“American Meat”: A Solutions-Oriented Documentary
We’re hopeful about this one, folks. American Meat is currently hosting local screenings around the country, and if the trailer is any indication, this should be a really great piece of work. We are in dire need of a popular media adjustment on the topic of American meat production. There are very real and pressing issues out there: like how to keep and encourage more small ranchers and farmers to be in the business, how to make it a sustainable option for producers from a financial standpoint, how to encourage sustainable practices without further shrinking revenues, how to curb the industry’s consolidation, etc. etc.
Unfortunately, the public dialogue about American meat has been driven, by and large, by a few extremist perspectives on the subject. In particular, I’m thinking of Food, Inc., which propped up the truly horrifying conditions in a truly small niche of American food production, and called it systemic and widespread. The sensationalist slant got the documentary a hugely popular following amongst a growing segment of the population who cares about where there food comes from. But most ranchers and farmers we know and have spoken with, even some companies that might fall under the much-demonized “Big Ag” umbrella, are completely innocent of anything akin to the atrocities portrayed in that documentary. Call us what you will, but we think “Food, Inc.” was irresponsible and sensationalist. It shed a light, but ended up demonizing meat production through and through.
What we need is a balanced and circumspect discussion about the challenges to sustainable agriculture. And we hope that American Meat brings that to the table.
