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Nation's Restaurant News is a great place to keep abreast of trends in commercial food service and chain restaurants. It's also where the crazy side of the food and hospitality industry comes out to play. On that front, there's an exciting new rant by DC-based lobbyist Richard Berman, whose McCarthy-ish anti-vegetarian polemics I've previously singled out for ridicule. Berman's new essay begins by condemning Mario Batali's embrace of the "radical" "fringe" concept of Meatless Monday, and ends with this one-two punch:
"Tracking new activist-driven campaigns is akin to watching an arsonist with a tank full of gas and a book of wet matches. ... Educate yourself. All it takes is one dry match to start the fire."
The fire of what? The fire of eating slightly less meat? The fire of moderate thriftiness? Oooh, Mr. Arsonist, please don't touch the blowtorch of sensible eating to the dynamite of consuming slightly fewer animals. The resulting explosion could ignite the timber of somewhat altered eating habits, and nobody wants that kind of Armageddon on their hands.
The thesis of the article is as follows: The hyperpowerful, secretive, anti-meat, anti–modern farming lobby is conspiring to destroy modern agriculture. It's the worst kind of conspiracy, too: one based on influencing public opinion through dialogues and websites, the sort of dirty trick that turns a lobbyist's stomach.
Step one: Meatless Mondays. Step two: who knows, but surely secret, and certainly terrifying. Step three: All agribusiness is destroyed, and American children are wasting away on broccoli and Tofurky. At that point, the terrorists truly have won.
Let me be absolutely clear about where my own sympathies lie: I love meat. It's delicious. I can and will eat meat stuffed in meat, wrapped in meat. But the leap from Meatless Monday to "radical fringe loony activist propaganda arson"—all words contained in this relatively short but zestily written essay—is a big one, and the author fails to clear the logical chasm.
You're encouraged to read the original story and see how it holds up to even moderate scrutiny. Passages like "It should be obvious that with money and a little media savvy, a Trojan-horse campaign with its basis in the fringe can transform a loony idea into one that infiltrates mainstream thought" will likely stand out, as will assertions that there's nothing at all wrong—nothing at all! really! nothing!—with meat from a health or environmental perspective.
Anyhow, that's the landscape out there when it comes to discussion of food choices. Navigate it at your own risk.
Image source: Bart_J/Shutterstock
I'm not amazed at Berman's anti-Meatless Monday stance - the guy seems to be anti everything, but I am amazed that anyone else could take it seriously. Most of the world only eats meat sporadically if at all. There is an infinite variety of taste and nutrition in foods other than meat. Meatless Mondays is an invitation to try some new and healthy options - not a negative initiative at all.
Berman seems to confusing not eating meat with not eating.
Didn't read the Berman, but I always remember my American friend telling me that it was a complete revelation to her when she realized that she didn't have to eat meat at every single meal. By no means am I a vegetarian, but I probably only eat meat 1x/day and eat no meat 3x/week, only b/c those recipes are easier/cheaper/faster/taste good.
Berman is a corporate shill: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=4140447
Here's a bit of background on Berman. I would take Nation's Rest. News to task for allowing such an obviously biased source write an op-ed piece but it doesn't seem like NRN is overly concerned about journalistic integrity.
http://bermanexposed.org/
Radical? Hmm. Richard Berman sounds a bit too worried about Americans making healthier choices. Oh wait, maybe it's because he has companies like Tyson and Outback funding organizations he's founded (The Center for Consumer Freedom).
And I'm also fairly sure he'd dismiss any kind of reading like The China Study or any other studies correlating meat to cancer.
Being a Catholic growing up, going meatless one day a week was a given. Have to say, though, I find the meals that are posted on various websites on Monday a refreshing look at dropping meat at every dinner. Do I make the meals on Monday?? No, but I inevitably save them and use them during the week. It broadens the types of meals I offer to my family. And just curious?? Where does Berman think...+READ
Being a Catholic growing up, going meatless one day a week was a given. Have to say, though, I find the meals that are posted on various websites on Monday a refreshing look at dropping meat at every dinner. Do I make the meals on Monday?? No, but I inevitably save them and use them during the week. It broadens the types of meals I offer to my family. And just curious?? Where does Berman think vegetables come from?? Wouldn't this movement make it better for ALL farmers, not just meat producers, to make a go at ALL agribusiness??-COLLAPSE
I think the Meatless Mondays campaign is headed in the right direction, but I think it would be more useful if instead of just "meatless," the emphasis was on "everything that isn't meat"- namely, vegetables and whole grains. One can participate in Meatless Monday by eating Tofurkey slices on white bread with tater tots- and I'm pretty sure this doesn't help anything. Taking an anti-meat stance...+READ
I think the Meatless Mondays campaign is headed in the right direction, but I think it would be more useful if instead of just "meatless," the emphasis was on "everything that isn't meat"- namely, vegetables and whole grains. One can participate in Meatless Monday by eating Tofurkey slices on white bread with tater tots- and I'm pretty sure this doesn't help anything. Taking an anti-meat stance invites criticism without directly addressing (what I think is) the bigger problem with our nation's diet- not necessarily too much meat, but not enough fresh foods and vegetables. I think a more positive impact could be made if chefs and public servants pushed for Americans to try one new vegetable dish every Monday.-COLLAPSE
I don't think anyone actually cares what you eat on Mondays. The campaign is intended to promote the idea of not eating meat with every single meal, every single day. All marketers know that it's easier to promote an idea if you have something catchy and easy to remember to hang it on. I think calling the harmless idea of Meatless Mondays "preachy" is kind of a stretch. I, for one, don't feel...+READ
I don't think anyone actually cares what you eat on Mondays. The campaign is intended to promote the idea of not eating meat with every single meal, every single day. All marketers know that it's easier to promote an idea if you have something catchy and easy to remember to hang it on. I think calling the harmless idea of Meatless Mondays "preachy" is kind of a stretch. I, for one, don't feel that anyone is butting into my "business" when they suggest eschewing meat one day a week.-COLLAPSE
Sounds like an Obama idea. It's dumb enough.
Berman's piece may be overblown, but the Meatless Monday's idea is just annoying. It just a preachy attempt by certain people to apply social pressure to coerce others to their way of thinking. Why advocates are so concerned about what I eat on Monday is a bit unclear, but I think they should just mind their own business.
Mental AND Physical! Gooooooooo Meat!
@jpc8015--children and pregnant women have always been exempt from this, as even the medieval Catholic Church knew that people needed meat for health.
Catholics have been abstaining from meat one day each week for 2,000 years. Nothing new here.
Not having meat one day a week is NOT going to wreck the American Economy.
Probably gave the silly wanker more press and coverage by even mentioning him to call out how wrong he is. I for one never would have came across this if not for the chow article.
He's a lobbyist, so that kind of negates everything. While I definitely agree that meat is healthy, his disdain for "sustainable" farming is suspect at best.
Man, good thing I'm so full off of meat or else I'd say this guy is the worst sort of blowhard.