cowspiracy
kip andersen, director of cowspiracy, in paris during the cop21 climate talks .
defending beef - cowspiracy review: nothing more than a... | facebook
♦ cowspiracy may be the most important film made to inspire saving the planet .
woronczuk: kip anderson and keegan kuhn, coproducers of the new documentary film cowspiracy .
film & speaker: dr. will tuttle, featured expert in the documentary, cowspiracy
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret, 2014 a. u. m. films and first spark media
film & speaker: dr. will tuttle, featured expert in the documentary, cowspiracy | meetup
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing cowspiracy: the sustainability secret near you .
the exclusive netflix release is a new cut of cowspiracy: the sustainability secret that has been updated with new facts and information .
kuhn and andersen have been road tripping the country for
cowspiracy
screenings, and in fact, agreed to be interviewed en route from sun valley to bend, oregon. want to see
cowspiracy
at a theatre near you? host a screening .
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a 2014 documentary film produced and directed by kip andersen and keegan kuhn. the film explores the impact of
it' s paid off. the information in
cowspiracy
is not just getting out, it' s making the beef industry uneasy .
central to cowspiracy ’s conspiracy theory is the supposed “fact” that a 2009 study found that 51% of all greenhouse gases are produced by animal agriculture .
the 2017 documentary what the health was written, produced, and directed by the same production team (kip andersen and keegan kuhn) as cowspiracy .
i think the guy that made cowspiracy was a very passionate man who had made a life time commitment to environmental causes and made lifelong personal ...
a vegan diet has a lower carbon footprint. graphic: @ simple _ happy _ kitchen # cowspiracy # greenhousegases # climatechange # animalagriculture # goplantbased # vegan urltoken
cowspiracy highlights that ngos do very little to educate public about the impact of their food choices. lets fix that. here is one way: ...
i guess you just have to conclude that the makers of cowspiracy¸ despite its narrator’s claims of extensive research, just didn’t manage to find any of this work. or maybe it’s just that our rejection of the 51% figure shows that, along with the rest of the scientific community, we’re part of the cowspiracy too .
more than fossil fuel usage, more than fracking, more than overpopulation, livestock agriculture is the number one destroyer of our planet that cowspiracy wants you to care about .
i think cowspiracy was very unfair to alan savory, who says in his ted talk that culling the elephants was tragic mistake that he deeply regrets. that ...
well, then, in honor of
cowspiracy
and its creators, here' s a moroccan spice paste to paint on your basic veggie burger. think of it as veggieburger helper .
a: a new cut of cowspiracy: the sustainability secret, executive produced by leonardo dicaprio, jennifer davisson and appian way productions, was exclusively released on netflix on september 15, 2015 .
i saw cowspiracy last night; therefore, it' s fresh in my mind. what i got from the film regarding greenpeace is * not * that they were taking donati ...
the
cowspiracy
anderson is unfolding is also pretty basic: agriculture is a business that' s based on taking advantage of people' s enjoyment of meat to the detriment of the planet .
1. 8 billion gallons used for animal agriculture in the u. s. every day. # worldenvironmentday repost @ rainforestactionnetwork # cowspiracy # animalagriculture # waterscarcity # water # goplantbased # vegan # loveyourmother urltoken
“if you don’t realize right now that you’re putting your neck on the chopping block, you better take that camera and throw it away. ” — howard lyman, subject of cowspiracy and former cattle rancher .
* having said all that for some context, i cannot wait to see ” cowspiracy ”. i feel it will be right up there with inconvenient truth and gasland and fahrenheit 911. we can hope .
we will continually update cowspiracy as new research comes out. we would like to expose the ngo' s funding, the blanket corruption of governments from this industry and the cultural taboo of speaking about personal change .
by focusing on veganism to the exclusion of all else, cowspiracy implies that anyone who eats meat isn’t a ‘proper’ environmentalist. this is deeply offensive and elitist, and it harms the movement we need to build .
hopefully after viewing cowspiracy: the sustainability secret you be will motivated to start questioning politicians, environmental organizations and others why they are ignoring what is ultimately one of the major contributors to global climate change and biodiversity losses .
you' re probably reading this blog because you have some questions raised by the film cowspiracy. i' d like to address these directly – and tell you a little about our work on animal agriculture around the world .
thanks bevan - the response did seem rather weak. before seeing cowspiracy i thought vegan / vegetarianism was about not hurting animals... ...... ...... i ...
my biggest criticism of cowspiracy was the way that the whole film seemed to be set in an isolated us bubble, and that bubble itself was a very distorted view of america that focused almost exclusively on a particular subsection of the population .
