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An explosive new animal rights documentary is set for release later this year.
Food For Profit is the result of a five-year investigation by journalist Guilia Innocenzi into the links between the European Parliament and the 387 billion euros-funded factory farming industry. Co-directed by Innocenzi and Pablo D’Ambrosi, the film premiered at the European Parliament in Brussels in February this year. An English-language film that features international experts on the farming industry, some have already dubbed it ‘the European Cowspiracy’. One description from an Italian TV show said that it “makes Europe tremble.”
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Speaking to Plant Based News (PBN) about the film, D’Ambrosi said: “Europeans think that the meat and dairy that are consuming is of high quality, essentially different from the cheap meat that Americans or Chinese are eating. In Food For Profit, we show that in reality there is no difference, in fact, 90 percent of the meat consumed in Europe comes from factory farms.”
A 400 billion euro industry
According to D’Ambrosi, this industry received a large part of the almost 400 billion euros of taxpayers money, “disguised within the Green Deal.” He said that this deal is “everything but green,” and instead finances big Agri Groups. “The trick is to divert the money in subsidies to crops for animal feed, allowing this machine of mass animal exploitation to carry on undisturbed and without the knowledge of the public,” he continued.
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Using hidden camera footage, Innocenzi is seen in the film approaching politicians and people involved in factory farming, several of whom try to prevent her and the film crew from investigating and filming.
D’Ambrosi explains how the film crew “infiltrated the high sphere of power in Europe by sending a lobbyist to meet with MEPs and other lobbyists.”
“We filmed them secretly talking about gene editing and how to improve productivity in intensive farms, to keep up with their competitors, notably China and the USA,” he explained. “The picture that emerges is shocking: a complete disregard for animals, nature, and communities. A system of legalized corruption exposes the huge power lobbies have in Europe (in Brussels alone there are 25,000 lobbyists), revealing a wide democratic gap between ‘us’ — citizens, and ‘them’ — politicians and lobbyists.”
The wide-ranging impact of the film
The film has had quite an impact so far, with its Instagram page amassing 70,000 followers in a short space of time, and Italian national newspapers and television have covered the film’s release also. It has been shown in over 500 Italian cinemas, as well as screenings in universities and schools. “It was the first time that an independent documentary reached these levels and this is all thanks to the people and activists that supported us,” D’Ambrosi said.
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Innocenzi, who features heavily throughout the film, added: “We’ve already screened the film at the European Parliament, which was our premiere, and we’ll screen the film at the Italian Parliament. Last week we were the number one film in Italy for occupancy rate in cinemas. We will screen the film also at Yale, Melbourne University, in Barcelona, and many other European countries.”
You can learn more about the film on its official website.
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