What does the election mean for our moratorium on factory farms?

Nothing – not even a Republican-controlled legislature and Kim Reynolds in the Governor's seat – can stop our movement for a moratorium on factory farms.We never thought winning a moratorium would be easy.  We’ve known all along that it’s going to take a lot of work and involvement from CCI members like you.  When CCI members encounter a hurdle, we strategize and jump over it.  We know our longterm strategy works – here’s a list of signs that our movement is growing:

• CCI members have collected almost 4,500 signatures for a factory farm moratorium
• 23 County Boards of Supervisors have called for a moratorium, local control, or stronger protections from factory farms.
• At least 6 major newspaper editorial boards have come out in favor of a moratorium or stronger protections from factory farms.
• Two major newspapers included a factory farm moratorium question in their candidate questionnaire.

With the outcome of the election, the next year comes down to two things:

• Shifting the narrative (the stories we tell)
• Building our base (connecting with more people who care about our soil, water, air, and family farms).

What is Narrative?

A narrative is the big story we tell about the issue of clean water and factory farms. It influence how audiences process information and make decisions.Right now, Iowa's corporate agriculture uses narratives like "Iowa feeds the world!" and "Industrial-scale livestock farming is too important to our economy. We can't change the system."Narratives like that are excuses for politicians to prioritize growing pork and corn for foreign countries over protecting the water for every Iowan.  Narratives like that are why Iowa wants to use our taxpayer money to fund voluntary water protections, instead of stopping the problem at its source. We need to flip the script.We shift narrative by telling our personal stories over and over again, exposing the real impacts of corporate agriculture policies, and responding to big events with our unique take on the role of agriculture in Iowa.  So when the next manure pit overflows we are there to say: we need a moratorium.  When the next beach closes, we are there to say: we need a moratorium.  When we the next pig, bird, or cattle flu hits Iowa – we need a moratorium.And, we tell the story of family farms as part of a healthy Iowa. Imagine what we can accomplish with narratives like "independent family farmers build communities", and "diverse family farms protect our soil, water, and air", or "independent family farms can help stop climate change".

What is Basebuilding?

Growing our base of factory farm fighters is a key part of our work. We don't have millions of dollars to place ads, sponsor State Fair attractions, and hire consultants, marketers, and lobbyists like corporate agribusiness has done for decades. We are telling our own stories. With a strong base of activists, we can tell more stories in more places, get more counties to pass resolutions banning factory farms, get more co-sponsors for pro-Iowa legislation, attend more legislative forums, and get more bills passed!You can help us build our base today: Help us collected more moratorium petitions signatures so we can build an even bigger base of moratorium supporters (link to the hard copy on the site, or to Action Network. Or both!) 

The bottom line 

We know we can't have both vibrant rural communities AND factory farms. We can't have a safe and beautiful system of waterways for boaters, fishers, and swimmers AND have factory farms. We can't have a thriving tourism industry AND factory farms. It's either/or – we can't have both.We are building vibrant rural communities and a landscape filled with family farms that protect our land, water, and air. That's why we need a moratorium on new and expanding factory farms in Iowa, and we’re in this fight for the long haul.Over the next week we’ll analyze what the 2018 midterm elections means for our 2019 moratorium legislative strategy.On November 15 CCI and Food and Water Watch will roll out our 2019 legislative strategy via conference call.  Can you join us? RSVP here.What: The Case for a Factory Farm Moratorium in Iowa WebinarWhen: Thursday, November 15 at 7 p.m.Where: Your couch! Join us on Zoom or by phone! Once you RSVP, we'll send you a link to join the call.