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a groundbreaking feature - length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker kip andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it .
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a groundbreaking feature - length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker kip andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world' s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it .
animal agriculture: a neglected agent of global warming? the co - producers of the documentary film
cowspiracy
discuss the environmental impact of intensive animal farming - and why mainstream organizations have been silent about it. november 20, 2014, the real news
cowspiracy co - director keegan kuhn defended the 51% figure featured in the documentary, pointing to a 2012 article in the journal animal feed science and technology. in that article, goodland and anhang addressed criticism of their study, and explained their methodology .
livestock eat soybeans from the deforested tropics, produce clouds of methane, pollute water systems and consume up 30 percent of the world’s grain production. solution: opt out of the livestock industry. go plant - based. # cowspiracy # animalagriculture # livestock # goplantbased urltoken
but – does this justifiy this article summary: “by focusing on veganism to the exclusion of all else, cowspiracy implies that anyone who eats meat isn’t a ‘proper’ environmentalist. this is deeply offensive and elitist, and it harms the movement we need to build? ”
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a movie starring lisa agabian, manucher alemi, and lindsey allen. follow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path to sustainability .
the main reason for focusing on climate was simply that it is at the heart of cowspiracy’s conspiracy theory. it is because ngos do not disseminate the 51% of emissions figure, and indeed that most of the ngo staff who the movie interviewed appeared not even to have heard about it, that the movie concludes that they are covering it up. there are certainly grounds to criticize how cowspiracy treats the scientific data on other issues besides climate, and various of the comments on my post have explained some of these weaknesses and given links to writings that explain them in more detail. but livestock’s impact on climate change – the claim that, as the 2009 worldwatch report asserted, “the key actors in climate change are… cows, pigs and chickens, ” not fossil fuels — is the basis of the allegation that there is a cowspiracy going on .
keegan kuhn is the award - winning co - director of the highly acclaimed documentary film cowspiracy: the sustainability secret, executive produced for netflix by leonardo dicaprio. kuhn is the owner and operator of first spark media, a digital film production company tailored to creating films for social justice .
“those of us who wish to see a truly, radically different world must demand of ourselves the possibility that we are called to lead not from right to left, or from minority to majority, but from spirit towards liberation. ” - adrienne marie brown # cowspiracy # activism # community urltoken
i pulled a lot from dr. richard oppenlander’s book food choice and sustainability. why buying local, eating less meat, and taking baby steps won’t work. many of the facts in cowspiracy can also be found in oppenlander’s book. it’s very thorough. i love his powerpoint presentation online .
additionally, making cowspiracy took a great deal of time and money (we were the sole financial backers for cowspiracy and our production team was incredibly small, meaning we worked 10 to 15 hour days for over a year to make this film) and in order for us to make more films like it (as we plan to), we need to have the funds to do so. the money we make from screenings, dvds, merchandise and donations goes into the non - profit animals united movement and is put toward promotion for the film and the making of our next documentaries .
perhaps it could be added to this important articel that cowspiracy also is inccorect in its water calculations. they do not apply the virtual water concept correctly and misinterpret it as an environmental indicator which it is not. im not a scientist. i would be very glad if someone points this out correctly .
kuhn: yeah, absolutely. we just need to get this information out in front of as many people as possible. we really feel people can’t make informed decisions unless they have the information. so that’s what cowspiracy is. it’s a tool to get this information to as many people as possible .
cowspiracy investigates the environmental impact of animal agriculture. picking up on 2006 un climate report, which indicates that animal agriculture causes 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions - more than all forms of transportation combined - the filmmakers solicited responses from major environmental organizations like green - peace and the world wildlife fund .
these two departures from the scientific consensus— counting the non - additional co 2 respired by livestock, and weighting the methane that ruminant animals emit nearly three times as heavily as most scientists do—account for the biggest differences between the scientific consensus of about 15% of emissions and the 51% figure that cowspiracy uses .
cowspiracy
likewise ends on an up. it' s even having an affect on kuhn .
it' s exceeded expectations. people are so excited about it ,
he says .
we' re going to look back on how food' s produced today and shake our heads .
our first major film production is titled cowspiracy: the sustainability secret and was premiered in late 2014. this documentary uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today - and investigates why the world' s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. you can learn more about the film at urltoken
cowspiracy won the audience choice award at the 2015 south african eco film festival, [ 9 ] as well as the best foreign film award at the 12th annual festival de films de portneuf sur l' environnement. [ 10 ] it was also nominated for cinema politica’s 2015 audience choice award. [ 11 ]
worse, until he and andersen completed filming, they couldn' t even go public with what they' d learned .
