere about not wanting to harm the river. But there is so much chicken waste from the poultry houses that it is the human equivalent of ten million persons in the Illinois River basin, and releasing that much waste equivalent is not negligible nor deniably impactful. Everyone admits there is an algae problem caused by phosphates, and all admit that poultry production accounts for a share of the problem. The debates are about the details.

It isn't subtle that producers can't name their price for the birds that they raise, and pass along the costs of exporting litter to needy lands elsewhere. Almost every aspect of the farms' operations are mandated in operating manuals from the buyers of their chicken. These family farms cannot sell their goods to some company that is more environmentally-conscious, and who will agree to pass along the cost. The producers are subject to binding contracts and there is no thriving free and open market for chicken, on the scale that it is produced. Contract-grown chicken is just about the only chicken most people in this country get.

In America, our Federal Trade Commission's view about competition has changed over the last two decades. If a monopoly gives so much market efficiency that the consumer benefits, then it is not a harmful one, says FTC. Perhaps the FTC doesn't understand that consumers are not the only victims of monopoly or monopsony.

Producers' earnings are suppressed by the integrators' superior bargaining power. And the Illinois River Basin is colonized by an industry which externalizes the waste management cost in the form of environmental damage, suppressing tourism and the livelihoods of many, many others.

It is a vicious cycle, and it is a race to the bottom: If tourism declines due to unpleasant water quality, the region becomes ever more dependent upon the handful of big poultry integrators which dominate the terms of farming. And it really isn't an equal tradeoff, because tourism dollars multiply more jobs as well as being greater in absolute dollars.

Proponents for the river have not given up hope that the big integrators will step up to the plate in a neighborly way. The river will be beyond repair before some new Congress can blossom USDA and FTC policies which restore competitive poultry markets, and thus revitalize independent farming. We've probably all noticed that there are not a lot of new farmers who are consciously choosing the traditions of past generations.

We're now at the stage where existing farmers are looking for a way out-- litter transport subsidies, grants in aid, and even alternative careers. Conservationists are assessing boycotts, and states like Oklahoma are suing. Integrators are probably looking at the implications to their stock value and their relative competitive advantage within their small circle of collaborators. It would be interesting to study, if differing sets of values were not in conflict.

[4BunnyMon]

3. 15 Songs For The Illinois River

Here's the link to Songs For The Illinois River. The whole album of 15 river songs about the Illinois River is now available for sale online.
<http://www.songsfortheillinoisriver.com>
At this site, you can click on the musician links at the leftside menu and listen to sound clip samples of the songs.



(Heidi, my friend, I am sending you one, and it is a gift from Friedrick.)