Commentary: Hurry up and die

By now, you’ve probably heard that USDA was called out by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, among other industry groups, for appearing to promote Meatless Mondays.

In an internal newsletter circulated among department staff, an article offered tips on how to reduce one’s environmental impact. “One simple way to reduce our environmental impact while dining at our cafeteria is to participate in the Meatless Monday initiative,” the article stated.

Meatless Mondays, of course, is a high-profile campaign launched by veggie activists affiliated with Johns Hopkins University and embraced by anti-industry opponents—not as a way to reduce one’s carbon footprint but to raise certain group’s pubic profile. The transparent goal in all of the campaign’s messaging is that red meat production—all of modern intensive animal agriculture, for that matter—should be considered as a primary villain in causing a variety of negative ecological impacts.

It took only milliseconds for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to complain about the newsletter posting, noting in a statement that Meatless Monday is little more than “an animal rights extremist campaign to ultimately end meat consumption.”

“This is truly an awakening statement by USDA, which strongly indicates that USDA does not understand the efforts being made in rural America to produce food and fiber for a growing global population in a very sustainable way,” said NCBA President J.D. Alexander. “USDA was created to provide a platform to promote and sustain rural America in order to feed the world. This move by USDA should be condemned by anyone who believes agriculture is fundamental to sustaining life on this planet.”

(By the way: Those two sentences represent one of the strongest, clearest and most compelling responses anyone in industry has put forward in quite a while. Nice job, NCBA).

USDA officials promptly removed the posting after NCBA’s statement was released,noting that the posting was made “without proper clearance,” according to the Associated Press.USDA spokesperson Cortney Rowe noted that the department does not endorse the Meatless Monday initiative, which she characterized as part of a “global public health campaign.”

Nice try, Ms. Rowe.

Deleting the offending post might have been the end of the affair, but before USDA officials could put the matter to rest, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) went public with criticism of the department for promoting Meatless Mondays, and in a provocative response, promised to personally eat more meat to make up the difference.

“Shame on USDA,” Grassley said. “One has to wonder whether the Department of Agriculture supports Iowa farmers, since it is promoting ‘Meatless Monday’ for USDA employees,” the senator asked on Twitter. “I will eat more meat on Monday to compensate for stupid USDA recommendation abt (sic) a meatless Monday.”

Adding to the problem

This is where the dispute went way off the rails, and no surprise, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was right in the middle of it.

In response to Grassley’s retort, PETA’s leader said Thursday that the group would take bets on when the 78-year-old Republican senator “will succumb to a meat-related ailment, such as heart disease, cancer of the colon or prostate, or a stroke.”

“From Sen. Grassley’s reaction, it seems a pretty safe bet that he’s already got high blood pressure,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement. “Were he a physician instead of a politician, his attempt to keep factory-farm funding by promoting meat consumption would constitute malpractice.”

Of course, in addition to taking an unconscionable and unethical stance—wishing that someone would die would seem to be a more of a negative outcome than what’s on the menu on Mondays—Newkirk once again obfuscates the issue.

This isn’t about factory farming. This isn’t about (alleged) cruelty to animals, which is where PETA always piles on. The issue is food production, the rural economy and making sure that American producers and farmers can continue to help feed the world’s exploding population. That’s what USDA is tasked by law to support, and Grassley is 100% correct to remind the agency of its mission.

“The comments from PETA are shameful and way outside the mainstream,” Jill Kozeny, a spokesperson for Grassley, said in a statement. “Sen. Grassley is representing his constituents. He’d like USDA to remember who it’s supposed to work for, too.”

On issues other than agriculture, I’m not one of Grassley’s biggest boosters.But I absolutely love his response to USDA’s ham-handed attempt to promote eco-activism.

I’m proud to join him in chowing down on some lean, nutritious red meat any—and every—Monday from here on out.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Murphy, a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator.

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