Twelfth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

This paper examines how popular documentary movies on meat represent meat and the contemporary meat production industry. The paper examines six different documentaries released in the last 10 years. Using the methodological approach of multimodal analysis, it shows that meat is represented as a controversial food in relation to animal welfare, the impact of the meat industry on the environment, and public health. Although all of the analyzed documentaries assert that the mass production of meat is problematic, different approaches to solving the problem are presented. These include switching to a more plant-based diet, not eating meat at all, consuming plant-based meat analogues and cultured meat, hunting wildlife, and regenerative agriculture. While these solutions may all reject mass meat production as we know it, they stem from two different epistemes. One relates to romantic ideas of nature conservation, critique of industrialization, organic nature, nostalgic retrospection of pristine nature, and anthropomorphization of animals along with advocacy for animal rights. The other is based on rationalist, mechanistic, and technological approaches to nature and animals as usable commodities, and the management of nature and animals with scientific and technological innovations based on Enlightenment ideas. The paper critically engages with both epistemes and reflects on their significance in the context of the contemporary meat industry and its impact on environmental and animal welfare.

Presenters

Andreja Vezovnik
Associate Professor, Centre for Social Psychology/Department of Media and Communication, University of Ljubljana FDV, Ljubljana, Slovenia