Industrial food production machinery

Food processing

Producing 300 loaves of bread a day for an artisan baker is impressive enough, but when it comes to producing 10,000 loaves a day, packaging them and distributing them, the quantities and standards are different.

Everything has to be controlled, measured and perfectly mastered: the quality of the inputs, their moisture content, their temperature, the order of assembly, the brewing time, the baking time, the cooling time, the packaging and that even goes as far as modified atmosphere with more nitrogen and less oxygen to promote preservation.

Whether it is basic foods, pasta, meat, fish or more complex prepared foods, the processes involved require standardization and great precision in addition to impeccable hygiene.

These videos show what kind of machines are used and also the working conditions of operators in this industry.

Industrial agricultural production

The work of a 100-square-meter vegetable garden is certainly back-breaking, but when it comes to fields as large as plains, there is no question of going manually. The agricultural machines for planting, weeding, harvesting or processing used in large-scale production become absolutely necessary to produce on this scale. The machines in this video are frankly impressive.

The idea of greener industrial production is a challenge that will require work, knowledge, intelligence and collaboration from many people. Before we see birds, insects and other critters return to the countryside that has become rich in biodiversity, there is still much to master and understand.

Factory farming

You've probably seen revolting images of farms or slaughterhouses where animals are physically abused. This is not the industry standard because abused animals are more often sick, grow slower, consume more medication, produce less quality meat and overall are less profitable than in a farm with better conditions.

This is not to say that it is any more pleasant or acceptable. Even when well fed and cared for, living one's entire life in "hygienic" cages and pens without ever seeing the light of day, in an environment optimized to maximize protein production and meet the demand for low-cost meat should cause us to rethink our collective habits.

Fillets and other well-presented cuts of meat on the refrigerator shelves of supermarkets rarely come from artisanal farms. Less meat in our diets would make these practices less necessary.