Cowspiracy

[BrianTheElder]

Has anyone heard of Cowspiracy? I got a leaflet through the door saying a screening of this film is being shown at our local arts centre. I looked it up and apparently it's all about the 'destructive' animal food industry. I watched a video on Diet Doctor that said there are a lot of myths surrounding the industry and that in fact animal food is the healthiest out there and not damaging to the environment. So does this film's maker Kip Anderson have any serious credentials or is it just another hype?

 

[GrantGam]

Has anyone heard of Cowspiracy? I got a leaflet through the door saying a screening of this film is being shown at our local arts centre. I looked it up and apparently it's all about the 'destructive' animal food industry. I watched a video on Diet Doctor that said there are a lot of myths surrounding the industry and that in fact animal food is the healthiest out there and not damaging to the environment. So does this film's maker Kip Anderson have any serious credentials or is it just another hype?

It's a good watch, if we're both talking about the one currently on Netflix?

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @BrianTheElder not not heard of this but fascinated with the food industry as I used to work in it, so would be interested to find out more if you do go and see it ?

So much hype out there at the moment, it's a new story every day so you have to trust your instincts and common sense

 

[BrianTheElder]

It's a good watch, if we're both talking about the one currently on Netflix?

I don't have Netflix, but I think there can't be many films around called Cowspiracy. What I want to avoid is spending a significant chunk of time getting angry at non-science nonsense. However, if there is some truth in it, it could have a big impact on LCHFers re sustainability. It would also cause problems for the zero-carbers.

 

[Freema]

I believe fresh meat is healthy and especially the cows and pigs that eat like natural foods for their kind... like grass fed cows and outdoor pigs, but old meat and processed meat , and especially rather old processed meat, well I am not sure that the break down components in that kind of meat is at all healthy for humans.... even though is is maybe not filled with bacteria as it is often filled with conservation ingredients or deep-frozen for far too much time and if they are fed with all kinds of half rotten leftovers from other kinds of food industries .. maybe industrialised meat is not as healthy as people want to believe it is to eat

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/may/15/foodanddrink.shopping3

 

[bulkbiker]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowspiracy
Sounds like it maybe vegan propaganda based on slightly dodgy science..

 

[GrantGam]

I don't have Netflix, but I think there can't be many films around called Cowspiracy. What I want to avoid is spending a significant chunk of time getting angry at non-science nonsense. However, if there is some truth in it, it could have a big impact on LCHFers re sustainability. It would also cause problems for the zero-carbers.

It is American, so more than likely it's pretty ropey in places and dramatised.

In a nut shell, the documentary explores the meat industry and highlights how financial greed has overtaken produce quality. At least that's what I remember from it. It's pretty good, but hasn't in the least affected my diet or my attitude towards meat. Certainly this side of the pond, things are a lot different!

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

If anyone is interested in the meat industry, Earthlings is a good documentary film.

 

[tim2000s]

I've watched a bit of it. And stopped. It's really not good statistically, and while it highlights poor practice in animal welfare relating to food and some pretty bad stuff, it also fails to note that not all deforestation is due to livestock farming.

There's an interesting assessment here: https://www.quora.com/How-accurate-is-the-movie-Cowspiracy which is as unscientific as the film itself. I think the telling point is that deforestation in Indonesia has little to do with cattle and a lot more to do with palm oil, which is a major component of the vegan foods that a major backer of the film produces...

So no, it's not good science and no, it doesnt' put me off responsibly farmed meat.

 

[douglas99]

Has anyone heard of Cowspiracy? I got a leaflet through the door saying a screening of this film is being shown at our local arts centre. I looked it up and apparently it's all about the 'destructive' animal food industry. I watched a video on Diet Doctor that said there are a lot of myths surrounding the industry and that in fact animal food is the healthiest out there and not damaging to the environment. So does this film's maker Kip Anderson have any serious credentials or is it just another hype?

Like every industry, they exist to make money, balanced by not upsetting too many people.
It's not there for our benefit, for the animals benefit, or for the environments benefit.
So, the report is as good or as bad as you want it to be, depending on your point of view.
Some will no doubt will sway to 'Cowspiracy', others will be backing the 'Dietdoctor'.
The truth is usually somewhere between the two extremes.

