Over the last decade or so we’ve seen a movement across Europe towards veganism and away from a meat-based diet. Whilst there are clearly some health benefits, one of the main reasons people cite for making this lifestyle change is animal cruelty. At least in Europe there is some levels of regulation, whether countries choose to abide by EU laws or not. In America, regulation fluctuates between slight and non-existent. Since the 1970s, traditional farming has rapidly been replaced by industrial scale factory farming.
Based on a book by award-winning novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals is a powerful new documentary from Christopher Dillon Quinn. It focusses on this inhumane practice from start to finish as the animals are penned, force-fed, caged, abused and slaughtered in the most horrendous ways. It also destroys the environment, ravages the land and puts public health at risk. He also looks at the alternative. At a group of people who have decide to take a different path.
Narrated by Natalie Portman, who was so moved by Foer’s book that she became vegan, Eating Animals is a timely and often disturbing look inside a multi-billion-dollar industry. Whilst we might not like to think about how the meat we eat gets to our plates, the truth is usually extremely unpalatable. Whilst it is one-sided, it’s never preachy, and I’m not quite sure what a defence would look like. We live in a world where our consumption cannot continue at current levels. Eating Animals offers a real alternative.
Eating Animals is out in cinemas from 7 June.
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