Through the Looking Glass: What Those On the Inside Looking Out See

The vast majority of those on the outside looking in see the corruption of the meat industry as one of the many evils of the world. But what about those who are being seen as the demons in the situation? What is their take on the criticism that they are receiving? Well, one man, Patrick Boyle, the CEO of the American Meat Institute, seems to think that "[they] are an industry [that], for whatever reason, seems to attract a lot of media attention -- much of it sensationalized." In other words, he seems to imply that the media uses propaganda to out the industry and blow conditions out of proportion. People in the industry don't see anything wrong with what they are doing and feel that their operations are perfectly legit. But then we receive proof of what an illegitimate scheme they have going on. Dan Glickman, former secretary of agriculture from 1995-2001 and a veteran of congress for the State of Kansas, said that "[animals are] raised much more intensively [compared to fifty years ago]; large numbers of them together. And where there is disease, it tends to spread much faster." This proves that what the media is insinuating about the health risks of the meat that we are consuming. With this risk being a known piece of knowledge among consumers (everyone knows that there isn't adequate control and care of the cleaning and processing of meat (as exposed by the media)), how can Mr. Boyle claim that they are being targeted unjustly?

Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/industrial/