Unsustainable Food: Concentrating on Cattle and Dairy

SCOM Group ProjectArianna Sessoms, Alison Gregor, Claire

Curto, Kaila Ratchford, Stefanie Paige

Background Info:

•Before large scale meat industries, meat was not a main concern; it was seen as expensive

•Meat consumption has increased as a result of the overall quality of human diets improving as well as the average person’s income increasing

•The past 15 years the amount of American beef operations dropped from 1 million operations to 0.83 million operations

•However the amount of cows has not experienced a decline

•Roughly 1 million American jobs are in the meat industry, making the meat industry an economic advantage

The American Consumer:•The average American consumes 200 lbs. of meat a year•The average American consumes 6.9 oz. of meat per day; which exceeds the recommended 5.7 oz. of a meat per day•In 2010 American meat companies produced:26.4 billion pounds of beef22.5 billion pounds of pork5.8 billion pounds of turkey37.2 billion pounds of chicken•Americans spend 55% of their food income on red meat (beef, veal, lamb, pork, and mutton) compared to 36.8% spent on poultry•Overall in today’s American society the meat holds the most importance in a meal

How meat is advertised :

Environmental problems due to meat production:

Four main environmental problems: global warming, water, land degradation, and genetic engineering

•Global warmingo Greenhouse gases emitted by livestock make up about 18% of total world

emissionso It’s estimated livestock emits more emissions than the total transportation

emissions annuallyo GHG emissions come from multiple sources; deforestation for pastures and

farms for animal feed decrease carbon sinks while adding gases to the atmosphere as well

o 80% of corn and 50% of soy grown in the US grows directly to animal feed

•Watero Contamination and overuse of watero Nitrates from manure contaminate the watero Over 35,000 miles of rivers have been contaminated by meat industries

• Land degradationo Millions of acres of forests are cut down every year to allow for

animal grazing cropland for animal feed

• Genetic engineeringo Creates biodiversity and environmental sustainableo Controversy exists because of the question whether the food is

safe or not

What’s the point of reducing your meat consumption?•Better your overall health

•Decrease the total meat production in the US which would:

o Reduce the amount of antibiotics entering into our environment

o Lower greenhouse emissions caused by meat production

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Background Information:o Book was published in 1906 during the first raise in commercial meat production in Americao The Jungle is classified as a muckraking fictiono Muckraking is a genre of books which the author is trying to “advocate reform and/or change”o For this particular book one of the desired reforms/changes is concerning the meat production industry in America

Capitalism and the Meat Industry:

•One purpose of The Jungle: Unleash the idea of capitalistic greed to the audience

•Sinclair paints a picture to the audienceo “north and south as far as the eye can reach there stretches a sea of pens.

And they were all filled--so many cattle no one had ever dreamed existed in the world”

o “In these chutes the stream of animals was continuous; it was quite uncanny to watch them, pressing on to their fate, all unsuspicious a very river of death.”

o “Neither squeals of hogs nor tears of visitors made any difference to them; one by one they hooked up the hogs, and one by one with a swift stroke they slit their throats”

o “They had done nothing to deserve it; and it was adding insult to injury, as the thing was done here, swinging them up in this cold-blooded, impersonal way, without a pretense of apology, without the homage of a tear.”

o It was like some horrible crime committed in a dungeon, all unseen and unheeded, buried out of sight and of memory.

• Using context like this puts the meat industry in a bad light

• It is clear that Sinclair is trying to make the meat industry undesirable; however he does not share the other concerns of the meat production; rather his strategy was to make the meat packing factories seen as an industry which tortures animals, which as a result might repel the audience from meat products

Why it is hard to advocate meat to society:

GRACE Communication Foundation

Global Resource Action Center for the EnvironmentThrough innovative communication strategies GRACE Communications Foundation supports:• The development of sustainable, community-based food production and regional food distribution networks;• Public awareness of how sustainable agriculture contributes to social, environmental, economic and personal health;• Policies that promote sustainable use of water resources for energy and food production;• Policies that protect and promote clean drinking water;• The development of small-scale distributed renewable energy systems;• Increased public awareness of how individuals can improve their physical and emotional health.