we' ve had to stay silent every step of the way in fear of being shut down ,
says andersen. the topic is so hot, their funding got pulled. to get the word out, the
cowspiracy
team put a lot of skin and a lot of money in the project. they self - funded
cowspiracy
with the support of an indiegogo campaign. says kuhn ,
we put everything on the table we could to fit into the film .
cowspiracy tells audiences that all the energy, water, and land that goes into dairy and cattle farming feeds into the gross amount of methane gas produced, and that is what is killing the planet. it' s also what no environmental groups want to talk or know about, or so the film claims .
some of these components are by - products of human interference in the earth’s nitrogen cycle, the phosphorous cycle and the biodiversity cycle, but all such interference have to be remedied before we can reach sustainability. cowspiracy has served to broaden the dialog since a narrow focus on fossil - fuels alone won’t solve the problem…
fancy yourself an environmentalist? eat meat? well, according to
cowspiracy
it' s time to either put your money where your mouth is and step away from that burger, or find another way to self - identify. the revelations made in this film are brutally inconvenient, for all types of eaters .
the money from licensing fees helps us to recoup the expenses from producing the film as well as create more films like it. due to budget restraints as a non - profit, we are unable to give licensing discounts at this time. please note: every screening license purchase includes a cowspiracy: the sustainability secret dvd .
it is a strategy to try to put guys that write in favor of their own institution. this comment does not quote any serious or internationally accepted report that fully contradicts cowspiracy on the issue. greenpeace is now part of the bureaucratic system that is afraid to lose money, it was not before but now it is .
why we charge for licenses: we charge for screening licenses to cover our costs, and the money we make from the licenses, dvds, and donations goes to the non - profit animals united movement and is put toward promotion for cowspiracy and the making of our next documentaries. additionally, making cowspiracy took a great deal of time and money, and we were the sole financial backers until postproduction. our production team was incredibly small, meaning we worked 10 to 15 hour days for over a year to make this film. we are still a very small team, doing all we can to make sure cowspiracy and its message reach the widest possible audience, and in order to keep our doors open we need to have funds coming in. why we don’t negotiate on our prices: we are incredibly grateful for the huge amount of attention and interest cowspiracy is generating, and we really appreciate all the caring and thoughtful people who are making this movement bigger and bigger with every passing day, but the flipside to this attention and interest is that our time and attention at this point is incredibly limited and we simply can’t afford to negotiate our prices. we understand that people wishing to host a public screening of cowspiracy come from a wide variety of financial circumstances, and for some the cost of a screening license may be prohibitive. we have done our best to price the licenses fairly, for both people wishing to host a screening and ourselves. we hope that those who are not in a position to buy a license themselves can perhaps team up with others in their community to bring a screening to their area .
this is the short version of the eye opening documentary
cowspiracy - the sustainability secret
. this is an unofficial version and i don' t in anyway claim this to be an official version of the documentary. this is a must watch documentary to know about the impacts our day to day activities causes on the planet .
woronczuk: okay. and as i just mentioned, both of you, the coproducers of the new documentary film cowspiracy, let’s take a look at an interview you did in the film, where you ask the conservation director of the sierra club about this issue of animal agriculture and its contributions to climate change. let’s take a look .
despite the efforts of both advocates like the makers of cowspiracy and by the fossil fuel industry (see ucs’ recent report the climate deception dossiers for details), there is strong agreement among scientists as well as among the global public that global warming is happening and humans, principally through the fossil fuels we burn, are the main cause of it .
i have started a petition at urltoken to ask cnn to air cowspiracy, the way it aired blackfish. we all know the impact blackfish has had, after enough people had the chance to see it. if you think this is a good idea, please sign my petition and share it with everyone who might be inclined to sign. thank you. urltoken
starting by saying that although i appreciated cowspiracy highlighting the huge (because it is huge) impact that animal agricolture has on climate change, i didn’t like the way the documentary is developed and the fact that it focuses mainly on putting engos in a bad light, so that in a “conspirative burst” i almost thought it was the one paid by fossil fuels industry .
cowspiracy
' s anderson was raised on
meat, dairy eggs, the whole works, every day. i' m the biggest carnivore. i grew up that way, i crave it ,
he says .
i' m not giving up meat, i' m just going from animal meat to sustainable meat, plant - based meat .
