Eating Animals

In his book Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer goes in search of answers to the question as to why we eat meat, and delves into the disturbing world of factory farming, which in an interview with Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad he characterized as "the worst thing humans have ever done to animals." Like Foer’s book, this eponymous documentary presents overwhelmingly convincing arguments in favor of cutting meat consumption and restricting the industrial production of animal foodstuffs. Director Christopher Dillon Quinn presents evidence from scientists, journalists, activists and farmers, all of whom shed light on a different facet of the agro-industrial complex—from the advent of factory farming, in which Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken played an important role, to the moral implications of the cruel thirst for profit, and the shocking price that people, animals and nature pay for the ceaseless demand for cheap food. Accounts of industrial farming and appalling animal suffering combine with archive footage and the beauty of rural America. Moving testimony from farmers who want to turn the tide powerfully appeals to the responsibility of the consumer.