Algselt veebruaris Channel 4-s esilinastunud dokumentaalfilm "Pig Business" (intensiivsest seakasvatusest) jäeti ära, kuna kardeti maailma suurima sealihatootja Smithfield Foodsi kohtumenetlust. Ka järgnevatel linastustel on tekkinud raskusi – hiljutine etendus Barbicanis toimus alles siis, kui režissöör Tracy Worcester allkirjastas hüvitise, võttes selle sisu eest isikliku vastutuse.

 

Mida siis Smithfield Foods nii kardab?

 

Neli aastat valminud ja praegusel kujul veidi üle 70 minuti pikkune (vaadatud versioon võidakse tulevaste saadete jaoks kärpida) väidab see veenev dokumentaalfilm, et intensiivne seakasvatus on "kahjulik meie toidule, tervisele ja elatusvahenditele. meie maakogukonnad."

 

Initially focussing on the United States, Worcester explains how large corporations such as Smithfield Foods – an organisation that processes 27 million pigs in fifteen countries producing sales of $12 billion every year – now have effective control over the whole market, producing cheap meat to supermarkets, which in turn sends small, independent farms out of business.

 

Superpoesuurustes kuurides kitsastes tingimustes ja vähese loomuliku valgusega tekitavad stressis sigad vapustavalt palju jäätmeid (sead roojavad kümme korda rohkem kui inimene), saastades sageli kohalikku põhjavett ja levitades haigust tekitavat haisu. . Tom Garrett Animal Welfare Institute'ist väidab, et see pole midagi vähemat kui "autode ja masinate ehitamiseks mõeldud tööstussüsteemide rakendamine elusolenditele".

 

Tired of being steamrolled by large corporations, in the 90s a grassroots movement of farmers and environmentalists won a number of small, but significant victories, leading to greater regulation of pig farms in the US. For example, in 1997 Smithfield Foods was fined $12.6 million for discharging illegal levels of pollutants into the PaganRiver in Virginia – the then largest ever financial penalty given by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

 

In response to this popular protest and increasingly restrictive laws, Smithfield Foods relocated much of its business to countries such as Poland, where it purchased former state farms and slaughterhouses at bargain basement prices. As Worcester points out, following the radical free-market shock-therapy of the early 90s, what is euphemistically called a "favourable business environment" was created in Poland – that is low labour costs, light regulation, poor governance etc. Speaking to the Polish Senate, Robert Kennedy, Jr, son of US liberal legend Bobby Kennedy and Chairman of the Waterkeeper Alliance, notes that Smithfield Foods is trying to "get away with something in Poland that people in the United States now recognise is a catastrophe."

 

A long-time environmental activist working on a small budget, Worcester has done a great public service by shining a light on an industry that would prefer to stay out of the public eye. She has certainly done her homework, gaining incisive interviews with academic experts, politicians, industry heads and ordinary people on both sides of the debate. Best of all is the film’s centrepiece interview with Smithfield Foods’ Vice-President of Environmental and Corporate Affairs, Worcester‘s pointed and passionate questions countered by some particularly bland and slippery answers.

 

Frustratingly, like much of the coverage of animal welfare in the mainstream, Worcester fails to consider vegetarianism as a legitimate response to the problem. Her plea for consumers to flex their power by buying locally produced, organic, free-range meat is welcome. However, if you are really concerned about pig welfare isn’t the answer to not eat these intelligent creatures in the first place? Am I the only person baffled by the widely-held view that you can care deeply for a creature but be happy for it to be killed and eaten as long as it has had a good life? On the other hand, perhaps it could be argued that an ethically-minded meat eater has more influence on the welfare of animals than those who completely disengage with the industry such as vegetarians.

 

Kuid kuigi arutelu jätkub selle üle, kuidas kõige paremini parandada sigade ja nende inimeste – töötajate, kohalike elanike ja tarbijate – elu, keda tööstus kõige rohkem mõjutab, on selge, et Smithfield Foodsil on ainult üks huvi: kasum. Nagu märgib Joel Bakan oma põhjapanevas korporatiivmaailma uurimuses, "korporatsiooni seaduslikult määratletud mandaat on järeleandmatult ja eranditult järgida omaenda huve, hoolimata sageli kahjulikest tagajärgedest, mida see teistele põhjustada võib."

 

Selles valguses on Smithfield Foodsi juriidilised ähvardused loogiline vastus sellele valgustavale ja haaravale dokumentaalfilmile. Lühidalt, pole kahtlust, et kui Pig Business saab laia vaatajaskonna, on see Smithfield Foodsi enda seaäri jaoks väga halb. 

 

"See on lahing selle üle, kes hakkab meie ressursse kontrollima," võtab Kennedy Jr filmi lõpus kokku. "Kas meie ressursse hakkab kontrollima korporatiivne-feodaalsüsteem või hakkavad neid kontrollima inimesed?"

 

 

Pig Businessi režissöör on Tracy Worcester: http://www.pigbusiness.co.uk/.

 

*Selle arvustuse redigeeritud versioon ilmus hiljuti ajakirjas Morning Star.  ian_js@hotmail.com.

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