boucher' s review concludes :
movies like cowspiracy aren’t believable, not only because of how they twist the science, but also because of what they ask us to believe: that the fossil fuel industry—the exxonmobils of the world—aren’t the main cause of global warming... and that thousands of scientists have covered up the truth about the most important environmental issue of our time .
according to cowspiracy, the major source of global warming pollution isn’t fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas, as the world’s scientists are telling us. no, it’s animal agriculture—not just eating cows, but all other kinds of meat, and eggs and milk and fish too. so the principal solution to global warming isn’t renewable energy. it’s for everyone to become a vegan .
a good deal of the movie is taken up with interviews with people from environmental organizations, such as the rainforest action network, oceana, and the natural resources defense council, who don’t seem to accept this “fact, ” and therefore must be part of the conspiracy to cover it up. greenpeace politely declined, twice, to be interviewed, proving that they’re part of the cowspiracy too .
i am working on getting a showing in steamboat springs, colorado. i’ve was referred to a group who’s mission statement is about sustainability. i ran into the same issue as did the producers of cowspiracy; this group is somewhat reluctant because they have an association with the county extension office. i sent them my copy of the dvd anyway – can’t hurt to rattle their cage a little .
hi all, i recently watched cowspiracy and enjoyed the discussion in the soil / health group and the review and comments here. i' m currently being trained by consumer reports on editing wikipedia and urltoken should definitely have some references about sustainable ranching. unfortunately, i can' t link to garth' s review here because links to personal blogs aren' t allowed on wikipedia. the cowspiracy site lists the studies in their favor, such as
got drought? on thursday, nasa released a study which says that the united states should prepare for the worst drought recorded ...
so i' m looking for links to studies or articles about the impact and
carbon footprint
of pastured cattle and other farm animals. i live in the desert and our fastest internet connection is around 500k lately, makes it hard to research. i personally think that cowspiracy is right on the money in most respects and it really doesn' t matter whether it takes 1000 or 2500 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef, but we really need to distinguish between corn / soy fed and sustainably raised and grass fed farm animals. please post any info here or email me directly, thanks !
we work on the animal agriculture issues by campaigning on cattle ranching, animal feed and destructive fishing, we encourage people to eat less or no meat and fish, and we serve only vegan and vegetarian food at our on site cafe. the implication in cowspiracy that we take money from the meat industry is completely false and baseless – we are 100% independent and accept no money from companies or government .
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a 2014 documentary film produced and directed by kip andersen and keegan kuhn. the film explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment, and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue. environmental organizations investigated in the film include greenpeace, sierra club, surfrider foundation, rainforest action network, and many more. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]
while the subjects are different, what conspiracy theories about president obama’s birthplace, the 9 / 11 attacks, contrails from jet planes, vaccination, and climate change have in common is that they tell us that an incredibly large number of people—in government, in the media, and in cowspiracy ’s case, in science and the environmental community as well, have agreed to hide a key piece of information from the public .
kuhn: the response for the film has been amazing. we’ve had people from all across the globe write us who have seen the film through theatrical screenings, educational screenings, or through our website — the previous version of the film. it’s just been incredible, an unbelievable outpouring of support, and we think fans of cowspiracy are really going to love this new edit of the film that’s going to be exclusively on netflix .
many of the criticisms of “cowspiracy” raised in this article were addressed during the vetting of the documentary by leonardo dicaprio’s team prior to its netflix release. i respectfully disagree with the specific criticism of the late dr. robert goodland and jeff anhang’s environmental assessment of the impact of livestock production. there was a scientific debate about their result in the animal feed science and technology journal and here’s a summary with links to the original papers :
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a feature - length environmental documentary following an intrepid filmmaker as he uncovers one of the most destructive industries marring the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. as eye - opening as blackfish and as inspiring as an inconvenient truth, this shocking yet humorous documentary reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large - scale factory farming has on our planet .
movies like cowspiracy aren’t believable, not only because of how they twist the science, but also because of what they ask us to believe: that the fossil fuel industry— the exxonmobils of the world —aren’t the main cause of global warming; that the transition to clean energy isn’t what matters most for our future and our grandchildren’s; and that thousands of scientists have covered up the truth about the most important environmental issue of our time .
top off the fair with a visit to the ovec office, just up the street at 725 14 th street west. join us from 4: 15 to 5 p. m. for a meet and greet reception. refreshments served. at 5 we’ll screen fridays at the farm, a short film (19 minutes). at 5: 30 we’ll screen cowspiracy: the sustainability secret. there’s limited seating, so come early .
