Last Updated on May 20, 2024, 6:11 PM | Published: May 16, 2024
If you’re not aware of the overwhelming grip that corporate-run factory farms have had on the meat production industry of Oklahoma for decades, then it’s safe to say that you didn’t grow up on a farm.
Major corporate producers have been consolidating their control of our state’s meat production – in particular pork and chicken production – for decades, leaving in their wake a trail of dead family farms and a continuing outpouring of toxic runoff waste that’s wreaking havoc on rivers and water sources.
Not to mention the tragic and inhumane treatment of the cramped, overcrowded animals themselves.
It’s an issue that new short documentary “Common Enemy” tries to dig into, even if it fails to get to the real meat of the problem.
Produced by the nationwide Humane League and supported by Oklahoma’s own Kirkpatrick Foundation, “Common Enemy” attempts to look at the dire tolls and consequences of corporate factory farming in the meat and agriculture industries, focusing mainly on hog and chicken farming in Oklahoma.
The Kirkpatrick Foundation is hosting a slate of free public screenings and discussion panels for the film at locations across the OKC Metro to help get the word out about this ongoing issue. And having representatives on hand at the screenings is a good idea, because the film surely raises more questions than it even tries to answer.
Documentarian and animal rights activist Adam Peditto spends the doc’s 35 short minutes spotlighting the people and communities that have been affected by our state’s shift to overcrowded factory farming, from veterinarians and former workers with psychological scars to Indigenous activists and former family farm owners.
Former longtime State Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson lends the film some governmental gravitas, expounding on his own fights against factory farming, both as AG and ongoing even now, centering on the corporations’ refusals to clean and regulate their own waste.
Peditto goes to considerable lengths to detail the public health risks and the cramped, inhumane conditions for the animals in these factory farms, particularly those run by Tyson Foods in Eastern Oklahoma.
What he admittedly never does, however, is speak to anyone involved with, or in charge of, those factory farms, and very little time (read: almost none) is spent discussing how and why these corporations have been allowed to run riot on our family farms through legislation and deregulation.
There’s a brief moment early in the documentary that weakly attempts to explain how an oversight or loophole in state legislation in the 90s led to an influx of corporate-run farms, but no elaboration is made to examine who supported that legislation or why those holes haven’t been closed.
There’s a pretty glaring feeling throughout that the filmmakers (and likely the film’s producers) are consciously trying to avoid the partisanship of the issue, never casting any light whatsoever on the legislators or officials that have protected or supported the factory farm corporations then and now.
The presence of notable Democrat Edmonson and a few quick clips of President Biden and some members of his administration make it pretty clear which side of the political divide this fight falls on, but the refusal to acknowledge the political issue that it is feels at least a little disingenuous.
The film’s framing would have you believe that the corporations that comprise the “common enemy” of the title are malicious, independent actors exploiting long-ignored oversights in our state’s regulations and laws.
The reality, of course, is that their business model is openly protected and supported by current legislators, with recent new bills even introduced just this year intended to overtly protect the corporations’ rights to dump toxic runoff into state waters.
Numerous comments throughout the doc make it clear that we need better legislation against these practices, but little is explained about what that legislation would need to be exactly, and no mention is made of who in our state government would be opposed.
“Common Enemy,” then, feels more than a bit like a political issue ad masquerading as an exposé, and being released in an election year and backed by these lobbying groups and non-profits, that’s likely exactly what it’s intended to be.
But none of that is to say that it isn’t providing an important look at a majorly important issue in our state, and with the Kirkpatrick Foundation hosting their free screenings and discussion panels across the OKC Metro, it’s a great way to get the conversation flowing.
If you’re not yet familiar with the issues surrounding corporate factory farming or the public health and environmental concerns around their practices, catching one of the various free screenings of “Common Enemy” will surely be a great place to start.
But after the screening, don’t be afraid to ask questions and dig even a tiny bit deeper, because I guarantee that the issue – and the discourse surrounding it – is far more toxic than even this documentary would have you believe.
You can attend a free public screening and discussion panel for “Common Enemy,” hosted by The Humane League and The Kirkpatrick Foundation, at any of these times and locations:
• May 18, 2:00 pm
Natural Grocers
2120 SW 89th St.
• May 24, 3:30 pm
Choctaw Metro Library
2525 Muzzy St., Choctaw
• June 1, 11:00 am
Natural Grocers Edmond
16425 N. Western Ave., Edmond
• June 9, 3:00 pm
Natural Grocers NW Expressway
5903 Northwest Expressway
• June 10, 6:30 pm
Belle Isle Metro Library
5501 N. Villa Ave.
Each screening will feature a discussion following the film with Dr. Lesa Staubus, DVM, Senior Program Officer, Farm Animal Welfare with The Kirkpatrick Foundation.
For more information, visit commonenemyfilm.com.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that “Common Enemy” was jointly produced by the Kirkpatrick Foundation – who did not produce, but do support the film and The Humane League – and incorrectly stated that the Tyson Foods factory farm featured in the film was in Enid when the facility is, in fact, in Eastern Oklahoma. These corrections have been made.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.