What You Eat Matters

Yes, this is true, what you eat really does matter! And no, not just for yourself, but for the animals, and for the environment.

I recently came across this new full-length documentary on YouTube called “H.O.P.E. – What You Eat Matters” (H.O.P.E. standing for Healing Of Planet Earth), and wow this is a very powerful documentary that really makes you think and feel! The documentary features discussions about the benefits of a plant based diet, based on science and researched, and the environmental impact of farming animals for consumption, as well as [most importantly] the welfare of these poor animals, and the moral aspect of consuming them.

Here is another documentary I wish everyone in the world could watch; it’s thorough, comprehensive, and does a great job at presenting all the facts (backed by research), and showing the harsh reality of animal consumption and it’s consequences. Anyway, I could go on and on here, but the documentary simply just needs to be watched! Please take the time, do yourself a favor, and watch this movie.

WARNING: Watching this documentary in it’s entirety may cause irreversible awareness and compassion. Precede at your own risk of awakening. 

 

Vegan 2017

Another year of eating kale, and another year in the advancement of the vegan movement! It seems now more then ever that the plant based movement continues to grow exponentially every year, with the sharing of information, books, documentaries, YouTube videos, social media, events, and festivals. Moreover, it’s so great to see how many more new vegan restaurants are popping up, vegan options in “non-vegan” restaurants, vegan foods and alternatives at the grocery store, vegan apparel, and vegan movements! Love it!

And once again, the folks over at Plant Based News have done a great job of putting together another short documentary (as they did for 2016) that recounts the growth of the vegan movement in 2017. I wish everyone could watch this video because it is packed with so many good clips, news worthy segments, success stories, and challenges that still lie ahead of/for the vegan movement. But the main takeaway is clear, the vegan movement is growing, and there is no slowing down! Check it out here:

Vegan 2017

 

We Are All Earthlings

When you hear plant based folk say they are ‘vegan for the animals,’ you may not be exactly sure what the hell that means. Well, this documentary here titled Earthlings perfectly sums up what that actually means, and why we do it for the animals. Earthlings points the camera directly at the truth most people don’t want to see or know about when it comes to factory farming, and the role animals have been given in our society. Full disclosure, parts of this film are hard to watch, but all that means is that the truth is hard to swallow once you really see and understand what is going on…nonetheless, wouldn’t you rather know the truth!

Think about this for a minute; lets say we humans finally have the technology for deep space exploration, and consequently we happen to discover another planet that does indeed harbor life. But the life found on the planet is not human like (at least what we consider human), instead it’s these oddly shaped life forms, some large (bigger than us), some small (can fit in your hand), some cute, some ugly, they make noises we can’t understand, they don’t speak our language, but they seem to have mothers, fathers, and siblings just like we do. Furthermore, you can see their emotions in their faces, they have eyes similar to ours, they have what we can tell are ears, mouths, noses, and legs and arms. Wouldn’t this be amazing to encounter and see!? Wouldn’t we just look at them in awe and be like ‘wow how freakin incredible are these creatures!’ Surely we would look at them with fascination, intrigue, and want to learn more about them!

Or would we just be like ‘eh, we don’t understand what they are saying, and they seem dumber then us, so lets just start enslaving them, killing them, skinning them, and eating them.’ Imagine if that really happened! Well, we here on earth have been conditioned to be ok with this, it has simply become part of our culture, customs, upbringing, and a societal norm…but why? Why is this the right way? If you take a step back, and pretend you were that space cadet who made that journey to the newly found planet where this new life was found, you would realize that this is exactly what happened here on earth. We have these amazing creatures on our very own planet that we GET to coexist with, and yet most of us have all become ok with the idea of killing millions of them, torturing them, experimenting on them, and of course eating them.

