Our Daily Bread
Strong filmmaking, masterfully shot, universal, shocking, eerie, profound, no narration, just stark reality. It strips away of the layers of just how we as a race have distorted just about everything in the natural world and commodified it at our own peril, while losing our soul and any natural connection it used to have.
To the rhythm of conveyor belts and immense machines, the film looks without commenting into the places where food is produced in Europe: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes and bizarre sounds - a cool, industrial environment which leaves little space for individualism. People, animals, crops and machines play a supporting role in the logistics of this system which provides our society's standard of living.
The documentary depicts how modern food production companies employ technology to maximize efficiency, consumer safety and profit. It consists mainly of actual working situations without voice-over narration or interviews as the director tries to let viewers form their own opinion on the subject. The names of the companies where the footage was filmed are purposely not shown. The director's goal is to provide a realistic view on the internal workings of multiple food production companies in our modern society.
Directed by: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
I loved the omission of any narration! I thought it was brilliant the way he allowed the image to speak for itself; it reminds me of the way many Anthropologists today are trying to write in images in order to capture that "third meaning" Roland Barthes describes. The third meaning resists explanation and escapes language, it is that which inexplicably holds us. Depicting things in this imagistic way doesn't reduce complicated issues like human/nonhuman interactions; it lets them stand in all their complexity and contradiction, and to speak to each viewer, opening up a dialogue. Point is, I loved this movie haha, it shows such beautiful and haunting images that capture something ineffably sinister about the way we interact with the beings with whom we share the world.
There is a wonderful new movie called "The East" where a covert group of people go after major corporations just to bring the truth out for the world to see. This documentary reminded me of the brave people who also came forward with the truth. BTW- "Spy on us, we'll spy on you" is a main line in that movie as well. ; )
Its funny because we dont need meat in our diets we can have all the proteins we need from plants quite easily and from a scientific stand point its actually quite detrimental to our health to eat meat. (if you dont believe me lots of sources can be found in Dr. Colin Campbell's book called the China Study as far as i can tell these results cannot be contested). Yet it tastes so goood. for me its a philosophical question: enjoy life to its fullest no matter what the cost or i could make a whole bunch of sacrifices to life longer but probably a less enjoyable life? This question applies to alot of aspects in our lives, global warming and food are the main ones i think about. to ease the guilt a little i have slaughtered my own animals, cleaned my own fish. I think if you cant slaughter your own meat you shouldn't eat meat. good documentary though wish it had some narration i found alot of the impact is lost because of the lack of narration.
There is no possible way of justifying the massive amount of suffering caused. I have seen it happen, live and and in living color. It simply is pure terror and agony.
Even maintaining your own existence doesn't justify it.
Just close your eyes and plug your ears, there's nothing else you can do.
I can't imagine the horror the baby chicks feel at being "handled" like they show. I'm NOT a PETA supporter. But from personal experience on a farm, animals do have some intelligence. Killing a animal for food has always been a religious experience for me & I thank the animals spirit b4 putting it down. Myself... If I'm going to die, I'd rather be killed by someone I know then a stranger in a factory or hospital.
The idea of humane in animal husbandry is simply hypocrisy: people slaughter them for meet, sexually abuse them to get eggs and milk, neuter them to tame their aggression, profile them for selective breeding, the list goes without end. You see, the concept of humane is simply inapplicable here. If you think feeding a cow on grassland for 3 years and slaughtering instead of few month in industrialized farm and slaughtering is better, the only reason to argue is possible nutritional benefits, any other argument as natural, harmonious or humane is just a human psychological issue. BTW, if not for millenniums of "animal torturing" the modern domesticated species will never occur, and we are still the very natural hunt-gatherers.
The biological (Europe misconception) or organic (US misconception) food of course has its value. But it is simply impossible to feed the whole population with such method while maintaining the same nutritional level. Asking for abandon of industrialized agriculture is just no-brainer.
I was impressed by the quality and quantity of food produced on relatively small areas of land. Not pleasant but necessary to feed this mostly urban monolith the world is becoming.
The pesticide/herbicide use is disturbing, but due to customer demand for perfect vegies and producer demand for high yield.
For the most part, the animal husbandry practices were humane, the exception being the beef slaughter where the carcass of one was in the view of the next one.
Disturbing, yes. Informative, very.
I was impressed
makes perfect sense in a monetary system, how else can you maximize profits above and beyond any other ethic or moral this is what it's all about comon you like money don't you? this is what comes out of money if you don't like it stop using money completely and the corruption will stop.
This documentary seems to have been wasted on a handful of viewers whose thrill was watching animals being slaughtered. Anyone with any sensitivity would know that animals do panic before being killed. For those of you with silly comments, your world consists of a $2.00 Mac. But I feel for the employees who work these jobs, how monotonous is that ?
Enjoy don't hate
what are we doing ,,!! so to see on the comments is it no wonder ,
This movie does fail to highlight the good that comes of all this murder. I love chicken strips man and tacos. spaghetti o's and chilli dogs. Some french fries and some BBQ iguana dude.
I've seen this several times - its beautifull, thought provoking - and kind of a horror movier showing where in Our modern society - where Our Food is made, how its made - and the People working there. Such horrors....
three comments and already negative BS? I'll watch it later, maybe?
So what! I hate such "no narration" films as it shows clearly the mentality of the director: I don't what to discuss with you, I just want to feed you THIS. I know exactly that you would feel awful and sorry if I take THIS perspective, so I do it. Did I show you the complete picture of the story? who cares, I just want to impress you.
Subtitles?