Good Movies + TV Series
Forks Over Knives
This 2011 documentary makes the case for food as the cause of many diseases that plague us. The Rx? A plant-based diet. This is a good primer for people considering cutting meat and/or dairy from their diets. You can stream it for free. And the accompanying Forks Over Knives website provides lots of resources like cooking courses and recipes to ease the transition into a more plant-forward world.
The Game Changers
This compelling documentary challenges the most common question asked of people who eat only plant-based foods: But how do you get protein? Through interviews with elite athletes and special ops (very fit!) soldiers, the film busts the myth in sports nutrition that you need animal protein to compete at a high level. (Stream it on Netflix)
The Smell of Money
Watch the trailer for The Smell of Money, a 2022 documentary on hog farms and environmental racism in North Carolina. With nowhere to dispose of all the urine and feces produced by millions of hogs, farmers spray the waste on barren fields, many abutting neighborhoods of mostly low-income Black, Latino, and Indigenous people. Consequently, the air and water are making people sick. (You can stream the movie on Amazon Prime).
What the Health
This 2017 Michael Moore-esque documentary (when he was good, at the beginning) opened my eyes to the direct line between the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and other health-related NGOs, and the companies that fund them: Big Chicken, Big Meat, Big Dairy, and Big Pork. Yes, the same organizations who are responsible for much of the disease the NGOs aim to “cure.” The film makes a compelling case for prevention over pharmaceuticals. (Stream it on Netflix)
You Are What You Eat: The Twin Study
What happens when Stanford University scientists put one-half of a set of identical twins on a plant-based diet, and the other on a healthy omnivorous diet? This multi-episode Netflix series answers this question. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll feel the pain of the imposed exercise routines. Marketed as a “documentary,” the series is more like a fun reality TV show. One that you will learn something from.