How many of us actually stop and take a moment to consider where the products that we consume come from or what methods are deployed in their production? “Eating Animals” wants us to examine the origins of the meat and dairy we are eating.
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Much like documentaries such as “Food Inc.” and “Cowspiracy,” through graphic footage and in-depth interviews with farmers, who hope to bring farming away from the factory, the film investigates the rise of factory farming and exposes animal cruelty, the chemicals being put into food, and the environmental risks the industry imposes. “Eating Animals” is influenced by Jonathon Safran Foer‘s book of the same name, which Academy Award and Jewish Nobel Peace Prize winner Natalie Portman credits for her decision to become vegan.
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“Factory farming is responsible for most of the air, water [and] land pollution that disproportionately affects our poorer communities”. At the 2017 Environmental Media Association awards, she explains, “we get to make decisions three times a day [about] what we do with our planet and can make a difference by even once a day or once a week choosing not to eat animals or animal products”
The film, which received a standing ovation at the 2017 Telluride Film Festival, is directed and produced by Christopher Quinn (Sundance award winner God Grew Tired of Us) and produced Portman and Safran Foer.
“Eating Animals” will be opening June 15, 2018, from IFC Films.
The film is the feature-length adaptation of Foer’s critically acclaimed book of the same name that starts out with a simple question – where do our eggs, dairy, and meat come from? Through the intimate narratives of several farmers dedicated to bringing their trade – and the way we eat – back to its roots, the film explores the notion of stepping away from the practices of the past 40 years that have polluted our environment, endangered our health, and caused us all to be complicit in the inhumane treatment of animals. Looking at the costs we’ve incurred as our country has become dominated by massive industrial complexes designed to feed the masses, Eating Animals paints a picture of a future where traditional farming is no longer a distant memory but is instead the only way forward.