A Cow at My Table is a 1998 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 examining Western attitudes

Attitude (psychology)

An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for something. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event— this is often referred to as the attitude object...

 towards farm animals and meat.

It covers the conflict between animal rights

Animal rights

Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...

 advocates and the meat industry, and their respective attempts to influence consumers. It was directed, shot and edited by Jennifer Abbott

Jennifer Abbott

Jennifer Abbott is a Canadian director, cinematographer and editor, best known as a documentary maker. Her first feature documentary, A Cow at My Table , explores contemporary Western attitudes to livestock and meat production...

, who spent five years travelling across Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand to interview representatives on all sides. The film intercuts these interviews with images of farm animals and industrial farming operations. It explores what is sometimes popularly called factory farming

Factory farming

Factory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...

.