Thursday, August 15

BLOWING SMOKE


What do Joe Eszterhas and his recent near-deathbed conversion to the anti-smoking cause have to do with Meat Facts? For one thing, Joe's admission that "I told those lies" paints a clear picture of how easy it is to defraud and victimize people as long as you're not on the short end of it. But there's a more specific connection: Rick Berman's so-called Center for Consumer Freedom was founded on money from Philip Morris, (at least $900,000) whom Berman begged for help to fight "attacks from anti-smoking, anti-drinking, anti-meat, etc. activists." The joke's on PM: These days, the CFCF doesn't talk much about that wonderful "freedom to smoke" - but it's in quite a lather over the first Fast-Food lawsuit, brought by the same legal team that initiated the first anti-smoking lawsuits. Predictably, Berman bends over backward to ridicule anti-meat sentiment, as in this sparkling essay assuring us that lettuce, not animal feces, is the hidden source of deadly E.Coli.
But the reason I bring all this up is because of the recent "Quorn" brouhaha. The attacks by CSPI on the safety of Quorn are completely consistent with their somewhat alarmist history, yet I had an inkling that this "Nanny Culture" (Berman's favorite phrase) crusade to demonize a consumer product, to REMOVE consumers' CHOICE to decide what is or isn't safe for them, would not get one peep of criticism from Berman, because in this case, it's a vegetarian product. Feel free to search the CFCF site for any mention of the word. Meanwhile, Rick, maybe you should have a talk with Joe - before it's too late.

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