I have always been very careful about my diet and there is a lot of stuff I thought that I was doing very well. It all started after a friend a mine died from cancer. I started reading a lot about food but also emotional health. After reading those books, I already reduced meat consumption, but I was still high on dairy products. After watching the below-listed documentaries, I completely stopped consuming dairy too.
I cannot say I am 100% vegan, I still have a bit of fish and seafood once in a while. But since I watched those documentaries, I decided to drastically limit my animal-based food consumption.
The why of vegan is quite easy to understand:
- Better overall health
- Better ecological footprint
- Better mood & energy
- Lower food cost
The Game Changers
The Game Changers 2018 was recommended to me by a colleague of mine. It opened my eyes. Before this documentary, I heard few times about vegan people from the Yoga studio of my wife, but I never considered it a viable option for myself. This documentary really shows that despite all the stereotype (you need milk for growth, you need chicken for proteins etc..), lots of high profile athletes are 100% on a plant based diet.
What The Health
What the Health was not only a strong documentary showing the benefits of a plant-based diet on health and the environment but also an eye-opening moment that agriculture business is confusing consumers on purpose stating that milk and meat products are good for the health of people facing cancer, diabetes or high cholesterol. I was also very choked to see that the agriculture industry is even funding organizations such as diabetes association or cancer-fighting associations. The food recommendations of those associations then all include meat and dairy products as part of the daily diet.
Cowspiracy
Cowspiracy as a play on words about “conspiracy” explains how meat & dairy lobbyists as well as media are tricking consumers into thinking that the biggest driver of global warming is the use of fossil fuel. However, according to the documentary, the biggest driver when it comes to water consumption, land use, co2, and methane emissions is by far the cattle industry. And within the cattle industry, beef is the main driver.
Forks over Knives
Forks over knives is a highly statistically driven documentary showing the impact of meat and dairy on peoples and health and how health conditions can be reversed by adopting a whole-food and plant-based diet.
Dominion
Dominion is by far the most schoking documentary I saw. It shows the terrible conditions in which the cattle is being raised and killed. Only for strong stomachs. You will see a lots of terrible things, pigs which are forced not to move, killing of goats, cows, chickens, animals eating each others etc..
Really strong documentary. Clearly not for everyone. But it made me understand what I support when I eat conventional meat. Grass fed and sustainable meat is clearly better, but there is still the act of killing.
Planet of the Humans
This one has not too much to do about being vegan. This documentary is about the “scam” around renewable energy. Where a bit part of what we call renewable energy is actually coming from the biomass category. Which means ultimately chopping wood and burning trees.
All those documentaries are sometimes exaggerating some facts. But they is still a part of truth in every story. Always stay critical.
