« Culture of Corruption | Main | The Iraq Death Toll Study »
October 11, 2006
Perception, Meet Reality
Portland residents are upset at the smells of a local farm.
Peee-yoo!Lady, what do you think "organic" means?Like so many Portland residents and workers Monday morning, Clara Porter scrunched up her nose and inspected the soles of her shoes to see if she had stepped in dog doo.
A nearby construction worker shook his head and explained that a farm in Westbrook was spreading manure.
"It was horrible," said Porter, who said her Deering Highlands neighborhood reeked, as did other parts of the city. "It was overwhelming, and you have to wonder if it's healthy."
Now, I'll admit. I hate the smell of chicken manure. The stuff can make your eyes water if you're downwind of it, but this story has to be read to be believed.
"Normally I go out in the morning and have some OJ and enjoy the sun," said Lew Bedell, who spends about half the year at a condominium on Deering Street. "I was just confronted by this massive stench. My first impression was a sewer line had ruptured."Because as we all know, the smells of Portland - vehicle exhaust, asphalt, the Westbrook paper mill, and dead fish in the Old Port - are so much better.Told by a city worker that the smell could linger for two weeks, Bedell was irate.
"I'm all about local farming. I buy their stuff. I just can't believe that at the height of our foliage season that I'm going to get to breathe this liquid sludge."
Porter believes there must be a way to coexist. "There's got to be some kind of balance between something that is good for the land -- open space, farmland, etc. -- and something that affects a whole city of 65,000 people," she said.
Heaven forbid that your preference for organic food and local produce actually means farmers have to do what it takes to ensure good crops. I'm a city guy through and through. The country makes me nervous, with all of the crickets chirping and bears roaming through the woods looking for human prey to devour. And I like organic produce, as I think it simply tastes better - but I'm aware of what it takes to grow it. If you don't like the smell, just drive a few miles to look at the pretty trees. Which, incidentally, are fertilized by yucky dead things like leaves.
The reaction of Portlanders to this awful smell is especially funny when one considers how much they are looking forward to the upcoming Whole Foods store being constructed in that city. Whole Foods, of course, specializes in organic and natural food. Most of which, I'm sure, is grown with extremely smelly manure.
The farmer in the story points out the obvious - if he didn't use the smelly stuff, he'd use chemical fertilizer. I have no doubt that if he did, the guy wouldn't win, as many of the same people complaining about the smell now would likely complain about the harm to the environment from unnatural substances. It's ironic and sad to me that those who most romanticize the idea of farming seem the least tolerant of what farming actually entails. Rarely do we get a chance to see people confronted with the reality of what it takes to meet their individual preferences.
Posted by slublog at October 11, 2006 12:04 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.slublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2647
Comments
HEH......
I remember the summer my High School decided to "go organic" on the new football field. Course they didn't realise it takes a few months to break down, plus it rained for a week right at the beginning of summer practice...Man it sure made those 2 a days rough.
But best was that extra "air" of excitement it gave the home games.
Posted by: stiknstein at October 10, 2006 11:42 PM
Not a big fan of Whole Foods. It's like a grocery store, except they charge you 3x as much for simple items.
Posted by: Hal at October 11, 2006 09:36 AM
It's ironic and sad to me that those who most romanticize the idea of farming seem the least tolerant of what farming actually entails.The same could be said of freedom.
Posted by: mainiacjoe at October 11, 2006 10:07 AM
I have to agree that I was pretty surprised that people could, with a straight face, lodge a complaint about farmers, you know, farming. Great blog dude.
Posted by: Big Dunk at October 11, 2006 04:40 PM