movie night at my house last weekend, featuring cowspiracy. the name says it all. the 2014 / 2015 movie by that name—“the film that environmental organizations don’t want you to see, ” according to its website —has uncovered an immense conspiracy between governments and the world’s biggest environmental organizations, to deceive the public about the principal cause of global warming. but the film’s premise is based on badly flawed—and almost unanimously rejected—interpretations of science. let me explain…
are environmentalists afraid of stepping in cow dung? the documentary film cowspiracy contends that large environmental groups are turning a blind eye to the harmful effects cattle have on ecosystems and human health. environmentalists bristle at the charge and point to work promoting vegan and vegetarian diets and campaigns against factory farms and other aspects of the animal agriculture industry. the film, which was backed by leonardo dicaprio, presents “a sensationalist conspiracy where none exists, ” according to greenpeace executive robin oakley .
we all share cowspiracy' s concerns about the environmental impact of animal agriculture and it' s great that these issues are being given more attention. however, our us office declined to take part in this project as they felt sure our position would be misrepresented (as it has been for several other organisations featured in the film). but sadly our reasons for not taking part have been misrepresented as well, in an attempt to create a sensationalist conspiracy where none exists .
it’s perfectly possible to make a powerful environmental case against the meat and dairy industry without using made - up numbers. a lot of the rest of cowspiracy does just that – the film is packed with plenty of real facts about the dreadful deforestation, water use, and local environmental damage caused by animal agriculture. but there’s another major problem with the documentary: it’s built on the assumption that persuading western people to change their lifestyles is the best way to save the world .
cowspiracy ignores this broad consensus, and indeed scientists are practically absent among the many talking heads in the film. it’s telling that although there are lots of statements of supposedly scientific numbers, the people making those statements aren’t identified as scientists, but rather by tags such as “environmental and ethics author, ” “environmental and food author, ” “environmental researcher and author, ” “greenpeace alaska founder, ” “former whole foods market executive, ” “former cattle rancher, ” and “veganic farmer. ”
kip andersen, co - producer / director of
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret ,
considered himself to be an environmentalist. he recycled to reduce waste, took quick showers to save water, supported several environmental organizations. then
i did some research and discovered all these incredible things - - rainforest destruction, species extinction - - can all be tied to animal agriculture. jeez, this is the cause ?
and if so, why was no one talking about it ?
coming up next: as i mentioned in my last blog post, i’m going to do a short series of reviews on recent books and movies related to beef and climate change. this review of cowspiracy is the first of the series, and as you can guess, it’s about a movie that is fiercely anti - beef. the next two posts in the series will be about books: in defense of beef by nicolette hahn niman, and cowed by dennis and gail boyer hayes .
after cowspiracy co - director, kip andersen watched the documentary an inconvenient truth about the catastrophic impacts of global warming, he started following the advice of all of the major environmental organizations – composting, recycling, switching lightbulbs, shorter showers, bicycling over driving, you know the drill. but when he discovered that animal agriculture plays a larger role in environmental destruction than even the fossil fuel industry, he was shocked that the organizations that he had been supporting had not even mentioned it .
for many of the ngo’s, the film makers didn’t contact the correct people within these ngo’s. here’s a link to a podcast of a debate urltoken between kip from cowspiracy and nicolette hahn niman where this is mentioned by one of the people within one of those ngo’s not contacted. additionally in this podcast several of these ngo’s and others got to finally confront kip about the film. kip not only lied to people what the film was about, he heavily edited the interviews to fit his agenda .
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a groundbreaking feature - length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker kip andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today and investigates why the world' s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. as eye - opening as blackfish and as inspiring as an inconvenient truth, this shocking yet humorous documentary reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large - scale factory farming has on our planet, and offers a path to global sustainability for a growing population .
i recently had the pleasure of viewing new video of kip andersen and keegan kuhn cowspiracy: the sustainability secret. the basic question these two film makers ask is why the contribution of livestock to ecosystem degradation is missing from the world’s environmental agenda. to find the answer they set out to interview environmental leaders as well as others to see if they could find the answer. the video is well researched and illustrated. but more than that, it is also entertaining. you will enjoy this video .
i think the guy that made cowspiracy was a very passionate man who had made a life time commitment to environmental causes and made lifelong personal sacrifices to help the planet and became a david to the goliath of the animal agriculture industry in america where the king of the environmental movement greenpeace stood shaking in their boots to speak out against the giants of animal agriculture. if those who are meant to stand against the giants of corruption don' t stand, god will send a david to defeat the giant .
