Children Influenced by Activism!

It’s so true… kids are smart and when you teach them something, intentional or not, they pick it up- so it’s best to be sure about what you are sharing with them. Although The Meatrix is a cartoon, it’s definitely not directed towards children. Our target audience is young adults and up… which I think is quite clear when you visit our website! Though not sophisticated (hope I’m not offending anyone at the office!), our website is full of wonderful educational information that I’m pretty sure wouldn’t be understood by a five year old.

Farmed Animal Watch’s current newsletter brought this Pork Checkoff article to our attention- a survey created to track activist’s influence on kids. The Meatrix was addressed specifically (quite a compliment!) – noting that “While only 7 percent of all youth surveyed indicated having heard of or visiting the Meatrix Web site, more than three-quarters of those who are aware of The Meatrix have seen a video concerning animal care or meat consumption. Of those, nearly two-thirds indicated the Web site/video had impacted their meat eating habits.” Smart kids.

I have received more than a few emails from young adults who have seen the movie and are interested in what they can do. While a spokesperson from the National Pork Board stated, “We’re keeping a close eye on these activist groups and their messages, and we’re prepared to take action if they escalate their efforts to target children.” I hope they take the time to see that our organization isn’t directing our efforts towards children, but hoping to provide information for their parents to make educated decision about where they purchase their pork from.

And here is a good suggestion for pork: this summer we visited Niman Ranch family farmer, Paul Willis. In addition to being the Niman Ranch Pork Operation Manager, Paul raises his own pigs sustainably- on a large ranch with lots of room and mud and Animal Welfare Institute approved.