North Carolina's booming hog industry is generating jobs and tax revenue. But some residents say the cost is too high Stanley Odom was among the Duplin County residents who spoke in Faison recently against a proposal by IBP to build a new hog-packing plant. Employees of Hog Slats Inc. erect a hog barn in Sampson County. The Newton Grove company employs 500 people in North Carolina.
Residents find that hog odor comes and goes, but anger stays.
Why they stink. The scientific particulars. Three weeks ago, the tiny town of Faison held a referendum of sorts on whether its residents wanted a plant, with 1,500 new jobs, built in their community. The jobs lost. Because the industry in question was a hog-processing plant, people packed the local fire station an hour early to blast the idea.