Post by Logan on May 6, 2016 22:49:32 GMT -6
Racism helped kill Iowa pork plant deal, Prestage official says
A top official with family-owned Prestage Farms says racism played a pivotal role in undermining plans to build a giant pork processing plant in Mason City, Iowa, that would have delivered upward of 2,000 jobs.
Ron Prestage, a veterinarian and leader within North Carolina's Prestage Farms, blamed a careful campaign of misinformation and blatant racism for prompting the Mason City Council to reverse course and reject his family's proposed pork facility that would have processed as many as 22,000 hogs a day.
"Being a Southerner, I'm used to the fact that people think that racism resides in the South," he told Brownfield Ag News. "It was very apparent among some that racism is alive and well in Mason City and northern Iowa as well."
At least one Mason City Council member agreed with Prestage's assessment.
Read more: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2016/05/06/racism-helped-kill-iowa-pork-plant-deal-prestage-official-says/84035602/
A top official with family-owned Prestage Farms says racism played a pivotal role in undermining plans to build a giant pork processing plant in Mason City, Iowa, that would have delivered upward of 2,000 jobs.
Ron Prestage, a veterinarian and leader within North Carolina's Prestage Farms, blamed a careful campaign of misinformation and blatant racism for prompting the Mason City Council to reverse course and reject his family's proposed pork facility that would have processed as many as 22,000 hogs a day.
"Being a Southerner, I'm used to the fact that people think that racism resides in the South," he told Brownfield Ag News. "It was very apparent among some that racism is alive and well in Mason City and northern Iowa as well."
At least one Mason City Council member agreed with Prestage's assessment.
Read more: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2016/05/06/racism-helped-kill-iowa-pork-plant-deal-prestage-official-says/84035602/