Recently, The Detroit Free Press ran a two part article on how several Michigan-based commercial processors are actively polluting our state ecology with hazardous waste byproducts. This is certainly not a new issue as these commercial practices are decades old. Manufacturing, for many years, has levied a heavy toll on our waterways, air and ground water systems through the years. Landfills have changed the landscape. Commercial shipping has introduced invasive species into the greatest concentration of fresh water on the planet. The pursuit of profit has made a few wealthy and left the people of Michigan left holding the check.

Yes, we need jobs here. Yes, agriculture is significant to our economic survival. When do the real, lingering costs outweigh those benefits? When you have to import water by the bottle, pay more in medical care because of side-effects incurred, or worse yet pay for funerals? Is it then time to ask ourselves, “Is this worth it?” Are the risks, which are rarely explained to the citizens, associated with large scale food processing worth whatever rewards they offer? How could our elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels not warn of this or let this happen to us? Surely, they had information that we didn’t. How many of those officials took campaign contributions from those companies or their parent companies? These questions need to be answered. The companies have said that they would have lay-off thousands of workers if they were met with severe correction. I would like to see accurate data that shows how many of those are legal, Michigan citizens and how many are migrant workers.

The defense is weak. The statements from these companies, such as Birds Eye, Coca-Cola/Minute Maid and Welch Foods, are mind boggling. They claim that they did not know that spraying untreated waste water or dumping waste juice into gravel pits would contaminate the soil and water. Ignorance is bliss. Surely, they have qualified, highly-intelligent people who study this; teams of white-coated, chemists and chemical engineers in a lab who know exactly what the process byproducts will do based on scientific research. Those reports are usually marked “sensitive” or “confidential.” Perhaps, what the people don’t know can’t hurt them; but it has.

The problem exists and there are solutions. The best solution would be for these companies to install, at no cost to the people, water treatment facilities in areas where water has been greatly affected. This comes with a high price tag and on-going costs. Several of these companies have noted that they run shallow profit margins and could not afford it and would be forced to shut down. That may not fix the problem but it might ensure it from happening in the future. Further, our court system should define specific plans of correction for these companies and with real deadlines instead of the ambiguous decisions which have allowed these companies to drag their feet. Perhaps these companies need to revisit their business plans?

Stay or go; these companies will leave Michigan’s citizens to clean up the mess for years to come. They will leave us the costs of cleaning up, the costs of research and study, the costs of starting over, medical related costs, the costs associated with moving from those areas, and a bruised environment.

First, let’s boycott those companies until they have made amends with the people and our environment. Find out if your elected officials have received money from any of these companies and perhaps make new decisions in the next election. Let’s call for an end to closed-door negotiations. Our resources are rare and unique, when compared globally, and need to be safe-guarded. The practices of yesteryear should not be acceptable today. Let’s force the industry’s hand. I propose to all of my Michigan neighbors that we take our state in a new direction. Let’s stand united and make Michigan “The Healthy State.” Let’s raise the standard for companies that do business in our state, let’s raise the bar on the products made and grown here. There is global demand for great products. Let’s welcome sustainable and responsible practice in agribusiness while getting tough on pesticides, chemicals, processing and processing by-products. Let’s get the kind of tough that would make Texas envious. Let’s open the doors to companies of prudent values and practice. Let’s open the door to companies that share our values. They are out there. Maybe, bigger isn’t better and less not more. Michigan is ours to keep and shouldn’t be sold out.

Neil Yaremchuk
CEO of the Made in Michigan Movement & Gentleman Farmer