I wonder how it feels to bald faced lie for a living.


Special Feature
LIVE FROM AMI: Hallmark/Westland a 'perfect storm' for activists

By Tom Johnston on 3/10/2008 for Meatingplace.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. recall of
143
million pounds of beef prompted by an animal rights group's videotaped
footage of workers abusing non-ambulatory dairy cows amounted to a
"perfect storm" for the anti-meat movement, said Janet Riley, senior
vice president of public affairs for the American Meat Institute.

"It truly was a perfect storm in animal welfare because not only was
there horrible footage — and visuals obviously sell in our
media-driven
world — but [Hallmark/Westland] was also a school lunch supplier. I
think the plant was shocked by what they saw and not prepared to deal
with the media storm that resulted," Riley said, addressing AMI's
Annual
Meat Conference here.

Riley chronicled the timeline of how the videotape surfaced from the
Humane Society of the United States and burst into an explosion of
media
coverage that exemplifies the major communication challenges the meat
industry faces.

Media coverage of the case has hardly abated, which has forced the
industry, "to proactively inform the public on how committed meat
processors are to proper animal handling," Riley said.

"We were so shocked by it, because it is so different from how we
operate. It is absolutely in contrast to typical conditions in the meat

industry," she added.

Communication challenges

Communication challenges facing the meat industry, Riley said, include:

* Uninformed consumers are highly suggestible
* Available images of good practices are few and far between
* Reporters are generally unfamiliar with the industry
* Technologies such as YouTube help proliferate images
* Access to meat plants is restricted

Riley urged meat processors to consider shooting video and taking
photos
of their good practices to share with the media. AMI is already in the
production stages of its own DVD detailing professional animal handling

practices that reporters will be able to watch on their computer
screens
as they are working on stories.

"Shoot B-roll and take photos on a good day, so you have them on a bad
day," Riley said. "Hallmark/Westland never imagined they were going to
face what they have faced. Wouldn't it have been nice if they had been
able to acknowledge how bad the video was, but been able to explain
[how
they normally operate]?"





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