Forks Over Knives

Went to the sneak preview of the very important and timely movie "Forks Over Knives" in Seattle last night. It was more like a documentary that I would watch in high school than an actual movie I would watch at the theater, and I thought my daughter was going to fall asleep in the middle of it, but I really enjoyed it. Having a strong personal belief that food has a significant impact on dis-ease in the body, I really appreciated the content and felt validated in my quest to share the benefits of eating a largely plant based diet with the world. An excerpt from the movie's synopsis (from their website):

Two out of every three of us are overweight. Cases of diabetes are exploding, especially amongst our younger population. About half of us are taking at least one prescription drug. Major medical operations have become routine, helping to drive health care costs to astronomical levels. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the country’s three leading causes of death, even though billions are spent each year to “battle” these very conditions. Millions suffer from a host of other degenerative diseases.

Could it be there’s a single solution to all of these problems? A solution so comprehensive but so utterly straightforward, that it’s mind-boggling that more of us haven’t taken it seriously?

FORKS OVER KNIVES examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called “diseases of affluence” that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.

Some classrooms are already showing the documentary "Super Size Me" and I think "Forks Over Knives" also belongs in the classroom. Curious what the impact of that would have? Check out this video of an 11 year old kid who found out where food comes from and decided to become an organic farmer instead of a football player. He gave a short 5 minute speech at a TED conference about the broken food supply system that gave me excitement and hope that society is starting to wake up and make a change. It also made me ask myself why I'm not showing up and influencing change.  As Ed would say "What are you waiting for, Mighty?"

Thank you for the inspiration, Birke!  http://civileats.com/2010/09/28/11-year-old-describes-broken-food-system-in-five-minutes-video/