990357 NC Pork Council Blasts UNC Hog Farmer Study

Raleigh, NC - The North Carolina Pork Council issued the following statement:

The North Carolina Pork Council takes strong issue with the findings of Dr. Steven Wing of the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health that hog farms are purposely built in poor, minority areas. In his determination to discredit hog farmers, Dr. Wing conveniently ignored the facts.

Dr. Wing analyzed ten-year-old census data, excluded the state's largest population centers and disregarded the natural resource and economic factors associated with farm placement in his quest to substantiate the inflammatory accusations of one of his study partners. If Dr. Wing were truly concerned for the human health condition of poor, rural communities, he would have utilized his taxpayer resources to develop public health and education programs to benefit those communities.

Had Dr. Wing left the comfort of his office to visit the communities supported by hog farms, he would have discovered that the farms are located close to the infrastructure supports required for efficient production, such as feed mills, veterinarian services, equipment suppliers and packing plants. In addition, he would have noticed that affordable, available land and proper soil composition are a greater consideration for the hog farmer than the ethnic and socio-economic status of his neighbors.

North Carolina's 2,500 hog farms employ more than 43,000 citizens, generate more than $62 million in state and local taxes and produce enough pork to feed one-sixth of the United States. For UNC to allow taxpayer funds to be spent on pseudo-science used to discredit North Carolina's hog farmers is reprehensible. For Dr. Wing to imply that these hard-working citizens are racists who purposely harm their lower-income neighbors is, not only irresponsible, but immoral. We should expect better from our public researchers.

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