Cowspiracy

For those questions and discussions on the McDougall program that don’t seem to fit in any other forum.

Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, John McDougall, carolve, Heather McDougall

Cowspiracy

Postby f1jim » Sun May 24, 2015 7:27 pm

I just watched the documentary "Cowspiracy" tonight. It's quite an impactful movie. It follows a young man and his journey through the maze of organizations with the mission of helping the plant. He interviews Greenpeace, Sierra Club, and many more about the major sources of climate disruption, deforestation, and the health of the oceans. It's an eye opening film that will impact your impression of these organizations and how you will distribute your charitable giving.
I can't encourage everyone enough to watch this film and provide your feedback here.
It's not a comfy, feel good movie. It's a lot of facts figures, and common sense about food, people, and sustainability. You can watch this movie and get something out of it regardless of your belief or unbelief in climate change. I think this movie should be shared with vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike.
I really do want to hear what people think about this movie. We have such a broad spectrum of opinions on almost any subject and I think feedback on this movie may reflect that. If y9ou have already seen the movie feel free to jump in and share your thoughts. We have had previous threads in various places and it would be good to have a single thread with the movie as the main topic.
f1jim
While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at https://www.drmcdougall.com/james-brown/
User avatar
f1jim
 
Posts: 11349
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:45 pm
Location: Pacifica, CA

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby Spiral » Sun May 24, 2015 7:40 pm

I haven't seen the movie yet, although I plan to. But I get a little worried when people start throwing around the word "Conspiracy." Well, they didn't really use the word "Conspiracy," they say "Cowspiracy."

But when it comes to our food, this is a strange sort of conspiracy: Everybody is in on it.

The large food corporations are in on it. The local grass fed beef farmer is in on it. Your local mom and pop ice cream store is in on it. Joe's Bar and Grille is in on it. The Drug companies are in on it. Your doctor is in on it (unless your doctor is Dr. McDougall). Your next door neighbor who is cooking up a pork fest for the neighborhood is in on it. Your aunt Claire who makes you a banana custard pie is in on it.

:crybaby:
User avatar
Spiral
 
Posts: 3005
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2010 8:18 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby vgpedlr » Sun May 24, 2015 9:42 pm

Spiral wrote:I haven't seen the movie yet, although I plan to. But I get a little worried when people start throwing around the word "Conspiracy." Well, they didn't really use the word "Conspiracy," they say "Cowspiracy."

But when it comes to our food, this is a strange sort of conspiracy: Everybody is in on it.

The large food corporations are in on it. The local grass fed beef farmer is in on it. Your local mom and pop ice cream store is in on it. Joe's Bar and Grille is in on it. The Drug companies are in on it. Your doctor is in on it (unless your doctor is Dr. McDougall). Your next door neighbor who is cooking up a pork fest for the neighborhood is in on it. Your aunt Claire who makes you a banana custard pie is in on it.

:crybaby:

What makes it a conspiracy is it's hidden nature. None of the people you mentioned are aware of it, which makes it the ultimate conspiracy. Thinking of a conspiracy as an active plot by limited people for their own ends may not apply here.
User avatar
vgpedlr
 
Posts: 4502
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:17 pm
Location: NorCal

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby arugula » Sun May 24, 2015 9:45 pm

Didn't John Robbins say all of it 30 years ago?

The only new-ish thing was the reticence of the "environmental" organizations, and that's not really news, either.
arugula
 
Posts: 595
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:36 am

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby vgpedlr » Sun May 24, 2015 10:01 pm

arugula wrote:Didn't John Robbins say all of it 30 years ago?

The only new-ish thing was the reticence of the "environmental" organizations, and that's not really news, either.

It was to a couple of folks in my row at the ASW. They tried to harass Lyman for making that point before being shut down by McDougall. I didn't see them the following day.
User avatar
vgpedlr
 
Posts: 4502
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:17 pm
Location: NorCal

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby rhubarbtriangle » Sun May 24, 2015 11:05 pm

I watched it. Very interesting movie. I just wish I could retain those facts and figures to quote when I need them.
Perhaps I should print myself a factsheet! :lol:
And yes, I have been recommending people to watch it. :-D
“What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.”
― A.A. Milne

Image
User avatar
rhubarbtriangle
 
Posts: 170
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:52 am
Location: Yorkshire, England

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby veggievirtue » Sun May 24, 2015 11:36 pm

I've watched Cowspiracy a couple of times, and particularly have been citing it whenever I hear someone spouting off about how the almond growers are depleting California's dwindling water supply. It's really the season to beat up on almonds out here in the wild west, with lots of stories like this one:

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/05/08/cat ... -investors

Aside from extravagant water use, and increasing pollution of the waterways and the atmosphere, and causing widespread soil erosion, one environmental factor not mentioned in the film is that cattle ranching has decimated grasslands and denuded the California foothills and central valleys of the oak woodland that once abounded. In researching this a couple of decades ago, I had assumed that the oaks had primarily been cut down for construction and urban development, but learned that long before urban sprawl, grazing cattle had trampled sprouts and eaten young saplings, slowing continued propagation of trees and thinning the woodlands irreparably.

