Environment

The Environmental Impacts of CAFOs

“We began to see the fish show up in the river with sores all over their body. And my son and I started to get the sores on our bodies, the same as the fish,” says Rick Dove, the first Neuse Riverkeeper. He’s talking about when he first started seeing large-scale fish kills on the…

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Industrial Hog Operations And The People Who Run Them

Contract growers and community members who speak out against the hog industry in eastern North Carolina rarely see themselves as members of the same team – but they have more in common than they think. In this episode of CAFO’s & Communities, we take listeners through the evolution of contract farming within the swine industry…

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A Brief History of Eastern North Carolina’s Hog Industry

How did we get from small farms, like the one in Charlotte’s Web, to factory farms? In this episode of CAFO’s & Communities, we explore the history and politics of eastern North Carolina’s hog industry – from the late 19th century to today. Produced by Lee Miller, Kayla Guilliams, and Laura Bratton in collaboration with…

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The Communities

“We were just sitting on the porch like normal on a beautiful Saturday. And then we heard this tractor, and then all of a sudden this animal waste was coming everywhere and it was stinking like nothing we had ever experienced,” says Elsie Herring of Wallace, North Carolina. Herring is one of many eastern North…

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Oysters & The Ballot Box

What does an oyster farmer think about when he heads into the voting booth? Kyle Frey, owner of Crystal Coast Oysters, speaks to how he’d like to see elected officials think about environment and jobs. Support the show (https://shoresides.org/support/)

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COVID-19 and Environmental Justice

Low-income communities of color are disproportionately impacted by environmental issues in NC, and face higher rates of disease because of it. When COVID-19 hit, Sherri White-Williamson, the Environmental Justice Policy Director at NC Conservation Network, says it became clear that these were the communities that were going to be unduly vulnerable to the virus. In…

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Where I Come From: Part 3

Welcome to Where I Come From. We are a group of young women going on a journey about our lives in Columbus County, North Carolina. We documented our process, and today we’re talking with members of our community about the hurricanes they’ve lived through and how it’s shaped their lives. Where I Come From is…

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NC Farmer Feeds Community

“Our goal is to feed as many people as possible and not leave a carbon footprint.” Ron Simmons, founder of Master Blend Family Farms and 2018 NC Small Farmer of the Year, talks about how he believes in sustainability and feeding his neighbors during hurricane season. Produced by Caroline Bailey. Music by Chad Crouch. Broadcast…

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Environmental issues disproportionately impact ENC’s low-income communities of color

From hog lagoons to sewage sludge to wood pellet plants, low-income communities of color in Eastern North Carolina experience a wide array of environmental injustices. Naeema Muhammad, an organizer and activist, has been fighting against these injustices for over 20 years and has experienced the emotional toll that comes with such activism. In this episode,…

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After Flooding, a Biologist’s Story

Ana Zimmerman is a biology professor at the College of Charleston. She’s also a flood survivor. Over the course of a few years, her home was repeatedly flooded after major storms. The effect of repeated floods caused major damage to her home, and left her with struggles that weigh on her both personally and professionally…

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