One of the great conveniences of grocery stores is that they allow us to never really think about where our food comes from. All we see is a neatly contained package of meat, maybe there are a few stickers that illustrate a farm and some labels that tell you the meat is “free-range” – what that means, you’re not really sure, but it is ready to heat and eat. You never have to think twice about about what really made this meat possible, so you don’t worry yourself with all the sordid details.

While this might be incredibly convenient, it also enables us to produce animals for food in some of the most torturous ways possible. Most people understand that an animal has to die to make meat possible, but they don’t understand – really – how factory farms work, or the extent of the pain, fear and filth the animal they are eating had to endure to make their way to the table. In an effort to draw the connections between food and animal, the Australia-based organization, Voiceless: the Animal Protection Institute, teamed up with Cream Studios, launched a campaign entitled, “The Truth is Hard to Swallow” to show us where our food comes from.

When we buy meat, all we see is a package. But before that meat was in a package … it was an animal.

These images were designed to get people thinking about where their food comes from and to be inspired to look into factory farming.

The piercing eyes of the animals in these ads convey the sentience of these highly intelligent and emotional creatures. The lives of these animals come at the cost of our convenience. 

You can see more of the incredible work done by Cream Studios by clicking here.

All image source: Cream Studios/Behance