A protest sign reading “Farms Feed Us, Data Centers Bleed Us” is going viral as residents in the Ohio township of Shalersville push back against a proposed data center project. According to Conserve Ohio, the goal is to stop Ohio from becoming the “tech dump” corporations are rapidly pushing for. But while locals rallied against the project, many Reddit users pointed out that the same voters now complaining about the centers largely supported the politicians calling for their expansion.
News 5 Cleveland reported that global tech company Bitdeer has a contract to buy 257 acres in Shalersville, though the township currently has a moratorium on data centers in place. On May 29, the company hosted an open house to answer questions and push back against what it called “misinformation” about data centers. Protest flyers quickly spread online encouraging residents to “go in and ask the hard questions” as others gathered outside against the project.
One sign in particular gained attention online after Reddit user LKM_44122 shared a photo of it across multiple subreddits. The sign read, “Farms Feed Us, Data Centers Bleed Us.” The image quickly started a debate in the comments, with many users pointing out that Ohio voters largely supported the same political movement currently prioritizing the data center boom across the country.
Reddit Debates
One user wrote that farmers “vote for the party that drives off seasonal labor. Votes for the party that would rather see them fail to give tax breaks to data centers… The fix might be to quit voting for the party that actively hurts you.” Another commenter agreed, “Farmers are also voting in the people approving the data centers. You get what you vote for.”
Others were actually a bit more sympathetic toward the community. “I love my family of Ohio farmers, but most of them are so painfully ignorant around politics,” one person commented. Some users also questioned whether the protest slogan itself reflected the reality of farming in 2026. “Curious what % of farms are actually feeding the US vs sending overseas or being paid not to plant,” another wrote.
It’s not just this Ohio community raising concerns about data centers, as they are being built at a rapid rate across the country. Many of the rural areas where these facilities are being constructed have raised concerns about possible resource overuse.
