STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann
UNL Extension Educator Webster County

     Summer is drawing to a close in the Northern Hemisphere, and a symbol of fall was evident this past Wednesday night to help drive that fact home — the Harvest Moon. What is unique other, than it’s brightness, is that this full moon falls closest to the autumnal equinox, which marks the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, the equinox falls on Sunday - Sept. 22. Did you ever wonder why it is called the Harvest Moon? Well, as I understand it the term was used because many fruits and vegetables tend to ripen in the late summer and early fall in the Northern Hemisphere. And more in keeping to tradition, in the days before electricity, farmers relied heavily on this moon's light, working late into the evening to harvest their crops. The Harvest Moon was a welcome event especially when farmers could feel the winter season coming on, and the urgency of harvesting their produce became more critical. 

     I had the opportunity during the Nebraska State Fair to sample the ignorance and blind devotion to animal rights groups. Yes, I did venture to the PETA booth to see what they were giving out and in fact collected the material for my files. I did discuss elements of their talking points and posters with them and tried to inform them of where they were off base and asked them tough questions that they could not answer without getting very defensive and trying to change the subject. If you countered any of their assertions with facts, they could not back up their point of view - other than what they have been told, have read, or seen on the internet or doctored videos. I am glad I waited to get back home before I read their literature because it made my blood pressure come up, especially in how they are centering their “message” on our young people and how they are doing it with – just plain wrong information.  We have to do a better job of telling our stories, because right now their story is what is being told on comic books, slick booklets endorsed and utilizing the support of celebrities. That message is not what we in the livestock industry need to have haunting the minds of our nation’s young people! 

     PETA is not alone in attacking animal agriculture. There are of course many animal activist, animal rights and animal welfare groups that are across this nation. We all know about HSUS, PETA, Farm Sanctuary, ALF, ASPCA, etc. but you normally don’t think about restaurants as being complicit in attacking the livestock industry, especially if they serve meat. I think that we need to look at what one company is doing so we are not complacent with their efforts to denigrate what we do, and how we care for our animals. Have you seen the new Denver, Colorado based Chipotle Mexican Grill’s “Scarecrow” short film?  Well I have and I am disgusted at the message they bring and especially dislike the inaccuracies & scare tactics used - all from a company touting integrity.  I think they have been, and continue to be, way short of integrity. 

     Chipotle’s most recent YouTube slap in the face to farmers and ranchers debuted this past week. It was used to promote a free video game app where the main character serves Chipotle to consumers “on a journey to bring real food back to the people.” Unfortunately, the video and game both have painted a negative and untrue picture of agriculture. This cartoon type video shows cattle, chicken and pigs on conveyor belts in a factory going straight into a machine that liquefies them before turning the slurry into a more recognizable cut of meat. Other chickens can be seen given a shot with a syringe that instantly makes them balloon up. Dairy cows are milked in boxes stacked on top of one another in a dark building, all focusing on the “factory farm.”  This marketing ploy is a prime example of what I would call “fear marketing”.  

     The trouble is for me that this type of marketing hurts farmers, consumers, and the future of our food supply, all in the name of greed and inconsideration of a corporate office. This isn’t their first time at underhand marketing strategy.  Many of you may remember last year when they came out with their “Back to the Start” campaign which infuriated farmers across the nation. http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/fwi/videos/videos.aspx?v=1 That was troubling enough in that it has well over 7 million views meaning that millions of consumers got the wrong message. Last year Chipotle created a video promoting their campaign “Meat Without Drugs.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz231o3VUzU  That so-called  “science-based” video has thankfully only received 74,000 views, but already this video “The Scarecrow” is approaching 5 million views in just a little over a week. I don’t know how many of the game apps have been downloaded and  I don’t want to know. 

     Chipotle’s first attempts at attacking our livestock industry upset me, but this turns my stomach even more. I even resist putting in the link to the first of a proposed series of four videos that will be flooding the market if people don’t react and contact the management of this chain of restaurants, but will so you can see what I am talking about.  Just go to: http://www.scarecrowgame.com/film.html . You can also download the game app if you wish at this site.  The Scarecrow’s gross exaggerations and blatantly false depictions are inappropriate and completely out of line.  They are bashing conventional agriculture in order to move more all-natural or organic products. This company reminds me of a couple of students I used to have. They had potential but continually tried their hardest to get attention, many times in the form of an inappropriate manner. I wonder sometimes if people or companies believe that any attention is good attention even if it is at the expense of other people and their livelihoods. I find it offensive to me as a teacher when groups like Chipotle thinks its marketing department is qualified to teach young people, and consumers for that matter, about agriculture. We have too many groups trying to undermine American Agriculture’s efforts to produce more with less and its efforts to feed a very hungry world. We will have to offset this type of thing continually. It is a sad, but real, challenge that we face! 

 

[The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home