Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
This article was originally published on Myrecipes.com
by Mike Pomranz
Even if you can’t think of anything else nice to say about Donald Trump, you have to admit that the man is incredibly impervious to criticism. He’ll gladly rebuff detractors on Twitter, brush off questions that don’t fit his narrative, and name-call entire news institutions. (Even the good ones!) Is there any way to get through to this man? Well, the Food Integrity Campaign (FIC) has certainly come up with a novel plan: a bacon-based game called Bacon Defender.
Though everything about Bacon Defender’s gameplay is silly, the message is very serious. FIC, part of the non-profit Government Accountability Project, has released the browser game to raise awareness of the Trump administration’s plans to deregulate the pork industry—as well as to drive home the message that the public needs to take action to stop it.
“Americans are obsessed with bacon, it’s practically a food group among millennials. But under Trump, bacon’s about to include some unexpected ingredients—think toenails, hair, and feces,” FIC wrote, announcing the game. “We know that if the average American knew about this rule, and what it actually entails, they would not support it. But unlike legislation, regulatory changes and rule proposals often go unnoticed by the general public. Bacon Defender is challenging that paradigm by shining a spotlight on the absurdity of this proposed rule that claims to benefit food safety by letting companies slaughter pigs at impossibly fast speeds while simultaneously reducing the federal inspection force.”
In the game, players take on the role of a mustard-shooting hotdog who must defend a table full of pork products from an onslaught of poop emojis. In the meantime, a giant factory/Donald Trump caricature (yes, it blends the two) labeled “Trumpork Inc” spews out a mix of real Trump tweets and audio quotes from the more mundane (“Our country is in serious trouble!”) to the more surreal (“I just want them to suffer!”).
Playing the game is frustratingly difficult, and that’s seemingly part of the point. Though Bacon Defender is a game, the proposed pork rules are not. And the more you realize that wasting your time trying to shoot poop emojis is a pointless pursuit, FIC probably assumes that you’ll realize your time could be better utilized fighting for their cause.
If you scroll to the bottom of BaconDefender.org where the game can be found, you find an image that reads, “This is not a game. Stop Trump’s pork rule.” It leads you to a link where you can leave a comment about the proposed Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection rule with the USDA.