The Secret lives of Pigs

Commercials romanticise farm life while politicians brag about the high ethical standards of national farming. People dream of leaving the city to live on a peaceful farm and children’s school books depict cosy family-run farms. But this is all far from reality. The animals we eat in modern societies are rarely visible to the public. Most of our pigs, for instance, live their lives far away from us, yet we consume them like there’s no tomorrow. Young Norwegian schoolteacher Norun Haugen is skeptical about the romanticised narrative of the industrial pig farming which is also present in the educational material that she must teach her pupils. Haugen decides that she wants to see the pigs herself. But the industry is not interested in visitors. Haugen changes strategy and instead makes phone calls, giving the impression she wants to become a pig farmer but needs some training. Her plan works as she is allowed to go experience the life on the farms. From here, a shocking and brutal reality unfolds that sends shock waves through the pig industry.