An intimate encounter with the human face of food, Meat is an astonishing insight into the hidden world behind the supermarket shelves. Dive into the life and work of four profoundly different meat producers – discover how the food on your table is shaped by the great issues of our age: feminism, waste, philosophy, greed, morality, health, welfare, environmentalism, even terrorism. In the collision of lives, ideas and opinions, Meat serves up a powerful and provocative portrait of the people who feed us – and why – without ever telling us what to think.
Meet Josh, a life-long deer hunter soloing in the southern wilderness, struggling to make a kill. A rare individual who relies entirely on nature to provide his family with meat, witness the work that goes into a timeless tradition, his passion for nature, and the perspective that comes with it.
Enter the reality of a high volume pig farm with Ian, a man who has dedicated his life to producing 400 tonnes of pork a year. An unflinching look at the complex truth behind ham and bacon, Ian's insider view challenges the simple assumptions and attitudes about his industry. Glimpse the intricate connections between food and economics as he inseminates sows and helps piglets gain 700g every day.
Uncommon in more ways that one, Jill is a one-woman farming operation. Delivering her unique take on everything from tail docking to terrorism, she offers an unexpected and honest view of the difficulties and rewards of traditional farming in the modern world. This is the worldview of an irresistible character as she labours to raise lamb and beef for a market on the other side of the globe.
Then there's Tony, a retired teacher striving to balance the needs of his chickens and the demands of his market. Producing specialty chicken for China, Tony's philosophical attitude to killing almost 1000 chickens a week is an extraordinary, yet personal insight into the business of food and death. Resisting simple answers or judgments, this is a film about food, focused on the personalities behind it, and their ideas and feelings about the work that sustains them. Building a disruptive picture of one of the world's most essential, yet controversial industries, Meat is much more than a documentary about meat.
