Friends of the earth--the Meatrix???

[mum2sarah]

Has anyone else seen this clip? It was emailed to my sister from Friends of the earth, and it's entitled "The Meatrix." We watched it and were really laughing and enjoying it. It was a spoof off of the first Matrix movie where Morpheus is a cow called Moopheus and tells a pig (Neo, I presume) that he is living in a dream world of the "family farm" where animals are treated nicely. He offers him his magic pill that takes him to reality which was that he was crammed in a cage in a factory farm. Neo wanted to join Moopheus, of course, and then asked what he could to do make a difference. Moopheus then said to click here to see how we could make a difference. That's when we stopped laughing... When we clicked on the icon, it took us to a form that said, "buy meat from local family farmers... enter your zip code here." WHAT??!!!

We really thought it was going to be a vegetarian or vegan message, but there it was promoting meat consumption, just as long as it came from "family" farmers? Am I the only one who thinks they missed the point?

[Dancer]

Is this the same "Meatrix" as descrbed below, in Erin's post???


Dancer

[Erin Pavlina]

Mum2Sarah, that copy you were looking at is not the same as the one I was sent directly from Farm Sanctuary!

What was the link to the one you saw?

The correct link is:
http://www.bancruelfarms.org/meatrix

[mum2sarah]

Wow am I dense! I didn't even notice Erin's thread before I posted. Here's the link to the one we watched:
http://www.themeatrix.com/

Click on Moopheus' pill at the end and you'll see what I mean..


Also check out this link:
http://www.factoryfarm.org/press/docs/Meatrix.pdf

It explains that at the end of the Meatrix people are invited to visit Eatwellguide.org, which talks about "sustainable" and "organic" meat products.

[Erin Pavlina]

That's strange. I didn't click on the pill. I clicked on shopping guide or info or something like that.

My guess is that, like most animal rights groups, they would rather see a change in the positive direction than no change at all. It is strange though...

[Jenica]

Honestly, as much as I'd love to see the whole world up and abstain from meat for the rest of their lives, that's unlikely to happen in our lifetimes. While I think it would be admirable to have vegetarian and/or vegan links to click on at the end, it IS in the best interest of the animals WHILE they are alive to be treated humanely even IF they are being kept alive with the intent of feeding them to humans someday.

Also, it's much easier to convince people to make small changes like buying more organic meat from local farms than it is to convince them to live a completely cruelty free lifestyle. This is a step down the path toward educating consumers and I have to applaud them for that, as frustrating as it is to see them still promoting meat consumption.

[tricia]

I agree with Jenica... there are always going to be people who refuse to give up meat... but at least this way they can abstain from these evil conditions factory farming puts these poor animals through.. who know maybe one day some of those people will go veg until then at least there is a msg out there explaining to them the real truth behind these "farms"...

I sent a couple of the links to the meat eaters that i know in my family and friends... just to enlighten them..i know they wont give up meat but who knows maybe they will buy organic or a bit more humane..even though i dont think raising an animal in order to kill it is quite humane....

i sent the link to the farm sanctuary one in hopes they might actually check out the actual photos and videos and see what really happens....who knows...but at least we might be getting closer...

[mum2sarah]

Those are all good points about some people not giving up meat. But I guess for me, I just feel like sometimes talking about organic meat can actually become an obstacle while at the same time being a small step in the right direction. What I mean by an obstacle is that a person buying organic meats can more easily justify eating meat, become complacent, and absolve themselves of the responsibility of animals dying.

This was a major obstacle I had, not with giving up meat, because it was just plain disgusting to me, but with giving up eggs and dairy. I used to not even listen to what vegans had to say, because I thought they were being too extreme. I thought, what's wrong with eggs; I buy cage-free? What's wrong with milk, I buy organic? What's wrong with cheese, I buy organic rennet-free? What's the big deal? I had reached a conclusion and wasn't about to reconsider. I had more of a closed mind than if I had never bought organic to begin with.

And let's face it, just because the package of eggs say they're from a local farm and laid in nests does *not* mean the animals were treated properly. And just because meat says it's organic, well, that could just mean they are fed organic feed and no further care is taken to insure that they lead happy lives. So, yes, if a person refuses to give up meat, it's better for them to buy organic than factory farm, but I also think it's selling everyone short not to *also* talk about veg*ism, or even just limiting meat consumption. I think it's only giving half the story. What about all the resources used to raise animals for food, even if done humanely, that are draining to our environment and contributing to world hunger? What about all the terrible health impacts of eating meat? Why not talk about all these things, and encourage people to keep their meat consumption to a minimum *and* if they're going to eat meat to at least buy from local organic farmers?

[annie7]

all of the afore mentioned links are for the same site, ultimately.

