Educational Media Reviews Online

The Chinese appetite for meat has been increasing as a result of a more affluent population that places value on serving and eating it. Demand has been met by migrating production from small family farms to large industrial farms, which are more like factories. This movie documents the change from small scale to large scale production.

Consequences of large scale production include inhumane treatment of animals, use of growth hormones to increase yields, and pollution. Neighbors of farms are interviewed. Farmers both small and large explain what is happening. There’s even advice on how to choose cuts of meat that have lower levels of hormones, which can be transferred to humans. Vegetarians explain that when someone serves veggies they can be perceived as being skinflints, and hope this attitude may change with education.

The target audience for this film is the general Chinese population. However, anyone interested in China, Chinese cultural norms, and the environment will find this a valuable movie. Clips from this film would be especially relevant for social studies, economics and agricultural studies classes.