joining us from san francisco to discuss the impacts of animal agriculture on the global environment are kip anderson and keegan kuhn. kip and keegan are the coproducers of the documentary film cowspiracy, which came out this summer, is being released on dvd this month, and is currently available for streaming on their website. kip is an award - winning designer, documentary filmmaker, and entrepreneur who’s built more than a dozen businesses. and keegan is an award - winning documentary filmmaker, videographer, and professional musician .
boucher claims that the creators of cowspiracy gave the impression that various environmental groups are part of a conspiracy because they don’t accept that livestock are responsible for 51% of global emissions. however, the issues discussed in the movie with those organisations extended well beyond that one. for example, when the interviewer questioned the sustainability of industrial scale fishing with geoff shester of oceana (26: 50), and rainforest destruction with lindsey allen of the rainforest action network (31: 30), the 51% figure was not mentioned .
appreciate your candid admission of bias. i knew cowspiracy would set off a statistics - war - counter - stats, counter - counter - stats, on and on... even if they are off by a factor of 2 or 3 - so what? but you have nothing to fear from the movie - factory farming, yes, but not the movie. we americans will not lift a finger to save ourselves. given the state of the economy, we won' t be buying much grass - fed beef either .
since the 51% figure is key to the film’s conspiracy theory, let’s look at the study that it comes from. ironically, in light of cowspiracy ’s thesis that environmental ngos are hiding the science, this study proposing this figure on which they rely so heavily was not published in a scientific journal, but in a report by an environmental organization, the worldwatch institute. the report’s authors, jeff anhang and the late robert goodland, were not named in the movie but were described simply as “two advisers from the world bank. ”
thanks bevan - the response did seem rather weak. before seeing cowspiracy i thought vegan / vegetarianism was about not hurting animals... ...... ...... it is so much broader an issue. the directors may have taken some liberties but the message needs to be heard and it does seem those agencies we trust to tell us these things have not been strong enough in conveying it. we need to change direction with our diet not just for personal health benefits but to protect our beautiful planet .
by focusing on veganism to the exclusion of all else, cowspiracy implies that if any of these frontline defenders – including the murdered brazilian land rights campaigners mentioned in the film – eat meat then they’re not ‘proper’ environmentalists. this is deeply offensive and exclusive, and also ignores the cultural importance of hunted meat in many indigenous societies. to build the genuinely international climate movement we desperately need, northern campaigners need to think carefully about the language they use to challenge the industrial livestock industry, and avoid sweeping statements that ignore the struggles of millions of people across the world .
however a growing number of environmentalists are praising cows and claim they can be climate healers rather than the villains they are often made out to be. they contend that a cow’s methane - rich burps can be offset if cattle grazing patterns are carefully managed. the result, they say, can be pretty landscapes and healthy soil that stores both carbon and water. is that just spin from cattle ranchers? does cowspiracy use green groups as a foil to make a sensational film to generate buzz? a conversation about the future of an american icon in the age of climate disruption .
kip andersen’s awakening as a filmmaker came as a result of an inconvenient truth. after seeing the film, he dramatically changed his lifestyle and believed he was doing everything he could to help the planet. but his life took a different direction when he found out animal agriculture is the leading cause of environmental destruction. together with keegan kuhn he co - produced his first film, cowspiracy: the sustainability secret, which became an overnight viral success and ignited the environmental movement. following this success, he was invited to speak in front of the european parliament and a new cut, executive produced by leonardo dicaprio, was exclusively released on netflix in september 2015 .
why only mention fossil fuels? why not the inefficiency of livestock for nutritional purposes? why not discuss the nitrogen cycle disruption (steffen et al. 2015 science), biodiversity loss (& rainforest destruction) (erb et al. 2016 nature communications), the amount of global agricultural land taken up by livestock (it’s 75% , foley et. 2011 nature)? why focus solely on greenhouse gases, when cowspiracy: the sustainability secret discusses far more effects of the livestock industry? yes, the 50% ghg is derived from a much contested study, but to discredit the documentary because it cites one study (among many) that isn’t credible, is intellectually dishonest .
i think cowspiracy was very unfair to alan savory, who says in his ted talk that culling the elephants was tragic mistake that he deeply regrets. that said, savory' s methods really only work on natural grasslands that co - evolved with large ruminants (eg elephants on the savannah or bison on the prairie). they' re not suited to natural deserts, eg most of australia and large areas of central and north america, which are best left as wilderness reserves. nor are they suited to natural forestland, particularly rainforests like the amazon, tasmania, and aotearoa (nz), where food forests of treecrops are a better option for producing human protein than grazing animals .
streaming giant netflix recently launched cowspiracy: the sustainability secret, a 90 - minute documentary financed via the crowd - funding site indiegogo and executive - produced by hollywood star leonardo di caprio. it is the latest in a short line of factual features promoted by netflix, which was prompted to make this acquisition by the huge number of people keying the title into its search box. since its internet release last august, the film has been triggering major behavioral change among young adults, an age group often labeled as apolitical and apathetic. as friends and facebook contacts recommend the film, young people watch it and by the time the end credits roll, they have resolved to become vegans or vegetarians .
