Watch American Meat

American Meat is a documentary film directed by Graham Meriwether that takes a deep dive into the meat industry in America. The film follows the stories of various farmers, agricultural experts, cattle ranchers, and private citizens who have all been affected by the industry's practices in one way or another. The documentary delves into the vast differences in farming practices throughout the country and the impact they have on the environment, economy, and people's health.

The film opens with a succinct explanation of how the meat industry has changed over the past 50 years. It highlights how factory farming has become the dominant model, and farmers who don't conform to the large-scale model often struggle to remain competitive. The film takes viewers on a journey through the contrasting farming methods - small-scale, sustainable agriculture to the modern commercial model of intensive farming.

The documentary explores how industrial farming methods have taken over America, with corporations owning vast amounts of land and controlling production practices far away from the end consumer's view. In contrast, small-scale farmers are shown to rearing healthy animals in humane ways under environmentally sustainable methods, but the higher costs associated with sustainable methods makes it challenging for them to compete in the marketplace.

The documentary's storytelling is woven around the journeys of a few insightful interviewees, including farmers like Joel Salatin, who runs Polyface farms in Virginia, and Fred Kirshenmann, a North Dakota-based professor and farmer, among others. These visionaries represent those who prioritize transparency and healthy food production over profit by focussing on ethical and environmentally sustainable practices. They introduce viewers to the small-scale, diverse, and biodynamic farming procedures that followed traditional paths to promote sustainability and healthy food production.

The film takes you on a tour of various livestock farms, both big and small, and the cattle ranches from appallingly dark factory farmed facilities to small-scale, sustainable grazing systems. The contrast in the scale of operations, the treatment of animals, and the environmental footprint is stark, revealing the troubling externalities associated with industrial farming.

As the documentary explores environmental problems like water contamination, overuse of antibiotics, and food safety concerns, it impresses upon viewers the debilitating effects the meat industry has on the environment and human health. It also highlights the longstanding issues with typical large-scale farming methods, which contribute significantly to global warming through their heavy carbon footprint and over-reliance on chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides.

Moreover, the film shows how food consumers also impact the meat industry. Through interviews with chefs, farmers, activists, and other industry experts, viewers see the ways in which demands from consumers play a significant role in how the meat industry conducts itself. Shifting consumer tastes, a demand for organic, humane, and sustainably raised meat, and the preference for local farmer's markets instead of grocery stores with meat aisles, are all part of the conversation in American Meat.

The movie does a remarkable job of shedding light on how the industry operates, the problems that have arisen, and the problems that need to be addressed to create a more sustainable and humane meat industry for the future. It tells a compassionate, informative, and inspiring story of how America's food system can still create delicious, locally-produced, healthy ethically raised food if we look beyond profits and instead focus on sustainable and humane methods.

In conclusion, American Meat is an essential and thought-provoking documentary that covers a critical aspect of food production in America. It highlights the massive difference between large-scale, industrial meat production methods and small-scale, sustainable meat making methods. Through interviews and personal stories, it illustrates how the meat industry's industrialized practices affect the environment, consumers' health and taste as well as giving examples of the industry's tried and tested solutions that offer a path to a more sustainable future. Ultimately, the film makes clear that the choices we make as consumers can drive change in the meat industry by supporting more sustainable and humane practices.

American Meat is a 2013 documentary. It has received mostly poor reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 8.0 and a MetaScore of 40.