Years ago after reading Ruth Ozeki’s 1998 novel “My Year of Meats”, I gave up eating well, meat. The first novel by award-winning writer and documentary maker Ozeki, it was a brilliantly worded read as well as damn depressing and occasionally hard to stomach. In the novel, protagonist Jane Takagi-Little takes a job as a producer on a Japanese reality show designed to encourage Japanese housewives to cook more beef. Jane is responsible for finding American housewives who are “wholesome and attractive” who will open their homes to the cameras and make a meal whose centrepiece is some kind of beef dish. As Jane becomes more involved in the show, she begins to learn things about the beef industry that cause her to doubt her commitment to the show. At the same time, Akiko Ueno, the wife of the advertising executive who oversees the show's production, watches and learns that there is more to life than subservient obedience to a husband that she never loved. “My Year of Meats” is not only a closer look into the controversial practices of the beef industry but also a story of self-discovery in the lives of two very different women. I highly recommend it, and it affected me to such a degree that I stopped eating meat for almost nine years. My return to the carnivorous fold was basically a craving, coupled with the fact that since I had given it up a plethora of options had opened to buy reasonably affordable, free farmed and ethically treated meat. I still don’t eat pork but that’s another story related to a deep set love for pigs – true fact.
Years ago after reading Ruth Ozeki’s 1998 novel “My Year of Meats”, I gave up eating well, meat. The first novel by award-winning writer and documentary maker Ozeki, it was a brilliantly worded read as well as damn depressing and occasionally hard to stomach. In the novel, protagonist Jane Takagi-Little takes a job as a producer on a Japanese reality show designed to encourage Japanese housewives to cook more beef. Jane is responsible for finding American housewives who are “wholesome and attractive” who will open their homes to the cameras and make a meal whose centrepiece is some kind of beef dish. As Jane becomes more involved in the show, she begins to learn things about the beef industry that cause her to doubt her commitment to the show. At the same time, Akiko Ueno, the wife of the advertising executive who oversees the show's production, watches and learns that there is more to life than subservient obedience to a husband that she never loved. “My Year of Meats” is not only a closer look into the controversial practices of the beef industry but also a story of self-discovery in the lives of two very different women. I highly recommend it, and it affected me to such a degree that I stopped eating meat for almost nine years. My return to the carnivorous fold was basically a craving, coupled with the fact that since I had given it up a plethora of options had opened to buy reasonably affordable, free farmed and ethically treated meat. I still don’t eat pork but that’s another story related to a deep set love for pigs – true fact.
Anyway, a documentary airing tonight on Rialto Channel may have the same effect on you as Ozeki’s book did on me, the brilliantly made THE ANIMAL CONDITION. It shines a light on the grey areas of the animal rights debate, when four friends take a trip around Australia to speak to every side on the subject. Often shocking and confronting, it will certainly change your views about eating meat.
First time director Michael Dahlstrom described THE ANIMAL CONDITION as a film about “human and animal suffering”. “The Animal Condition is about the dying farmer unable to keep his operating costs low enough to break even, the activist jailed for refusing to pay trespassing fines and the animals caught in the middle,” he said. “But most of all, the film is an exploration of the arguments we use to justify our treatment of others. How a farmer treats his dog is very different to the way he treats his pigs. The conditions dealt out to immigrant factory workers are very different to those enjoyed by their managers. It is not just a story about animal welfare, but a story about how we as humans treat each other.”
It is the work of Code Talk Films, effectively a true collaboration between Augusta Miller (Happy Feet, Risking Our Kids), Ande Cunningham (Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Raker), Michael Dahlstrom and Sarah-Jane McAllan (Before the Rain, Raker, The Wonderful). It is incredibly unbiased and even-handed, giving us all sides of the story and allowing the farming industry every opportunity to put forward its case. I appreciate this approach hugely as it allows audiences to draw their own conclusions. The issues in the film extend beyond animal welfare, also examining the way that society’s management systems influence how we as humans treat each other.
On top of all of the animal welfare issues, it has been said that eating meat is one of the worst things you can do for the environment. Then again, so is having more and more children and that has never stopped housewives from affluent suburbs all over the world from going for number four purely to keep up appearances. Will this doco stop me eating meat then? Probably not – despite the shock factor – but it will see me commit even more strongly to sourcing only ethically treated, organic meat and price be damned even on my modest budget. Pay more and therefore eat less I say, eat local and rest easier in the knowledge that you have the power to improve the lives of animals – and humans - in our own farming nation.