Protestors gather to bring attention to farm policies

By ETHAN WALLACE

CMU Journalism Intern

CLARE – Indivisible Central Michigan and members of the community gathered to peacefully protest on Friday, May 29, with about 40 protesters lined up at the corners of W. Fifth Street and N. McEwan Street in Clare.

They stood on the streets to raise awareness about Congressman John Moolenaar supporting policies that they feel do not support farmers or people who use the Supplemental Nutritious Assistance Program (SNAP).

The protest was organized by ICM, which is part of the national Indivisible organization, a non-politically affiliated organization that works to advocate change and give information to the public.

Indivisible leadership members Skip Traynor and Karen Green said that Moolenaar has not held a public townhall since 2017, and they hoped to be heard and make people aware through protesting outside Moolenaar’s office at 431 N. McEwan Street in Clare. Moolenaar was not in his Clare office at the time of the protest.

“We are here to give a voice to folks who are not being fairly represented by John Moolenaar,” Green said.

She also said that sometimes it can be hard for people to find their voice when they disagree with what is being promoted. However, Indivisible wants to create a community for people to not feel isolated.

Green said they protest every week on Saturdays in Mount Pleasant to draw people’s attention.

Craig Russon, local farmer and ICM member, said that the bills Moolenaar has supported do not support local farmers.

Along with cutting SNAP benefits, the current administration has stopped programs such as the U.S Agency for International Development, Russon said. In that program, the U.S. government buys surplus agricultural products from farmers and ships them overseas.

“Farmers like me are always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, and to lose $70,000 just increases the chances that I'm not going to be farming next year,” Russon said.

He noted that, along with the decreasing forms of aid, the Iran War has increased spending for local farmers for diesel fuel and fertilizer.

“Our farmers' costs are going up, our revenues are going down,” Russon said, adding that by protesting, congressmen such as Moolenaar will hear how the policies are negatively impacting farmers.

Sue Woods, part of ICM leadership, carried around a wagon of signs for protestors to borrow, and anyone can pick up the signs at events. Woods said she tries to have the signs that relate to whatever topic Indivisible is trying to highlight.

Samuel Weng-Likowski picked up one of those signs after and some friends were driving by and saw people protesting.

“I wanted to stop by and show my support,” Weng-Likowski said. “I just kind of want to show my support and show a little bit of support for the younger generation.”

He said that he wants other younger people to get involved and hopefully people will to try to understand where he stands.

“What it means to peacefully protest is not to argue or provoke people but instead make people aware,” said Green, who is also trained in de-escalating situations. ICM also tries to avoid vulgar words or aggression to get a message across.

“There's enough facts that you don't need to resort to violence,” Green said.