Movies
If a picture speaks a thousand words, then movie documentaries speak an immeasurable amount. In 90 minutes or so. And are entertaining, too. Most of these food-and-health movie documentaries are downloadable or streamable from Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, their own websites; many are at your public library. Scroll down to check out my Top 3 Picks, Other Good Movie Documentaries, and Important Picks. You’ll find links to their trailers as well.
My Top 3 Picks – Not in Rank Order
#1 What The Health – 2017 – Powerful. Click here to view trailer. At this writing (8/19/2017) it’s available for purchase to stream online through its website and is also available on Netflix. From the website: “What the Health is the groundbreaking follow-up film from the creators of the award winning documentary Cowspiracy. The film follows intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the secret to preventing and even reversing chronic diseases – and investigates why the nation’s leading health organizations don’t want us to know about it. With heart disease and cancer the leading causes of death in America, and diabetes at an all-time high, the film reveals possibly the largest health cover-up of our time.
With the help of medical doctors, researchers, and consumer advocates, What the Health exposes the collusion and corruption in government and big business that is costing us trillions of healthcare dollars, and keeping us sick.
Join Kip as he tracks down the leading and most trusted American health nonprofits to find out why these groups are staying silent, despite a growing body of evidence. Audiences will be shocked to learn the insidious roles played by pharmaceutical companies, agribusiness, and processed animal food companies in the nation’s health, especially in the most vulnerable communities, and will cheer at the transformation and recovery of those who took their lives into their own hands.
What The Health is a surprising, and at times hilarious, investigative documentary that will be an eye-opener for everyone concerned about our nation’s health and how big business influences it.”
(To hear how What The Health and its predecessor documentary are being received around the world, and affecting communities around the world, listen to Rich Roll Podcast 278 with Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn, from March 12, 2017.)
#2 Eating You Alive – 2016 – Powerful, moving. Most of the many participants in this documentary are physicians speaking about their own experiences with health, training, and practice. Click here to view trailer. At this writing (8/19/2017) this documentary, purchasing for download, and streaming is on hold while the movie transfers to theater presentation. I am grateful to have a copy. From its website:
“Half of all adults in the U.S. struggle with chronic health conditions including cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, Alzheimer’s, arthritis and erectile dysfunction.
Despite countless dollars spent on medical research, new drugs and innovative technology to improve our health, more Americans are disabled and dying from chronic disease than ever before.
Featuring leading medical experts and researchers, Eating You Alive takes a scientific look at the reasons we’re so sick, who’s responsible for feeding us the wrong information and how we can use whole-food, plant-based nutrition to take control of our health—one bite at a time.” By Paul David Kennamer Jr. and Merilee Jacobs.
#3 Forks Over Knives – 2011 – Powerful. For us, life-changing. Originally, I wrote: “If you watch only one movie, watch this one. Then watch it again.” Click here to view trailer. Today, August 19, 2017, I’m revising: Watch Forks Over Knives, What the Health, AND Eating You Alive. Then watch them all again. From its website: “The feature film Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods.” By John Corry, Brian Wendel, Lee Fulkerson.
Other Good Movie Documentaries
Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead – 2010 – Australian Joe Cross has a great accent and is fun to follow through his documentary. This movie is one of my husband’s favorites. It grabbed many folks’ attention and got them juicing. It launched us on our turn towards health via plant-based eating (we watched Forks Over Knives during our juicing week and decided to go forward with a whole-food, plant-based diet). Click here to view trailer. In my opinion, this is a good enthusiasm builder, but juicing does not offer the range of benefits that does eating whole plant-based foods, nor does part-time juicing or part-time plant-based, as Joe explores, with chagrin, in his follow up movie. By Joe Cross.
Plant Pure Nation – 2015 – Nelson Campbell (son of T. Colin Campbell) pilots a plant-based diet program in his hometown of Mebane, North Carolina. Click here to view trailer. By Nelson Campbell, John Corry, and Lee Fulkerson.
Hungry for Change – 2012 – Click here to view trailer. We watched this movie just prior to Fat, Sick and Forks Over Knives. It’s a broad-view documentary worth watching, from James and Laurentine, the producers of Food Matters.
Planeat – 2010 – Lovely, important, broadening. Click here to view trailer. This movie has a lot of the same information as in Forks Over Knives, though not as comprehensive, but I really enjoyed its forays into the bakery, restaurant and chef world. By Shelley Lee Davies.
Food Matters – 2008 – Important – Appears to be one of the early movie documentaries bringing food food as medicine to light, the notion having been eclipsed by our enchantment with “there’s a pill for that.” Click here to view trailer. By James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch.
Fed Up – 2014 – Investigates how the American food industry may be responsible for more sickness than previously realized. Click here to view trailer. By Laurie David, Katie Couric, Stephanie Soechtig
Vegucated – 2011 – Follows three meat-and-cheese-loving New Yorkers as they adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. (Tip: It’s much easier now than then.) Click here to view trailer. By Marisa Miller Wolfson, Demetrius Bagley, Frank Mataska.
Important Picks
Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret – 2014 – Powerful, well-researched, funny, moving. Click here to view trailer. From Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn. What’s very cool is that Kip and Keegan have been invited to show their movie around the world, to meetups of government officials and policy makers. To learn more, listen to the March 12, 2017 Rich Roll Podcast with Kip and Keegan, on which they discuss the welcome and fallout, worldwide, of both their movies Cowspiracy and What The Health.
