Idahoans Protest Proposed University-Run Dairy Farm

Residents in Jerome County in southern Idaho are protesting the construction of the University of Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE). The state of Idaho has dedicated $10 million to the project—essentially a large dairy farm disguised as a research facility. No official plans for the dairy farm have been approved, but residents are worried that building the facility will pollute air, deplete groundwater, and cause damage to local roads. “We don’t want a stinking dairy near the freeway,” local resident Judy Holland said. “We are all furious.” A meat-processing facility currently under construction on the Colorado State University campus (funded by Brazilian beef company JBS) is also facing massive push-back, with students urging the university to open a cellular agriculture research facility instead of an on-campus slaughterhouse.