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 .
the filmmaking duo’s new cut of the documentary, cowspiracy: the sustainability secret, which is executive produced by leonardo dicaprio, is a controversial look at the animal agriculture industry’s practices and collisions with environmental organizations like greenpeace. recently acquired by netflix and premiering globally on the streaming service september 15, the film depicts the tangled web of corruption within the industry that brings food to the tables of most americans. throughout the filmmaking process, andersen and kuhn interviewed dozens of environmental activists, some of whom were routinely threatened for speaking out against pro - animal agriculture organizations with limitless legal resources and congressional protection. if you think you’re going to sit through another horrific outcry like food, inc. — think again .
if you’ve posted anything online about fossil fuels and climate change lately, the chances are you’ve seen a response like this. cowspiracy: the sustainability secret may have started as a crowdfunded documentary by us filmmakers kip andersen and keegan kuhn but following a year of online success a new version of the film – executive produced by hollywood star leonardo dicaprio – has now been launched on netflix. the film follows andersen’s investigation into the climate impact of animal agriculture, and his attempts to get a series of large us environmental ngos to speak to him about it. it’s a compellingly told story, as most of the green groups seem reluctant to answer his questions or to justify their focus on fossil fuels rather than livestock emissions .
you already know the subject, animal husbandry. you all know the thesis - that animal husbandry is simply ecologically unsustainable with our current population numbers. what cowspiracy does is take one person through a very personal journey to show just how there is only one course of action that will allow this species to have a reasonable chance of surviving at the current population levels. we can change and adapt and go to a more healthy diet or we can wait for a massive ecological change and have our population levels and civilization crash like so many others have before. is it perfect? no, but it is still that good. i wish broadcast tv had the guts to run it. i wish it were played in schools. unfortunately they never will .
cowspiracy also seems to assume that the only people worth targeting with its message are white, northern and middle - class. one of the most problematic lines in the film is when a commentator says “it’s not possible to be a meat - eating environmentalist. ” this statement is presumably meant to prick the consciences of well - off us eco - activists but it sweeps the struggles of millions of poorer southern and indigenous peoples under the carpet. most of the people fighting for a safer global environment aren’t middle - class northern folks with carbon - heavy lifestyles. they are the people engaged in frontline battles against fossil fuels, local pollution, and – yes – livestock megafarm projects around the world, and they are leading the way in the defence of our shared climate .
the film has built a sizable and vocal following, as evidenced by the critical cowspiracy - inspired comments that frequently pop up on articles about climate change, bemoaning the lack of coverage of the climate impact of animal agriculture. in paris for the climate talks in december, there was no escape either. i spotted the headline statistic from the documentary – “animal agriculture is responsible for 51 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions” – emblazoned on at least one placard or banner at most of the protests i attended in paris. kip andersen himself even turned up at the anti - oil protest outside the louvre, with a film camera and the 51 per cent figure printed on his shirt, presumably to denounce such fossil - fuel - bashing antics as a waste of time compared to stopping the livestock industry .
the film has built a sizable and vocal following, as evidenced by the critical cowspiracy - inspired comments that frequently pop up on articles about climate change, bemoaning the lack of coverage of the climate impact of animal agriculture. in paris for the climate talks in december, there was no escape either. i spotted the headline statistic from the documentary – ‘animal agriculture is responsible for 51 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions’ – emblazoned on at least one placard or banner at most of the protests i attended in paris. kip andersen himself even turned up at the anti - oil protest outside the louvre, with a film camera and the 51 per cent figure printed on his shirt, presumably to denounce such fossil - fuel - bashing antics as a waste of time compared to stopping the livestock industry .
