A couple of recent headlines have got me thinking again about a massive divide in our country, and specifically in Colorado. This one isn’t about race, gender, or sexual orientation; it’s about how much concrete is in your life. These are two completely separate Colorados; rural and urban/suburban. Due to physical separation as well as our natural desire to associate mainly with others who think like us, we don’t understand each other. But it’s a gap we desperately need to bridge. This is for several reasons, but one is currently looming largest: public policy is made in the cities.

For a long time, I taught intro to ethics classes at the community college level. In the land of traffic, Priuses, and man buns (not a group I naturally fit in with), I discovered an ethical disconnect. Often, I’d ask the class how many people believed that eating meat was in some way immoral, and I’d get at least half the class raising their hands. Many of those people weren’t vegetarian or vegan, but had some unresolved guilt when they really thought about it. When asked why, they’d tell me how cruel the “factory farm” is, or would cite some celebrity activist’s documentary they saw once on Netflix. They had formed opinions without ever encountering the perspectives of real farmers and ranchers.

Then, I’d introduce them to Temple Grandin, and would have them watch a YouTube video documenting her involvement with and improvement of cattle handling procedures. They usually responded with some degree of shock at how unlike the infamously cruel “factory farm” this seemed to be. Following Grandin’s system, these cattle actually seemed comfortable. Moreover, the fact that stressed cattle decrease meat quality was a game changer for many of them. The meat industry actually needs happy animals to make money, a fact that we ag folks know, but that virtually no one else does. As if money isn’t enough motivation to handle cattle humanely, there are already laws in place that will shut a slaughterhouse or feedlot down faster than Vanilla Ice’s music career if they mistreat the animals. This conversation never took political sides, which would have been an unnecessary distraction. We stuck to the facts. In doing this, I never converted a vegetarian or vegan, but there were many on the fence who hopped right off and kicked their meat guilt to the curb.

By now, you have probably heard about the in-development Colorado ballot initiative #16 called the PAUSE act (an acronym for “Protect Animals from Unnecessary Suffering and Exploitation”). If you would like to read the text, it’s publicly available on the CO Secretary of State’s website. Many groups have mobilized to fight it, such as the Colorado Cattleman’s Association, and excellent points and arguments have been made against the initiative (such as this Fencepost article: https://www.thefencepost.com/news/initiative-16-assigned-title-ag-groups-fight-back/), but there’s something important missing: non-agricultural voices (the people who make up the a massive, and usually majority, voting block). For purely anecdotal evidence, virtually none of my urbanite, philosophy, or higher education friends are currently posting about this or the related “Meat-out Day” on social media, whereas every other rural friend is. Initiative #16 was drafted by and is supported by urbanites, and is opposed by the vocal but still isolated rural Colorado.

If the PAUSE initiative goes through, it won’t really be because of the governor, or the lawmakers. It will be because of the average urbanite who believes he or she is doing the right thing, and hasn’t heard a compelling argument from a real person on the other side. Ultimately, its success will be largely due to disinformation on a massive scale. Urban and rural America generally both care deeply about animals; it’s just that one of those sides doesn’t realize that. So let’s fix it. Country folks, go out and make city friends, and urbanites (the two of you reading this), go out and make rural friends! Don’t be pushy or political; just offer a real look at your world. Even invite them out to your place! It’s healthy, and it’s the only way out of this mess of misunderstanding.