Wowza….what the hell happened right?! It’s simply a matter of a disconnect; people just don’t make the connection, or choose not to, that these beings [earthlings] are actually incredible sentient creatures – not merely just things, they have feelings!! It was only through conditioning that we humans have been brought to the point of seeing these earthlings as things that are ‘food’ to eat. For most, ignorance really is bliss, they might actually know the truth, but instead of confront the truth and make that connection, they simply  continue on blissfully ignorant chowing down on whatever earthling tastes best to them.

You have been condition to think and see this here as a pet, that you love, and treat with respect:

You have been conditioned to see this as a thing called a cow, that we milk and eat (Mmm hamburger), that doesn’t have feelings or emotions, and that is merely just food:

You have been condition to see this as another thing called a pig, and that it is also incapable of any feelings or emotions…your conditioned response is Mmmmm bacon (clearly such a stark difference then a dog, no way these things have any emotions or feelings right?!):

Understand that these conditioned responses are simply due to what you have been thought; this is what you’ve know all your life, this is how you grew up, this is what your family and friends believe, this is what the mainstream public believes, and so you blindly continue on believing as such. People say, ‘well it’s part of our culture’ or ‘it’s part of their customs and tradition.’ Well, not too long ago here in the US slavery was part of our culture and customs. BUT does that make it OK? Does that make it RIGHT? A resounding HELL NO should be your response!!

Dare to think outside of your conditioned response and MAKE THE CONNECTION!! These creatures aren’t emotionless, feelingless, dumb things that are just commodities. These are all EARTHLINGS!!

 

Well, this documentary very effectively helps people make that connection; suspend all what you know for a moment, how you think of animals and food, and simply watch this film as a fellow earthling…dare to make a paradigm shift!

(You can watch this documentary online here, or you find it on Youtube, but fair warning the quality of the Youtube versions are pretty terrible)

 

 

 

Exit The Matrix

If you were Neo, what pill would you take – the red pill or the blue pill? As Morpheus explained, ‘The matrix is a system Neo, that system is our enemy…you have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged.’ Who would have thought that this concept and idea in the movie fits so perfectly as a metaphor for the food system that we as humans live in; and how the vast majority choose to blindly adhere to it (plugged in) simply because that is what they know, or that is how they grew up…they continue on in the so called system.

Well if you are ready to take the red pill, and see the matrix for what it really is, then I have the perfect video for you – fair warning here, the production quality of this video is nothing like the movie The Matrix, in fact it is as far away as possible from anything remotely even close to that. It’s literally a recording of a presentation given to a group of people classroom style. I know, your probably thinking “can it possibly get any more boring??.” Nonetheless, this is still one of the BEST (in my humble opinion) videos I have seen that so perfectly, and comprehensively explains the conundrum of choosing to eat animals versus choosing a plant based diet. Or better yet, how we can say that we love animals, love our dogs and cats, and yet be perfectly fine chowing down on a cow, chicken, or pig. Anyway, I could easily explain more about this video, or provide more examples, but I wouldn’t be doing it justice.

Now I know, the title of this video may be a turn off to most, and it could easily evoke the feeling or thought of “oh geez, another video on going vegan…blah.” But honestly, the information in this video is so damn good, and presented in such a easily digestible way, that it truly is eye-opening! I came across this video when I was already well into my plant based life, and I still found it so enlightening! Just give it 5-10 minutes, you’ll see, the information flowing from this is just too good to turn off. I dare you, be Neo, take the red pill and unplug from the system!

By the way, I don’t pretend that everyone who watches this is all the sudden going to become a vegan over night (and unplug from the system), that is not the intention here. The goal here is simply awareness, open the mind and take in the information, dare to to make a paradigm shift!

The Vegan Starter Kit

When people ask me why I am vegan, or what prompted me to go vegan, it really comes down to information – I was simply exposed to new information that I could not unlearn or un-see. This new information came in the form of books and documentaries. Sure, some people could be exposed to the exact same information but it won’t resonate with them at all; well, not me. I simply could not deny all the facts, data, and research presented in these sources. So what was this amazing new information that I learned you ask? Here it is, these are the sources of information that I wish everyone and anyone would see – they will answer all your questions about the why, what, where, and when of a plant based diet/life. I truly wish this was common knowledge; I’ll take it one step further, I wish this was mandatory reading/viewing in school!

