Mad Cow Sacred Cow

Tuesday June 23, 2009 at 10 pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld

With over 10,000 cases of swine flu reported around the globe, the influenza virus has stirred fears with consumers about the possibility of contracting the illness through the consumption of pork. Although pork consumption has not been directly linked with contraction of H1N1, countries including China and Russia have banned imports of pork products. The spread of the H1N1 virus has reignited debate and fear about global pandemics and animal-spread viruses to humans such as swine flu and Mad Cow.

Terrified of his food, filmmaker Anand Ramayya (Cosmic Current) embarks on a journey that reveals shocking connections between the mad cow crisis, farm crisis and global Food crisis.

Filmmaker Anand Ramayya

Ramayya realizes that the cow is not only his favourite meal but also the God of his Hindu ancestors and the livelihood of his Canadian in-laws, who are small farmers.

With a sense of humour and curiosity, Ramayya embarks on a journey to learn more about the modern Mad Cow and ancient Sacred Cow in hopes that their stories will reveal a solution to his fear of food. The journey takes him from his in-laws' family farm all the way back to India, land of the Sacred Cow. Ironically, modern India is also home to a burgeoning meat export industry that threatens to destroy an agricultural economy centered around the Sacred Cow and critical to the livelihood of 65% of India's population.

A sacred cow in India

Globalization emerges as a recurring character in this journey, revealing a world gone mad, an ecological crisis, religious fundamentalism, a farmer suicide epidemic and record breaking economic growth contrasted by staggering disparity.

Mad Cow Sacred Cow is a universal story that connects the food we eat to the environmental, cultural, economic and health crises we are currently facing on a global level.

Weaving interviews from internationally renowned speakers such as Dr. Vandana Shiva, Maneka Gandhi, Dr. Murray Waldman, Nettie Wiebe and Swami Agnivesh with stunning visuals of a personal journey that crosses continents, the story of Mad Cow Sacred Cow takes us from the filmmaker's own happy days of indiscriminate beef consumption to the frightening realities created by globalization.