I had a chance to talk with Howard Lyman about this before his ASW talk and he knows much more on the subject than he alluded to. The woman who heckled him was sitting directly behind me, so I heard her muttering angrily for several minutes before her loud, rude outburst. I guess sometimes when folks are committed to a cause, it's hard for them to realize that their own stance can blind them to some of the implications of their position, so they can't see the next step forward.

BTW, The Atlantic Monthly has been running articles for years about the harms done by cattle ranching practices.

peace, patience, potatoes
~ sandra
veggievirtue
 
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue May 22, 2012 7:11 pm
Location: Fair Oaks, California

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby awest27 » Mon May 25, 2015 12:02 am

rhubarbtriangle wrote:I watched it. Very interesting movie. I just wish I could retain those facts and figures to quote when I need them.
Perhaps I should print myself a factsheet! :lol:
And yes, I have been recommending people to watch it. :-D


Their facts are on their web site: http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/
User avatar
awest27
 
Posts: 281
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 1:29 pm

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby Dougalling » Mon May 25, 2015 7:09 am

Unfortunately, many omnivores will not watch this movie because it is titled Cowspiracy.
Had it been titled "How to save the earth" or anything not resembling 'conspiracy' maybe more people would watch this movie.

If you go to cowspiracy . com and wait a sec. you can click on FACTS at the top of the page and get so much information in point form.
Last edited by Dougalling on Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image
User avatar
Dougalling
 
Posts: 1944
Joined: Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:10 am

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby vgpedlr » Mon May 25, 2015 10:39 am

I think it was Edward Abbey who called them "hoover locusts" for the incredible damage done throughout the American West.
User avatar
vgpedlr
 
Posts: 4502
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:17 pm
Location: NorCal

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby ChrisR » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:53 am

I don't get it. Everyone is telling us that it is now nearly impossible to save the planet and this movie is telling us it is actually easy to do?
ChrisR
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:43 am

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby dteresa » Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:14 am

You will never get most people to give up meat for environmental reasons. Not if they believe, as many I know do, that it is essential for their health. Meat is good for you. My own daughter has said that.

You will never get most people who enjoy the taste of meat to give it up for health reasons. Not even most of those who have had coronary artery by passes and stents are willing to do more than take the skin off the chicken and consume skimmed milk.

The only thing that will cause such a major change is an economy in which people cannot afford meat. Until politicians stop giving enormous subsidies to the agribusinesses which help put them in office, the price of animal feed will be low enough to allow the continued production of cheap meat and people will continue eating it.

And in some cases, environmentalists are not too popular with the public in general. Save one thing, perhaps destroy something else.

didi
dteresa
 
Posts: 3735
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 5:22 am

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby Jumpstart » Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:58 am

Let's focus on the fundamental problem. The locust on this planet are people.
Jumpstart
 
Posts: 913
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2014 5:32 pm

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby BlueHeron » Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:12 am

I agree that most people will not give up animal products for environmental reasons. Most people will also not give up driving. Remember the book "Fifty Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth"? People loved that book because they wanted to believe that they could save the earth by recycling newspapers. You can feel good about yourself with only minor inconvenience. How wonderful.

As far as health goes, there is an awful lot of money involved in animal agriculture, so there are huge economic reasons to keep people misinformed, which is obviously not that hard to do. Michael Greger talks about how the tobacco companies had an internal memo that said, "Doubt is our product." I think that applies to animal agriculture as well. As long as most people remain convinced that meat is not harmful, they will continue to eat it. One hundred years ago, most people thought tobacco would not harm them. That is not the case today. Change is possible, but it's hard and the economic forces fighting it are massive and well organized.

There are also people who will give up animal products for the sake of the animals themselves. On this site, those people are sometimes called junk food vegans, but when it comes to the environment, junk food vegans are doing all of us a favor. I also think that it's a mistake, in terms of the environment, to act as if going vegan is the only answer. Some people who would never go vegan will do meatless Mondays and maybe that will eventually lead to greater change.

Different people respond to different reasons, and I think all of those reasons are worthwhile. I don't know what will happen in the end. I waver between hope and despair.
User avatar
BlueHeron
 
Posts: 1141
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:12 pm

Re: Cowspiracy

Postby f1jim » Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:22 am

Just to clarify, people here on the forum that don't eat meat for the sake of the animals are not generally called "junk food vegans." They are called ethical vegans. If they don't eat a healthy diet they are called junk food vegans. We have several self admitted former junk food vegans that participate regularly. A few are Star McDougallers.

The overall premise of the movie is that the large environmental organizations are aware of the huge contribution animal agriculture has on the environment but they refuse to acknowledge the issue, much less inform the public about it. The movie is eye opening and the interviews with these organizations are shameful. Many have given up membership in these organizations because of their shameful behavior on this topic. Even some of the former leaders within these organizations have left feeling the organizations have lost touch with their mission.
Definitely worth a watch, if for no other reason than to decide for yourself if these organizations are truly serving the public or themselves.
f1jim
While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at https://www.drmcdougall.com/james-brown/
User avatar
f1jim
 
Posts: 11349
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:45 pm
Location: Pacifica, CA

Next

Return to The Lounge

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests


cron

Welcome!

Sign up to receive our regular articles, recipes, and news about upcoming events.