Free Range Studios

• "Free Range works with companies and organizations to create story-based brands, transforming clients' visions for a better future into emotionally compelling media — from interactive and mobile to print and video."

• “Once upon a time, we were just a graphic design agency. But we were too curious and restless to stay in that box for long. Today we work across all disciplines that drive positive change — from the visual to the strategic — to bring great stories to life.”

What is The Meatrix?

• In early 2003, Free Range Studios awarded a grant to GRACE's Sustainable Table program to create an animated movie, thus The Meatrix was born.

• “...humorous and creative satires that use pop culture and entertainment to educate viewers.”

• Each video features 3 characters, Leo the pig, Chickity the chicken, and Moopheus the cow.

The Meatrix I

The Meatrix Popularity

• Since its launch, The Meatrix has been shown at festivals, conferences, meetings, events, and local gatherings, while thousands of DVDs have been distributed to teachers, students, parents, and individuals worldwide.

• The videos have spread all around the world. They're watched in 6 of the continents and translated into more than 30 languages.

• "When The Meatrix launched in November 2003, the viral film broke new ground in online grassroots advocacy, creating a unique vehicle by which to educate, entertain and motivate people to create change."

• It is regarded as "one of the most successful online advocacy campaigns ever – with well over 15 million viewers worldwide."

Campaigns

•Purposeful -Specific outcomes are intended to result from communication efforts•Aimed at large audience

•Defined time limit•Organized set of Communication Activities -Goal -Strategy -Tactic

Campaign: "a strategic course of action involving communication undertaken for a

specific purpose"

Advocacy CampaignsAdvocacy Campaigns:• Policy Change Oriented-Pro-Enviro: usually non-institutional-usually advocacy and grassroots-"...attempt to educate, change attitudes, and mobilize support for a specific course of action."

Modes of Advocacy:• Direct appeal to public audiences--Public education (Awareness, influence societal attitudes and behavior)

Grassroots Advocacy• Grassroots advocacy is a form of advocacy which originates among

concerned citizens, rather than being orchestrated by organizations or companies. The idea behind the term “grassroots” is that it refers to a movement which grows spontaneously and naturally, without encouragement from outside sources, much like the roots of stubborn grass. People can participate in grassroots advocacy on many levels, ranging from writing letters to political leaders to organizing educational workshops for members of their community.

• People come together in a grassroots advocacy movement when they see an issue which they feel is not being resolved or addressed appropriately by government officials and other entities with the power to determine the response to the issue. Grassroots advocacy often involves some level of political activity, with members of the movement interacting with elected and appointed officials in the process of attempting to draw attention to their cause. It can also involve community activity and community education, such as attempts to get members of a community to become more environmentally conscious.

The Meatrix Website

•Additives•air pollution•animal welfare•Antibiotics•Biodiversity•climate change•cloning•communities•Diary•eat local buy local be local•Economics•Environment•factory farming

•Pesticides•policy legislation•precautionary principle•poverty and hunger•rBGH •slaughterhouses and processing•Waste•Water•water pollution•workers

The Meatrix website offers information about major issues regarding sustainable agriculture and factory farming, such

as:•family farms•Feed•food irradiation•food safety•fossil fuel and energy use•genetic engineering•Health•heritage and heirloom foods•Hormones•mad cow disease•Organic pasture raised

CONT.themeatrix.com includes small steps that individuals can take to help the cause. These steps include:•eat less meat•stay updated on information about food systems•eat at restaurants that support local food•eat sustainable•shop at farmers' markets•buy a CSA share•watch a “food movie”•read books•watch their videos (The Meatrix)•shop sustainable•spread the word about sustainable food•ask about your food•research the problems with industrial agriculture

They also provide websites from other organizations with coinciding information.

CONT.

• The Meatrix website features all of the videos (I, II, II ½, and a trailer), The Meatrix 360 (an interactive game meant to educate people through a virtual farm and cartoon characters), and information that can be downloaded, printed out, and handed out to others at events or in school. These include a presentation kit, individual handouts, and links to their movie.

