Courtesy Photo| NC Farm Families

Courtesy Photo| NC Farm Families

<p>Youth from farm families show their support for hog farmers in North Carolina.</p>
                                 <p>Courtesy Photo| NC Farm Families</p>

Youth from farm families show their support for hog farmers in North Carolina.

Courtesy Photo| NC Farm Families

<p>People visit a hog farm in the state to learn about the pork industry.</p>
                                 <p>Courtesy Photo| NC Farm Families</p>

People visit a hog farm in the state to learn about the pork industry.

Courtesy Photo| NC Farm Families

Protecting the integrity of hog farmers and their families against negative stigmas is the foundation on which Chad Herring created North Carolina Farm Families.

“Our main objective is to, number one, highlight the lives of farm families in North Carolina,” Herring said. “We do that by telling their stories. We go out take pictures of them and we share their farm family stories.”

“The second thing we try to do is to educate folks about what it is that we do as farm families,” Herring continued. “We bring people to our farms and I have UMO students, 4-H students and FFA members on my farm to show them just how things happen.”

“The final thing that we do, which takes up most of our time, is responding to media articles that misrepresent what our farm families do and about life on the farm,” he added. “So, these are really the three main goals of NC Farm Families.”

NC Farm Families is a nonprofit organization that formed in 2015 in response to attacks made against North Carolinian hog farmers, Herring stated, noting activist groups that protest the industry and other organizations like Waterkeeper Alliance.

According to Herring, the attacks from Waterkeeper was the final straw that made him form NC Farm Families.

“What happened back then in 2015 was the Waterkeepers actually put up about 10 or 12 billboards in Eastern North Carolina,” Herring said. “Those billboards had things on it like ‘hog farms are polluting your waters’ basically placing blame on hog farmers for polluting North Carolina waters.”

“When we saw that we knew that we needed to respond to that and that’s how Farm Families was developed,” he added.

A grassroots effort made between farmers, fans of farmers and integrators that own most the pigs in the state is what made the group possible. Now it is home to thousands of NC hog farmers, producers and more all fighting for the over 80% family-owned hog farmers.

Herring is a third-generation farmer himself and raises pigs in Mt. Olive with his own family.

“My family is a North Carolina farm family and I want to be involved,” Herring stated in a message on the NC Farm Families website. “I have a vested interest in the success and sustainability of the pork industry. My kids know how important this farm is to our family. I want to lead them by example and to show them that some things are worth fighting for.”

He also brought up a new campaign they’ve started called “Awesome Out Here.” Which is meant to further fight against what he perceives as negative views of life in Eastern North Carolina due to the pork industry.

“What we are seeing is a lot of articles that are saying ‘living in Eastern North Carolina is like living in a prison,’” Herring said. “They also say stuff like ‘it’s like living next to a cesspool’ and just downgrading the quality of life in North Carolina.”

“All because of the pork industry, poultry as well and all the other animal agriculture going on in the state and it’s just not true,” Herring continued. “We know that living here is a great to place to be. I, for one, live on my farm and we hunt, fish, golf and barbecue all on the farm.”

“We’ve got a great place to live at here in Eastern North Carolina and we think this is a good way to tell our story because we are proud to be from here,” he added.

As part of “Awesome Out Here,” they are giving away prizes like a Big Green Egg grill through a photo contest. To find more about the campaign and the contest visit www.awesomeouthere.com.

For more information about how to get involved with NC Farm Families and what they do for farmers visit www.ncfarmfamilies.com

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.