[Jenica]

Maybe I'm being naive about this, mum2sarah, but I don't feel that it will help them further justify eating meat. I think the reason most people go to a certain point with their dietary changes and then draw a line very defensively when someone points out other changes they *should* be making is because deep inside, they know it's not enough, they know that they're not fully living by their consciences. Most people aren't willing to admit that to themselves so they say they're doing "enough," that what they're doing ("cage-free" eggs, organic milk, etc) is acceptable. It's impossible to maintain a good sense of self-esteem if you look at your life and feel you're consistently living it in a way that conflicts with your ethics. That coupled with most people's resistance to change = lack of widespread interest in cruelty-free lifestyles.

While I do think it would be wonderful to also include veg information at the end of a presentation like Meatrix, for most meat eaters it would serve to turn them off. When you, as a vegan, see an advertisement for beef, you think "yuck, dead cow, I can't believe they eat that and think it's ok! ("They" meaning all those omnis out there, this group that you do NOT identify with or want to be identified with.)

Many meat eaters feel much the same way about us. If it has a vegetarian or vegan label on it or is somehow associated with "those people", they don't want to hear it. And so I'm glad to have a message presented to them in a way that will hopefully make few of them defensive because of their sense of self vs other, as sad as it makes me that this particular message still promotes meat.

People come into their own life changes when they're ready. We all draw to ourselves situations that help us grow. Jung called this "synchronicity," or "meaningful coincidences." Pushing veggie information at a predominately meat-eating audience may convince a few people to change their eating habits, but it will likely turn more people off to a veggie lifestyle than make them curious about it. While I am not advocating passivity in the face of the atrocities committed against farm animals (and against our human bodies!), I believe that when people are ready to learn about how to do less harm to themselves and others, they will seek us out, consciously or unconsciously.

[Dancer]

...a beautiful response. Eastern philosophy adds that in order to bring a new idea or ideology into ourselves, we first need to make "a space" for it. We do this by letting go of what is no longer serving us, and then make room for the element that will bring about the shift.

Indeed, this is why many vegans report a very strong spiritual element in the transition. What is notable, too, is the quality of "taking in" and not "giving up." That is, as in all spiritual experiences, we feel enhanced and enriched from the embrace.

Dancer

[mum2sarah]

I get what you're saying, Jenica, but I think there's more people out there than just meat-eaters who think we're weird, and veg*ans. I mean, face it, most of us were once meat-eaters, but obviously we all were open to a new lifestyle once we knew the *truth.* That's the thing, most meat-eaters *don't* know the truth, and Moopheus points part of the truth out in the Meatrix, but not the whole thing.

What I'm saying, basically, is that for years I was open-minded to the idea of vegetarianism, but honestly thought it could not be as healthy as eating meat. If someone had shown me the Meatrix then, I would have thought, "oh, so all I need to do is buy organic meat and everything's fine." But if the end of that clip had also shown information about limiting meat consumption or going veg, I would have read it with interest and discovered that yes it *can* be healthier for me and the animals to change my diet by more than simply buying organic meat.

Another example of people who are open-minded are those in the process of converting to a plant-based diet, like for instance, my husband. I thought about sending him that clip but decided against it, because I could see him looking at the organic meat thing at the end and saying, "see, I'm not so bad. I don't need to make any more changes." *That's* what I mean about it being an obstacle. It's an obstacle to those who might otherwise consider the merits of a veg diet or at least limiting meat consumption.

There are plenty of people, I believe, out there who would go veg if they knew all the facts and how to do it. Not everyone is so carnivirous that they would find a well-balanced information page at the end of a clip like the Meatrix to be a "turn-off."

I'm not trying to say they should totally eliminate the organic meat thing from the end. I'm just saying it should be balanced with other information. Like Moopheus said "there are alternatives." He said that in the plural, not the singular. Limiting the alternatives to one (organic meat) sells the whole presentation short and short-changes those who might be open-minded to other alternatives.

Think of it this way, although I no longer consider myself to be a Christian, I grew up going to church every Sunday. The preacher would give his message, and then at the end invite anyone who wanted to, to accept Jesus and become a Christian. Most Sundays he didn't get anyone coming forward, but every so often he did. Would it have been a better strategy for preachers to think, well, these people are so stuck in their ways, they would never even consider becoming Christian, and they might find it a turn-off if I talked to them about it, so I'll just not say anything at the end; I'll just tell them to be nice to their neighbors instead? I'm sure there would be a lot fewer Christians in the world if preachers took that approach. Why not extend the invitation in case someone was open to it? If they don't want to hear it then, fine, they can just go to the part about being nice to your neighbor or buying organic meat. But it's not giving people enough credit to assume they would find information about veg*ism to be a turn-off, especially if it's presented in a well-balanced, humorous way, along with other "alternatives" such as organic meat.

[veganchica]

I visit the PETA website often and I found 'The Meatrix' on there awhile ago. Nothing popped up at the end of it when I clicked from PETA or even when I downloaded it on my computer. It has been awhile since I saw it so maybe this was added later.
I thought it was so cute and I emailed it to everyone in my address book. I found out later that one of my friends then emailed it to all of her friends and her husband did the same with all of his friends. I thought it was a good cute way to get the message around.
Maybe not all of them have the pop-up ad.