Lobbying
plays a large part in My
Year of Meats.
Underneath Jane's struggle to be a documentarian that makes a
difference is the BEEF-EX lobby. They attempt to further the show
simply to sell more meat. Today lobbying is a huge part of American
politics. Framers of the Constitution attempted to keep special
interests from obtaining too much power and control over the
government. However, the Supreme Court has upheld their right to do
so under various amendments, such as the First Amendment. The Supreme
Court has also allowed corporations to have the same rights as
citizens to justify their ability to lobby government officials for
their interests.
Today
there are lobbies for nearly every major industry or union fighting
to affect change that benefits their interests. The meat industry is
no different and many real lobbies exist for corporations that
benefit from less regulation. Some of these lobbies are
the
American Meat Institute, the National Meat Association, and the
National Cattlemen's Beef Association. While they claim to simply be
using their knowledge and experience to help enact laws that are best
for both the people and the corporations the reality is a bit
different. For example, in 1995 the USDA (the portion of the federal
government that develops policy on farming and food) attempted to
implement new regulations for food safety because of an E. Coli
outbreak at Jack in the Box, which caused 700 people to become sick.
In response, the meat industry did all it could to slow the
introduction of new regulations. James Walsh an upstate New York
Representative, who happened to have received $65,000 from the
agriculture special interests in the 1996 election, forced the USDA
to conduct more extensive hearings before implementing the new food
safety regulations. This would have prevented the regulations for up
to two years which would have effectively killed change. The industry
would have had the same level of inspection as they had when Upton
Sinclair wrote The
Jungle.
Only thanks to public outcry was the meat industry forced to
compromise and negotiated for new meat inspection rules. This is far
from the only example of the meat industry using lobbying to effect
or prevent change.
The amounts various Meat Industries spend on lobbying
In
My
Year of Meats
the BEEF-EX lobby is existent but appears as almost a passive player
in their role. The only people who really seems to care about the
lobby are “John” and at times Jane. This is understandable
because the novel isn't about the meat industry as much as its about
Jane's experience. However, I believe it's important for people to
have at least some understanding of how lobbying can affect their
everyday lives. BEEF-EX is definitely having some type of affect on
Akiko and Japan. After the episode about lamb all of lamb in he
country sold out which made the news. Akiko and many other people are
buying the meat that is shown on the show and attempting the recipes.
Those are a lot of people buying a product that they may not have
bought before due to the show. First and foremost My American Wife!
is about making the meat industry money; and its working.
Throughout
the novel Jane does learn a bit about the meat industry and tells the
reader of the harm they have done. For example, they cut costs by
giving cattle synthetic estrogen to help them grow bigger, quicker
and with less feed. They then fought change when it was revealed that
there could be negative health aspects for people consuming the meat.
This is a great example of what the meat industry thinks of health
regulations. It's important to remember that despite what you're
told, the point of the meat industry is to make money and they'll
continue to do whatever it takes to make the most of it.
Picture Sources:
Really interesting read Josh! Not only has lobbying played a passive role in the novel, but whether it was intentional or not definitely had me thinking about such a role as well. In today's society, lobbying has become more and more prevelant to pass legislative bills gear towards corportations and not that of the average citizen. Not just the meat industry, but even more applicable ones for today like technology for example, lobbyists have been playing with various leaders like Comcast for the interest of the corporation and not the people. This piece is extremely relevant, and in regards to the last piece about the meat industry being for profit; the same could be said for just about any business, if you look at their track record.
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