• They have a Facebook and Twitter page, you can sign up for their Newsletter, you can request a free DVD, and look at their awards and critical acclaim.

• GRACE features The Meatrix's page on their website as well as links to their Sustainable Table, Eat Well Guide, H20 Conserve, NNEC (Network for New Energy Choices), and Ecocentric blog.

• More than a dozen major film and Web awards that The Meatrix has received includes: the Webby Award, Annecy International Animated Film Festival Award, South by Southwest Interactive Award, and Environmental Media Association's Best Documentary Short Film award.

Dylan Wolfe: The Meatrix: Resonant Reversal on a Counterpublic Screen Enter the Meatrix

•Released through its own website on Nov. 3, 2003•1st week: viewed by 350,000 people•6 weeks: viewed by 2.5 million viewers•By Jan 2005: over 5 million viewers from over 30 countries•Sponsored by the Global Resource Action for the Environment (GRACE)•The unusual popularity has not gone unnoticed, mentioned in: USA Today, The Boston Globe, and various other major newspapers•Gained a second round of attention in January of 2004 after a case of mad cow in the U.S.

•The Meatrix is unlike any other movie spoof because it has been carefully crafted to spread an explicitly pointed message•Free Range Studies- the PR team responsible for the Meatrix: - describes message as viral flash activism - “the most powerful publicity tool available to non-profits today” - PUBLIC ATTENTION•Like image events described by Deluca, The Meatrix generates its rhetorical impact by appealing to the norms of mediated culture to attract the attention of its audience

Creating the Meatrix

•Free Range Studios describing the qualities of Viral Flash Activisim: - “ With the click of a button, thousands of viewers pass the movie on to friends, and co workers. At no extra cost, your message continues to travel around the web reaching an ever expanding audience.” (Free Range Studios)•The Meatrix has been screened in film festivals, shown at county fairs (& state), and aired as PSA’s in movie theatres, taking the Meatrix to non-internet audiences•“Consumer belong to multiple networks, have multiple identities and participate in multiple communities, they decide to pass your message along or to kill it” Goldhammer and Zimmer ‘Enter the Marketing Meatrix’•People enjoy being connected with each other and the market power from being connected•The Meatrix web page acts as a gateway to GRACE’s sustainable Table, Eat Well Guide, and related materials

The Meatrix as a Public•“ A public exists by virtue of being addressed” Warner•The Meatrix addresses a public, and that public consists precisely of those who have been addressed•The so-called viral distributed of Flash Activism translates into creation of a rhizomatic viewership of the text. - although first distributed to GRACE members via email, soon supplemented with a combination of press coverage, links, and email forwarding•Rhizomatic: - no beginning to end connection, only middle - at any given moment the meatrix public grows in innumerable directions with varied lines of dimensionality - The medium is never singular - “a public is a relation among strangers” is certainly true of a public constituted rhizomatically through flash activism

•The text cannot anticipate the movement of the rhizome; not even after its publication can we trace the development of its publics-we can only map.•The Meatrix created without a predetermined public - lines of flight include: predictably PETA, but also linked on blogs, open forums, and University listservs - “a public is constituted through mere attention” - all are strangers, not a part of a ‘target audience all of them exist within that public because of their attention - “Our willingness to process a passing appeal determines which publics we belong to…the direction of our glance can constitute our social world”

The Meatrix as a Counterpublic•Deluca and Peeples - new technologies like tv and internet have “fundamentally transformed the media matrix that constitutes our social mileu” - visual saturation= ad driven media market* The Meatrix exists within a context less visual atmosphere where perception is based in distraction, and dissemination on the public screen offers no guarantee for productive rhetorical exchange - however, the possibilities for alternative rhetors to enter into discourse outside the mainstream press, to engage a public through a rhizomatic dissemination of screen images, and to produce a counterpublic•Warner on counterpublics - “the conflict with the norms and contexts of their cultural environment”

