"If Will Rogers and Mother Jones had a baby, Jim Hightower would be that rambunctious child – mad as hell, with a sense of humor."– Molly Ivins

Jim Hightower – the fiery, captivating, and insightfully funny populist warrior – will share his views on “What Will It Take? Taking Back Our Food and Agriculture” at the Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc. Annual Meeting on Wednesday October 3.

The meeting begins at 7:30 pm at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, 200 North Main Street in Fairfield, Iowa. Solar-powered KRUU – 100.1 FM, Leopold Group Sierra Club, Sustainable Living Coalition, Radish Magazine, and Little Village Magazine are co-sponsoring the event.

An outspoken critic of CAFO animal production, Hightower will address what is needed to turn around our environmentally destructive, nutritionally compromised system of industrial food production. Just what WILL it take to fix a wholly integrated industrial ag complex that forces mainstream livestock producers to adopt its system? What WILL it take to influence an Iowa state legislature determined to roll back environmental regulations in favor of factory farms?

Hightower will give us the lowdown in his inimitable way.

Hightower has spent over 30 years battling the “Powers that Be” on behalf of the “Powers that Ought To Be”, representing environmentalists, consumers, working families, small businesses, and “just plain folks.” He spreads the message of progressive populism through daily radio commentaries that are carried on over 150 commercial and public radio stations, on the web, on Armed Forces Radio, and on Radio for Peace International. His award-winning political newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown, has over 135,000 subscribers.

Hightower was raised in Denison, Texas, worked as a legislative aide in Washington, DC for Senator Ralph Yarborough of Texas, and co-founded the Agribusiness Accountability Project, a public interest project that focused on corporate power in the food economy. He served as Editor of the feisty biweekly The Texas Observer and then Director of the Texas Consumer Association before being elected to Texas Commissioner of Agriculture for two terms from 1983-1991.

Hightower went on to become a New York Times best-selling author, publishing seven books to date. He frequently appears on television and radio programs, and his newspaper column is syndicated nationally. As the late political columnist Molly Ivins said, "If Will Rogers and Mother Jones had a baby, Jim Hightower would be that rambunctious child ­– mad as hell, with a sense of humor."

In addition to Hightower’s talk, JFAN president Jim Rubis will provide an overview of JFAN recent activities.

The first 500 attendees of the JFAN Annual Meeting will receive a free copy of CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories, an illustrated compendium of essays by today’s leading thinkers on food and agriculture. Earlier this summer, JFAN distributed over 900 copies throughout Iowa to state and local officials, universities and colleges, and over 100 libraries.

Admission is free, and a donation of $5 is welcome to support JFAN’s mission. JFAN is a tax-exempt, nonprofit educational organization that works to protect the quality of life for all Jefferson County residents. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

Over 900 educational books on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) were donated this month to state and local officials, universities, and a selection of libraries by Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc. (JFAN), a nonprofit educational foundation based in Fairfield, Iowa.

The book, CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories, edited by Daniel Imhoff, is an illustrated compendium of essays by today’s leading thinkers on food and agriculture. It explores the state of modern food production and offers a compelling vision on how to produce healthy, affordable food without compromising Iowa’s resources, public health, or local economies.

All 100 state representatives, 49 state senators, and 377 county supervisors received the book as well as the public health departments and county conservation boards in all 99 Iowa counties. In addition, many administrative members of the Iowa Departments of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and Public Health were sent a copy as well as nearly all Iowa’s colleges and universities. A selection of 115 public libraries covering all county seats and large cities also received the books.

The distribution of this book comes at a time when Iowa is experiencing an increase in the number of new and expanding hog confinements, many of which are being challenged by concerned neighbors and boards of supervisors. CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories was sent to offer policymakers and others a deep understanding of how industrial livestock systems affect all Iowans – farmers, rural and urban residents, and business owners – as well as offer a vision of viable alternatives that are financially sound for farmers and communities, and safer for consumers and the environment.

Some representatives, supervisors, and other state employees questioned whether they could accept the books as its $50 value exceeded the $3.00 legal limit of gifts. A letter to JFAN from Megan Tooker, Director and Legal Counsel for the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, clarified that under 68B.22(4)(b) of the Iowa Code, “informational material relevant to a public official’s or public employee’s official functions, such as books, pamphlets, [etc]…” were considered an exception and that “government officials and employees may accept this book under this exception.”

Distribution of CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Factories was made possible by a grant from the Deep Ecology Fund of Tides Foundation. Established in 1976, the Tides Foundation is one of the top 100 social sector organizations in the United States, supporting over 800 nonprofit projects since its founding.

Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc. (JFAN) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational foundation that has been working to protect the quality of life of Jefferson County residents since 2005.

After a long and protracted legal battle, we are pleased to report that the Pleasant Plain lawsuit settled on March 5, 2010. The case was scheduled to go to trial on March 26^th.