the facts and stats underpinning the movie avoid the eco - yawn trap through jolly animation sequences: one acre of rainforest being cut down per second is shown as football fields replacing the trees, and the 660 gallons of water it takes to produce one beef - burger spring as a flood emitted from a man’s garden hose. cowspiracy ’s strong narrative has a thriller - like quality when anderson starts to realize the formidable adversary that is the us agricultural industry – and that of brazil too, where people who stand up to ranchers tend to end up dead. howard lyman, an erudite ex - rancher who spent 2 years fighting lawsuits after speaking against the beef industry on the oprah winfrey show, leaves the duo in no doubt about what they are taking on. the withdrawal of their financial backer seems like the last straw .
jo dirix criticizes me, and indeed calls me “intellectually dishonest, ” for focusing on cowspiracy’s climate argument and not also criticizing what it says about land use, nitrogen, water or deforestation. readers of this blog (see previous posts at urltoken) and of the ucs web pages on deforestation (urltoken) will know that i have written extensively on these issues and linked them to livestock production, particularly beef. i’ll continue to do that in future posts, and some of these issues will figure prominently in my next two posts, the reviews of the books defending beef and cowed. but given the limitations of space – we aim to keep our blog posts to 500 - 1000 words, and this one had already reached nearly 2000 – i chose to focus on climate, and just make brief mentions and / or give links to my writings on the other issues .
when those grasslands are torn up for man made agro - ecosystems (cropland) is where biodiversity is lost where these marginal grasslands are converted to agro - ecosystems, that’s where you lose soil carbon, lose methane sinks and require more diverted blue water for crops that aren’t anywhere as near nutrient dense. when these lands are also industrially farmed, the synthetic inputs including nitrogen also leach into waterways causing hypoxia. the common misconception is that all of this industrial farming is mainly for animal feed. cowspiracy furthers this misconception. the reality is that the feed is a co - product of the seed oil / biofuel / ethanol industries. feed started as a by - product. now there are a myriad of other by - products from industrial farming. note too that monocrops of palm oil trees also require huge inputs of nitrogen fertilizers to increase yields. the consequences of these inputs are also now just being realized .
in reference to the comment “…indeed scientists are practically absent among the many talking heads in the film…” the film is mainly based on the book “comfortably unaware” by richard oppenheimer. oppenheimer was the film’s main talking head. per the credits he was also the film’s statistical adviser. the film presented oppenheimer as “dr. ” and noted he was an environmental researcher, somehow implying that oppenheimer has a phd in the topics he was discussing. however, what the film didn’t clearly note was that oppenheimer is actually a dentist without any research background (see meme). in addition to being an abolitionist vegan, oppenheimer also owns a wholesale vegan food company called ope’s, which ironically uses palm oil in its baked goods. so needless to note, both the book and the film based on the book further oppenheimer’s business interests. here’s a good review of oppenheimer’s book urltoken citing its many fallacies many of which are repeated in cowspiracy ,
agree. also, all the examples laid out by greenpeace paints a pattern... that they haven' t questioned, let alone challenged, the practices of the meat industry in the us. given examples were of overseas. secondly, greenpeace has denied receiving
money
. but they didn' t deny donations / other forms of rewards. thirdly, greenpeace did not apologise to kip andersen (cowspiracy) for swatting his multiple interview requests down over a year. this is unacceptable, given his persistence and what the documentary has ultimately shown: educating the public on meat industry crippling our earth. i sensed earlier too that kip was a fan and a donator of greenpeace. my partner & i have given greenpeace australia over $ 9k over 5yrs (included a $ 3k gift when my partner had a promotion). i' m thinking that we have to look elsewhere, since greenpeace has clearly been compromised.
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a 2014 documentary film which explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment , and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue . the film looks at various environmental concerns , including global warming , water use , deforestation , and ocean dead zones , and suggests that animal agriculture is the primary source of environmental destruction . the union of concerned scientists has disputed the film 's assertion that 51 % of greenhouse gases driving climate change are produced by animal agriculture , which runs counter to scientific consensus on that subject . 
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a 2014 documentary film which explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment, and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue. the film looks at various environmental concerns, including global warming, water use, deforestation, and ocean dead zones, and suggests that animal agriculture is the primary source of environmental destruction. the union of concerned scientists has disputed the film's assertion that 51% of greenhouse gases driving climate change are produced by animal agriculture, which runs counter to scientific consensus on that subject.
cowspiracy: the sustainability secret is a 2014 documentary film which explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment, and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue. the film looks at various environmental concerns, including global warming, water use, deforestation, and ocean dead zones, and suggests that animal agriculture is the primary source of environmental destruction. the union of concerned scientists has disputed the film's assertion that 51% of greenhouse gases driving climate change are produced by animal agriculture, which runs counter to scientific consensus on that subject.