Our Daily Bread - The Movie

I saw the movie Our Daily Bread recently. The movie gives us a chance to think about where our food comes from, the impact food production has on people who work in that industry and humane treatment of animals.

The synopsis from the film's website says,

"Welcome to the world of industrial food production and high-tech farming! 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.

Our Daily Bread is a wide-screen tableau of a feast which isn’t always easy to digest - and in which we all take part. A pure, meticulous and high-end film experience that enables the audience to form their own ideas."

For a 90 minute movie with no dialogue "Our Daily Bread" zipped by for me. It's not an in-your-face anti-food movie at all. You can see the hard work people do to bring us food, think about what impact that work has on them and decide for yourself if the mechanized raising and harvesting of animals fits into your personal philosophy.

There are parts of this movie that would not be suitable for young people or those who are at all squeamish, but overall it's a sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrifying, but completely dispassionate look at industrial food production.

The DVD of this movie may be available at your local library.