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Fire With Fire
James Dudlicek
(847) 405-4009
Dairy Forum is a great
experience, and not just because it’s located where the weather is
the complete opposite of Chicago in January. Forum always offers a wealth
of information on every facet of the industry.
This year, two sessions in particular were worth the
price of admission: Jon Davis and Jim Tillison throwing chairs at each
other over forward contracting, and Rick Berman on strategies for dealing
with anti-dairy activists.
The spirited verbal sparring of the former brought
energy as well as depth to a somewhat arcane topic, but the latter offered
perhaps a more immediate opportunity to muzzle a real nuisance to progress.
Berman heads the Center for Consumer Freedom, an
organization that aims to expose animal-rights extremists and the food
police for what they are: a bunch of cranky, manipulative nanny-staters
with a twisted view of what constitutes a free society.
Now, DF readers should be familiar with my views
on these folks. But even I was not fully aware of the depths of their
insanity until viewing video clips of their leaders during Berman’s
presentation. One likens cheese to crack; others advocate violence as a
means to ending consumption of animal-based foods.
The real problem, Berman contends, is that these
groups give themselves names like “ethical” and
“responsible” (which they are neither) so they can claim moral
high ground in the fight against “evil big business.” So CCF
aims to shine light on facts these groups don’t want known, like the
deep financial ties between PETA and PCRM and the denouncing of much of the
“science” they use to support their cause. CCF also produces
commercials using these truths along with hard-hitting humor to topple the
activists’ positions.
My friends at IDFA admit they are wary of
Berman’s “shoot the messenger” strategy and say
they’re having success countering the extremists’ claims on
their merits. And, understandably, they’re concerned about
Berman’s work for Big Tobacco and Big Pop.
But I think the food industry needs to turn up the
volume on the real motives and flimsy science guiding these activists. So
the next time they come out with some nutty claim or accusation, the
mainstream media will give it the prominence it deserves — as
wastebasket liner.
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