Reading the Meatrix •In order to draw the attention necessary for producing a public, the Meatrix primarily makes use of allusions to prominent cultural norms - Contradiction of those allusions= counterpublic•References the popular text of the Matrix - Meatrix was released 2 days before the release of the 3rd Matrix movie - Uses same highly recognizable font in the beginning•The graphics, characters, and plot elements referenced in the Meatrix are decontextualized elements and due to their commercial, branded popularity, resonate to most Matrix viewers.•Reference to the popular narrative and characters of the Matrix film not only attract interest but also become a representative of mainstream culture

Character Moopheus, reconstruction of Morpheus

•Similar in voice, demeanor, and clothing

•Introduction of Moopheus is also a reversal because it transfers the character, and the story’s narrative, from the human to animal realm

Character Leo as Neo

•No physical resemblance

•Simple-minded, smiling, happy go lucky pig

•Leo is unaware that his reality is false until Moopheus intervention, similar to the life of Neo

•Leo is living in a ideal barnyard

•The Matrix reveals that humans in the real world have become a source of energy for their masters; they are “food” for the robots•Animals are similar as the food source, but are also similar in treatment as industrial resources•2 additional Cultural markers 1) The happy talking animated pig is reference to traditional animated cartoons - familiar and comfortable with these images 2) Leo’s barnyard calls upon the cultural norm of America’s small farms - a common cultural perception of farm life•Most of the balance of the Meatrix is based on presenting resonant reversals of the cartoonized idyllic barnyard life•Visually, the “real world” of the factory farm balances itself between maintaining the innocent feel of the cartoon and disrupting the viewer with dissonant images - the images are lightened by the comic quality of the animation

•They took special care for the depiction of gruesome factory scenes - considered exceptional genius - The Meatrix introduces the concepts and conditions in a format that is not only acceptable but draws viewers in - ex. Chicken beak breaking scene - ex. Of disease causing germs and pollution•The combinations of cartoon humor and idyllic country scenery are thus used as referential points upon which serious issues can be placed in contradiction

•Ends with a corporate robot that stomps out all of the symbols of family farm life - ends with Moopheus offering a red pill with a hyperlink to GRACE’s “action page - the viewer can choose to ignore the link, accept the entertainment value or they can follow the hyperlink to the GRACE action page•Wolfe argues that, - the viewer has already taken the red pill, whether they click the link or not - the choice to watch the Meatrix in the first place - the viewer has been exposed to words and images that already demonstrate the rhetorical points of GRACE seeks to express ( animal cruelty, pollution, & destruction of family farms)•The use of visual imagery to accomplish this task makes use of the contemporary rhetorical environment, the public screen, as means to produce a public•As a text that stands counter to the norms of resonant cultural features, however, this could be described as making use of a counterpublic screen

The Other Side of the Issue

• Dairy farms try to influence the public's opinion through the public sphere of communicationo Public sphere- Cox describes the public sphere as 'communicating as members of a

“public” about issues relevant to a diverse community, not just experts of a particular kind.'

Triangle of Communication

• Communication (leads to...)• Individuals engaging others in communication in the...• Public sphere (leads to...)• mediating behavior towards...• The environment

• In this case the "environment" is the dairy farming industry

Real California Milk Company

• Website has many "family documentaries" and "kids' documentaries" that you can watch• Support the "little man"• Distance themselves from the idea of a "big bad corporation"• The website always shows family farms and never corporate farms

Happy Cows

• Real California Milk has coined the idea of "Happy Cows"o Slogan: "Great milk comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California"

• Audition commercialo Cows want to be a California cow because it's so desirableo Personalizing the cows by giving them individual personalities. This makes it seem like they

care for the cows as individuals versus grouping them all together in a large crowded farm

Pragmatic Communication

• Pragmatic Communication (motivated communication) educates, alerts, persuades, and helps us solve environmental problems

• Dairy farms use their ads to try to persuade the public that their farms are humane • "Part of the family" commercials, childlike innocence feel

Constitutive Communication

• Constitutive communication is described as communication that helps us construct or compose representations of environmental problems as subjects for our understanding, invites a particular perspective, evokes certain values and not others, and creates conscious referents for our attention and understanding.

