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HSUS Barbeque recipes

In my personal experience battling radical activist attacks on food production, I’ve learned the hallmark of the animal rights movement is intellectual dishonesty. I’ve found over time the movement broadly will say and do just about anything it needs to say or do to further its cause. There is among the activists with whom I’ve dealt over time this near palpable sense of moral and intellectual superiority to the rest of our citizenry; they’ve found the “one true way” and they will drag the rest of us into the “light” of their philosophy and damn the consequences.

I’ve read this week two articles about the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS). The first deals with HSUS’s “Faith Outreach” program, a program reportedly “geared to the environmental stewardship movement spreading among religious groups,” complete with an offer of the society’s “Humane Steward” newsletter and a download of its “Animal Protection Ministries Guide,” replete with a sermon on “food choices and faith.” The second article reports HSUS and the Nebraska Farmers Union hooking up to give HSUS an organizational foothold in a state where the governor and 99.9% of animal ag has essentially told the group to take a hike. The articles talk about working with producers to develop outreach to Nebraska consumers to make them aware of “humane” food choices.

Combine these two developments with the HSUS-United Egg Producers (UEP) group hug on enriched environment cages for egg laying hens, and only one conclusion can be reached: It’s time for HSUS to come out of the closet and tell the world it openly and proudly supports, promotes and wishes to see increase the consumption of meat, milk and eggs, and that it disavows – nay, it outright opposes – all philosophical and political calls for an end to the for-profit exploitation of sentient creatures for food.

We can continue to quibble over how animals are housed and handled, but it seems to me the actions of HSUS speak more loudly than its words. Given animal agriculture is a universe of niche markets and production peculiarities depending on whose dollars you’re chasing – and given HSUS is openly in bed with the Whole Foods crowd – then perhaps the next HSUS website feature will be a recipe column on how to be creative in your use of chops, steaks, whole chickens and turkey parts, to be followed by a holistic barbecue cookbook!

I’ve marveled over time at how HSUS President Wayne Pacelle bobs and weaves around the question of his personal vegetarian/vegan lifestyle and how that informs – or doesn’t – the HSUS agenda; he simply states “most of our members eat meat” so how can HSUS be anti-meat? Why not put an end to the back-and-forth, be true to the folks who write the checks and just state for the record: “Our members eat meat, so let there be meat production!?”

It ain’t gonna happen. HSUS wears many different costumes and paints its face in many different ways so it can act out the plethora of parts it’s chosen to play depending on the issue, the political jurisdiction, the audience and apparently, whatever short-term goal has floated to the top of its agenda. Further, it seeks to lead the broader animal rights movement – and insinuate itself into leadership of the enviro and food safety lobbies – by dint of its membership numbers, bank account and the charismatic celebrities in its leadership.

I must say I’m disappointed there will be no recipes or barbecue tips from our friends at HSUS. I guess I misunderstood HSUS public actions and words.