What happens when a major development project comes to a rural community and residents feel they aren’t being heard?
That’s the question at the center of our first Rooted Coffee Chat.
Andy and Tammy Orem help run Orem Family Farm, a fifth-generation farm in Shelby County, Indiana. Their family has farmed regeneratively for about 25 years, raising grass-finished Angus cattle, pastured pigs and chickens, eggs and honey.
Their main farm is about 10 miles from the proposed data center site. But farmland owned by Tammy’s family is adjacent to the land where the project is planned.
On Oct. 7 at 10 a.m. CT via Zoom, Andy and Tammy will join Investigate Midwest in partnership with UpRoot Center to talk about their farm, why their family became involved in the data center debate and what they want people outside Shelby County to understand about what is happening there.
Current monthly Investigate Midwest donors can RSVP now.
Between now and Oct. 7, donate $5 or more to Investigate Midwest to receive an invite via email to our first Rooted Coffee Chat.
The Orems, their relatives and community members have attended public meetings and spoken out about the proposal, raising concerns about farmland, water use, the electrical grid and how the project could affect their community.
Their story is local, but the questions are much bigger: Who gets a say in how rural land is used? What happens when new industries move into farming communities? And how do residents make sure their concerns are part of the conversation?
“We believe we need to be good stewards of the land,” Andy Orem told Investigate Midwest.