• The ads portray and construct “nature” in the dairy farm as beautiful and sunny

Meat's Place on the Campaign Menu: How US Environmental Discourse Negotiates Vegetarianism

Mr. Freeman examines how different US environmental advocacy organizations (EOs) avoid the idea of changing from animal diets to plant based diets and propose solutions for food producers and consumers.

EOs offered consumers choices, including: (1) replacement of much industrial food with local, organic,and/or sustainable animal or plant foods, (2) reduction of animal products, and(3) vegetarianism (to a lesser degree)

Packman Freeman, Pg.1

Meat's Place on the Campaign Menu: How US Environmental Discourse Negotiates Vegetarianism

In response of the EO's suggestions Mr.Carrie Packwood Freeman tries to convey that the meat industry is a primary source of environmental problems, and a direct way to tackle the issue is a plant-based diet.

He promotes for an overall change in our society's diet towards a plant-based diet.

Michelle Obama's Fresh Food Revolution

• Here we see Michelle Obama planting an organic garden on the South Lawn of the White House.

• The obvious message Obama is trying to send here is that “fresh food tastes better and is better for you, so kids and grownups alike should eat lots more of it.”

• But the undermining message, or image event she is trying to portray is that “the food most Americans eat nowadays is not fresh, tasty or healthy.”

o The superiority of fresh ingredients is something most Americans long ago forgot, if they ever knew it in the first place.

o Sadly, over the past fifty years, the United States has been transformed into a nation of consumers who live off of fast food.

“What the typical American eats is not so much food as it is highly processed food derivatives that have traveled thousands of miles since leaving the farm,

losing along the way most of the flavor and nutritional value they once possessed. To disguise such losses, food manufacturers overload products

with fats, salts and sweeteners, especially corn syrup--additives that, along with the massive

portions typically served in the United States, help explain why nearly one in three Americans is obese.”

o By publicly championing fresh local food, Michelle Obama clearly hopes to entice Americans away from their junk food past and unhealthy meat consumption to a healthier, more delicious future.

o Essentially what this means is that: Change America's eating habits and you can change the world.

o Changing to a greener diet is not only beneficial to the health of America’s children and families, but to the health of the planet.

o As stated previously, American’s diet and the food production and distribution system that back it forms the foundation for many issues including:

Global warming Deforestation Air, soil, and water pollution

o Most people already know that our civilization must fundamentally change the way it produces and consumes energy if we are to stop global warming.

o Far fewer people realize that it is equally important to change the way we produce and consume food.

Make the Change

The Global Food System is a Climate Killer

o Although in our society we place more emphasis on coal-fired power plants and gas-guzzling vehicles, it is the farms, restaurants and supermarkets that are doing the most damage and what Americans must look out for.

o “Globally, the agricultural sector releases more greenhouse gases than any activity on earth except for constructing, heating and cooling buildings.”

o Agriculture's large greenhouse footprint is largely due to its large dependence on fossil fuels to grow and transport food to market, along with Americans increased interest/popularity of a diet rich in meat.

o According to UN Food and Agricultural Organization, meat production accounts for 18 percent of global emissions. This is due to the fact that livestock emit large amounts of methane, which is an exceptionally potent greenhouse gas.

Debi Barker: International program director of the

Center for Food Safety

o "Given that industrial agriculture is one of the major contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, it's

astonishing that international climate negotiations overlook both its impact and its potential contribution toward mitigation, as well as adaptation."

Climate Change Threatens Food Production

o Scientists predict that as global warming intensifies in the years to come, consequently temperatures will rise, droughts will deepen and pests will become more pervasive.

o “Yields of wheat, corn and rice could decrease by 37 percent in the latter half of the century if adaptation measures are not implemented.”

o This will in turn produce higher prices of goods, which will eventually lead to only those wealthy enough to afford food buy it, and the others to starve.