 

[ExD]

My husband is a farmer and I can assure you that animal food in UK is more heavily monitored than human, its the USA that seems to need a lot more regulating. We also use far fewer pesticides as we just don't have so many pests as them, a few herbicides are used though for o bvious reasons- so buy British and look for the 'little red tractor' and Union Jack logos.
Might be worth watching, but I don't have Netflix.
Apart from growing your own veg and raising and eating your own animals I'd think you're as safe as anywhere here in UK.
Please post again and tell us all about it.

 

[BrianTheElder]

Thank you all for your comments. I haven't watched the film, but I have read about it and it seems to me a typical hyperbolic presentation by vested interests, ie vegans. I understand it has a big following in USA amongst young people, who don't like seeing animals treated badly, want to save the environment and are attracted to veganism. I was frankly hoping for more. There is a big question about whether the animal food industry is sustainable in feeding the world's population into the future. The rapid and recent rise of crop agriculture has come about as people gathered into cities, but has had a devastating affect on human health imo. My view is that animal food provides the best nutrition and animal welfare is of primary importance, but I am concerned as to whether we can just carry on as we are. Is it OK for us in the UK to say we look after our animals and most of us can afford any diet we choose, while the same options are not available elsewhere (or probably here in the future)? I shall carry on with my LCHF diet, eating fatty meat from good sources, but I do feel privileged and concerned.

 

[Resurgam]

I was somewhat concerned when I heard that the new president of the US is intending to have closer trade links with the UK and ship meat here - I'd not eat it, ever. Their policies on such things as antibiotics and hormones as so lax - they even feed chickens with small doses of poison to make the meat change colour.

 

[Beagler]

Good point about the palm oil link to deforestation.

What I hear about American feed-lot raised animals makes me shudder - animals standing hock deep in **** and fed on corn, with no chance for any natural behaviour. So far, British meat does seem to be raised in a more compassionate way, OTOH so much is imported from countries where the need to make a living is infinitely more important than the quality of life of the farm animals. If I had to choose between selling intensively reared chickens and paying for my daughter's education.......I might turn vegan myself. (spoken as a dedicated carnivore!)

Back to the film - all animal rights etc films AND their "rebuttals" are biased, but they are also desperately needed as an antidote to "food industry" publicity. Just try to widen the net and gather as much information from as many varied sources as you can, then balance their "axes to grind" against their "facts".

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

This notion of "higher welfare" and "compassionate" animal agriculture is just beyond me. It all ends in death. Red Tractors and RSPCA stamps of approval - still ends in death. Ask yourself if you would prefer to be stabbed or shot. Gassing or maceration, take your pick?

Here is a UK link to "the human slaughter myth." Just because something happens and is filmed, does not make it propaganda. It is a factual account of events. These animals are not Equity members

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/slaughter/ALL/

 

[bulkbiker]

This notion of "higher welfare" and "compassionate" animal agriculture is just beyond me. It all ends in death. Red Tractors and RSPCA stamps of approval - still ends in death. Ask yourself if you would prefer to be stabbed or shot. Gassing or maceration, take your pick?

Here is a UK link to "the human slaughter myth." Just because something happens and is filmed, does not make it propaganda. It is a factual account of events. These animals are not Equity members

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/slaughter/ALL/

As indeed does life.. we all die.. personally I think i'd prefer a nice Swiss clinic or maybe one day a nice UK one.

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

As indeed does life.. we all die.. personally I think i'd prefer a nice Swiss clinic or maybe one day a nice UK one.

Good luck with that. Hopefully it wont be premature or against your wishes like the creatures in the video.

 

[bulkbiker]

Good luck with that. Hopefully it wont be premature or against your wishes like the creatures in the video.

I think that most of us believe that our own death will be premature...and against our wishes

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

I think that most of us believe that our own death will be premature...and against our wishes

The big difference is that you die, animals are killed.

 

[douglas99]

This notion of "higher welfare" and "compassionate" animal agriculture is just beyond me. It all ends in death. Red Tractors and RSPCA stamps of approval - still ends in death. Ask yourself if you would prefer to be stabbed or shot. Gassing or maceration, take your pick?

Here is a UK link to "the human slaughter myth." Just because something happens and is filmed, does not make it propaganda. It is a factual account of events. These animals are not Equity members

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/slaughter/ALL/

This, it's a nice image of all the happy UK grass fed smiling cows, frolicking all day in the fields.
I used to work in the dairy industry, and they were bred for milk, not for slaughter.......
Sometimes reality is best avoided.