Hundreds of environmentalists, activists, religious and labor leaders are in Clear Lake today for the second annual national “Hog Summit” at the Surf Ballroom. Robert F. Kennedy, Junior is the President of the New York-based Waterkeeper Alliance which is sponsoring the summit. Kennedy says they’ll be discussing strategies for battling the factory meat industry and for promoting sustainable hog farming. Kennedy believes Iowa is going to end up like North Carolina, which 15 years ago had 27-thousand-500 independent hog producers. Kennedy says today there are NO independent hog farms left, but he says there are 22-hundred hog factories. Kennedy says there are 65,000 independent hog farmers left in Iowa, but that number is declining. Kennedy says the corporate hog industry has an expertise in locating in rural states where they can dominate the political landscapes. People from Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska are expected to attend the summit. Kennedy will address the group tonight at seven o’clock. The address is free and open to the public.
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