How Do We Fix It?o The best response is a shift to more organic farming

and so-called ecological agriculture

o Reducing the use of chemical fertilizers

o Shifting to no- or low-till forms of cultivation

o Converting to an environmental vegetarian lifestyle

What is Environmental Vegetarianism?o It is a relatively new movement where “the practice of vegetarianism or veganism

based on the indications that animal production is environmentally unsustainable. The primary environmental concerns with animal products are pollution and the use of resources such as fossil fuels, water, and land.”

o The initial problem today is that industrial monoculture is harvesting large quantities of a single food species, such as maize, or cattle. Monoculture is commonly practiced in industrial agriculture, which is more environmentally damaging than sustainable farming practices.

o Another issue we face is the agricultural effect on land degradation. Most of the world's crops are used to feed animals. About 30 percent of the earth's land is devoted to raising livestock, which poses a major cutback that is needed to keep up with growing population.

o By 2050, demand for meat is expected to double!

I bet you didn't know...o In the world today, entire ecosystems are being completely destroyed to fuel humans’

addiction to meat. According to scientists at the Smithsonian Institution, “seven football fields' worth of land is bulldozed every minute to create more room for farmed animals and the crops that feed them.”

o Producing a little more than 2 pounds of beef causes more greenhouse-gas emissions than driving a car for three hours and uses up more energy than leaving your house lights on for the same period of time.

o A study in Texas found that animal feedlots in that state produce more than 7,000 tons of particulate dust every year and that the dust “contains biologically active organisms such as bacteria, mold, and fungi from the feces and the feed.”

o Farmed animals produce about 130 times as much excrement as does the entire human population of the United States—87,000 pounds of waste per second- which ends up in our water!

Why Should you be an Environmental Vegetarian?

o The FAO initiative concluded that "the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global."

o By converting to an environmental vegetarianism, we can help to slow these increasing percentages.

o A global shift toward a more vegan diet is one of the steps essential to counter the worst effects of climate change.

o It reduces your “ecological footprint,” allowing you to tread lightly on the planet and be compassionate to its inhabitants.

o “You have the power to change the world, simply by changing what’s on your plate.”

o Michelle Obama’s social marketing campaign focuses on an attitude/behavioral change towards a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

o Michelle Obama being a political and societal figure, in which her character is tied to consuming more environmentally friendly food, she has the potential to influence many people.

o She is a figure that many people respect and who holds a high title in our society. By communicating to Americans through this way she hopes they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities

If you want to know more..."Diet For a Small Planet"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_for_a_Small_PlanetJoel Salatin: We Are the Solution, as Well as the Problem-A call for "ecological participation"http://www.peakprosperity.com/podcast/79360/joel-salatin-we-are-solution-as-well-as-problemEnvironmental Warning: Meat's Not Green (Peta) http://www.peta.org/features/environmental-warning-meats-not-green.aspxVegucated Film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKzng1_byMYUN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diethttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet?fb=optOut

Discussion Questions

1) What is the most effective way for meat/dairy companies to communicate their side to the public? i.e. pragmatic communication, constitutive communication, image events?2) How do the two sides of this argument communicate differently? ( i.e. a group like PETA vs Real California Milk)3) Due to the fact that environmental vegetarianism is a relatively new movement do you think it will be effective long term? Why?4) Do you agree with Wolfe, that the viewer has already taken the 'red pill' by simply watching the Meatrix and not going further into the GRACE website? 5) Does the fact that the Meatrix is an animated film, have a specific effect on the viewer? Is it beneficial?6) How/Can you relate the PETA advertisements to image events?7) Do you really think that a video like The Meatrix along with the information that the website provides can create social change?

Works Citedhttp://www.idealist.org/view/org/98JDbss9dNcp/http://www.themeatrix.com/abouthttp://enculturation.gmu.edu/6.2/wolfehttp://www.gracelinks.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Meatrixhttp://freerange.com/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0820928/http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-grassroots-advocacy.htmhttp://www.meatami.com/ht/d/sp/i/47465/pid/47465http://www.psr.org/chapters/oregon/safe-food/industrial-meat-system.htmlhttp://www.epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/printbeef.htmlhttp://www.online-literature.com/upton_sinclair/jungle/3/Pete BsumekRobert CoxPackwood Freeman, C. (2010). Meat's Place on the Campaign Menu: How US Environmental Discourse Negotiates Vegetarianism. Environmental Communication, 4(3), 255-276. doi:10.1080/17524032.2010.501998