So if someone were to ask me “why or what made you go vegan,” my response would be – “just watch these documentaries here, all your questions will be answered.” I invite you to take a step behind the curtain of OZ, and see the truth! (These are all available on Netflix, or at least they were at the time of this writing).

WARNING – EXPOSING YOURSELF TO THIS INFORMATION MAY CAUSE IRREVERSIBLE AWARENESS

1. Forks Over Knives

This gem right here will answer all your questions about food and health, such as:

• What’s wrong with eating animal protein?
• What’s so wrong with milk and dairy? Don’t you need milk for calcium and strong bones?
• But since vegans only eat grass, where do they get their protein? (ugh, how many times I get asked this question – please do yourself a favor and watch this now, and forever have that damn questioned answered).
• What about fish?
• Well then, what the hell do you plant based people eat?
• Why should I even care about this plant based stuff? (hint, your health, the animals, and the environment ya dummy!)

 

2. What The Health

This is probably one of the most eye-opening documentaries to recently (2017) come out about the food industry and human health; and this is definitely at the top of my list when it comes to recommending any documentary! I myself was blown away by all the information presented in this film; it got me so riled up I just wanted to shout it from a mountain top! Finally, a documentary comes out that shines the light on all the corruption going on in the meat and dairy industries to keep the general public misinformed, confused, and most important of all continuing to consume their products albeit at the cost of their very own health. Moreover, this film also does an incredible job of hitting all the points on health in regard to consuming animal products, and all the common questions and concerns of switching to a plant based diet…extremely comprehensive! This documentary is a MUST!!

 

3. Cowspiracy

This one here will help you understand the environmental dilemma of sustaining a planet on animal protein, and how switching to a plant based diet can really help save the world (no, I’m not exaggerating – just watch it!). No, this video isn’t going to turn you into a tree hugging environmentalist, or Leonardo DiCaprio; BUT it sure as hell will inform you and create AWARENESS (and that is what’s all about)!! Moreover, this will shed light on what factory farming actually is, and the cold hard cruelty behind it – I know, I know, ignorance is bliss…but suck it up and watch it!

 

4. Plant Pure Nation

And lastly, this amazing documentary will help you understand why it is that the information laid out in the last two documentaries is not mainstream knowledge (yet). You may be asking yourself, ok well it seems like all you vegans know about this stuff, but IF animal products are actually not the best for your health, then why would the government still include it in their food pyramid, why are they still serving it at every school, why wouldn’t doctors be talking more about this, why is this the first time I am hearing such a thing?  Here is something to think about; the meat, poultry, and dairy industries are HUGE (as you may already know)! Well, you know what comes with that? Lots of money of course, but also lots of lobbying power. So what does that mean; it means they have the ability to actually influence what the people of this planet eat, regardless of what it might mean for your health. Moreover, believe it or not, it comes with the ability to manipulate or even suppress information! Yes, this is true, the meat, poultry, dairy, and fish industries hope you never see any of these documentaries or become of aware of any of the information they contain. Because heaven forbid, it might actually create well informed consumers, that no longer simply buy their food products blindly just because that is what they have been doing for years. Please, just watch this!

 

So there it is, these are three of my favorite documentaries that I wish every human being could/would watch! I honestly feel like any non-vegan/vegetarian person cannot have an actual intelligent debate with a vegan/vegetarian person until they have been exposed to the information contained in these documentaries. Regardless of what you choose to sustain yourself on, be it animal or plant based, if you haven’t seen any of these documentaries, please do yourself a favor and watch them…I challenge you!

 

As always, I would like to hear from you, what other documentaries would you add to this list? Leave a comment below.