Maybe she was just using reverse psychology. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm sparked a meat-eating extravaganza across her state this weekend after she proclaimed Saturday to be "Meatout Day."

Bowing to animal rights activists and hardcore vegans, Granholm urged her loyal subjects not to eat meat. The edict backfired, however, as ornery farmers, butchers, hunters, and God-fearing meat-lovers protested with a barbecue on the lawn of the Capitol. Some launched Facebook pages called Michigan Meat-Eaters' Day and The Great American "Steak" Out, the latter of which implored folks to send photos of themselves devouring meat to the governor's office in Lansing.

Probably no one would have complained if Granholm had used the occasion—March 20 was National Agriculture Day—to tout Michigan cherries or sugar beets. But she went a step further, linking meat and dairy products to disease and death, promoting one type of Michigan farmer at the expense of another.

When her political rivals pounced, boasting of their carnivore credentials, Granholm back-pedaled and called the Michigan Farm Bureau to make nice. Her office assured the public, meanwhile, that the governor is not a vegetarian and that she had no problem with all those Average Joes who would be eating lots of "chicken wings and burgers" while watching the weekend's March Madness basketball games.

As the media storm raged, Granholm was making more headlines in the Wolverine State than Bart Stupak.

If the controversy weren't so comical, it might be more troubling. Granholm issued her proclamation at the behest of FARM, the Farm Animal Rights Movement, a PETA ally, which condemns the use of animals for food and promotes a vegan diet with tactics it describes as "a combination of confrontation and discussion." This March 20 marked the group's 25th annual meat-out campaign.

Granholm isn't alone in caving to the group. Governors in 31 states have issued, at one time or another, meat-out proclamations, even in ranching states like Texas (2003) and Nebraska (1991).

Here in Connecticut, Gov. Jodi Rell issued a proclamation this year too, and in 2009 and 2007.

It's no surprise, though, that protestors aren't barbecuing outside Rell's window in Hartford. Unlike in the Midwest, farming and ranching don't exactly command the Connecticut economy. And unlike Granholm, Rell also was shrewd enough to choose her words carefully. Her proclamation, although annoying, makes no apocalyptic claims about the dangers of eating meat. Instead, it speaks strictly in the affirmative, lauding vegetables, fruits, and whole grains for their health and environmental benefits.

Furthermore, Rell refrained from the condescension of Michigan's governor, who preached that "Eating a healthy diet can be fun [silly children]. Explore the different recipes that can be created by using fresh ingredients and by having a sense of adventure." Because, she forgot to say, eating celery and tofu is so freaking enlightened.

If they could mind their own business for once, politicians like Granholm might be relieved to find that the world will keep right on spinning without their decrees about Meatout Day or National Agriculture Day, meat or no meat. So the next time Gov. Granholm and her food elitist friends decide to tell people what to eat, they ought to remember the mass barbecue they inspired Saturday. We have grills and we're not afraid to use them.