Last May, farmers, slaughterhouse managers, policymakers, veterinarians, restaurant owners and other links in the animal-based food chain met in Arlington, Virginia, for the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s annual Stakeholders Summit. Not surprisingly, in the wake of Prop 2 and other successful campaigns on behalf of animals, the theme of this year’s summit was “Politics, Activism and Religion: Influencing the Debate on Animal Welfare in America.”
The Cattle Network published an interesting summary of the event this week, and it offers a glimpse of how agribiz hopes to take on what it fears most: animal activists. The plan includes stepping up security at factory farms and processing plants so activists have more difficulty with undercover investigations — clearly, it’s easier to get away with cruelty when the public doesn’t know about it. They’re also mighty concerned about activists controlling the message, as well as ballot measures and other animal welfare initiatives.
“Aggressive animal rights campaigns are being mounted globally, and it is important that we address them strategically and in a unified manner,” said Kay Johnson Smith, executive vice president of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, before the summit.
Other speakers included Wes Jamison, associate professor of communications at Palm Beach Atlantic University and a Southern Baptist Minister. Jamison is a longtime critic of animal activism, and he has erroneously claimed that activists want to give animals the same rights as humans. He recently told a convention of pig-flesh producers: “Never forget that you do the right thing in the right way for the right reasons. Be proud of it.”
At the May meeting, Jamison unveiled a study on how animal rights groups are using religion to advance the vegan or vegetarian message, and he suggested that meat-eaters with companion animals are particularly vulnerable, since they must confront the moral implications of treating some kinds of animal like family members while treating other kinds of animals like dinner. Jamison said animal advocates use that guilt as an advantage, noting that “God is compassionate; factory farming is not.”
Also notable is big ag’s concern that campaigners are using technology to advance the interests of animals, effectively controlling the message. “Activists have learned to use the Internet better than industry has,” reads the article. They’re even upset at mainstream media, noting that The New York Times and other outlets are still using the term “Swine flu,” rather than the industry-preferred (and less blameworthy) “H1N1 virus.”
In her PowerPoint presentation, Kay Johnson Smith advises those working in animal agribusiness to:
- Thoroughly screen job applicants and implement a security plan. (In other words, why treat animals better when you can suppress what’s happening behind closed doors?)
- Implement the industry’s animal welfare guidelines. (Yes, those guidelines that are basically meaningless. For more information, see Farm Sanctuary’s in-depth report on agribusiness welfare programs.)
- Strengthen state laws to protect farming and ranching. (Another attempt to prevent animal advocates from educating the public and working to improve the lives of animals.)
It’s always important to know what the opposition is doing; after all, we want to continue to keep the pressure on.
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July 29, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Ciuma
“Implement the industry’s animal welfare guidelines.”
Was that one just thrown in to make “Strengthen state laws to protect farming and ranching” sound better? Both of those translate to “keep doing what you’re doing.” I love how their theme was “Influencing the Debate on Animal Welfare” rather than participating in the debate. Well, on the bright side, they sound like novices in this affair.
July 29, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Ciuma
Oh, wow. I just read the actual summary. Haha, never heard anything like this before, not that it’s surprising. They’re obviously just getting started.
I love these parts:
“America is ready for a new leader and a new vision…That new leader should be us.”
“The theme of responsibility – that humans should do what they can to restore the planet – appeals to what Jamison called today’s ‘meism’: the growth of narcissistic self-importance.”
“Don’t do away with the discussion; take it over.”
Uh-oh… Animal Ag to take over the world?
Too late!
There’s absolutely nothing “new” about Animal Ag controlling the world. But, apparently, “responsibility” needs to be kicked out of the way and replaced by Emperor Animal-Agribusiness!
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July 30, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Provoked
The animal ag industry certainly appears desperate for some kind of “moral highground”. But it’s silly that they call in a representative like Wes Jamison, who in the first minutes of his speech announces that animals don’t matter. And that “dolphins should grow opposable thumbs so they could farm us in a million years”.
He also attempts to convince his listeners that according to all (western) religious teachings, people have a “duty” to use animals. That “God commands the use of animals”.
I’m sure most people will have a negative reaction to his flippant dolphin remark… And the idea that you can somehow “betray” your religion if you don’t kill/eat animals is absurd. If this is the best poster-boy theologist that animal ag could find to communicate their “values” – it really is just a matter of time…
August 4, 2009 at 4:46 pm
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