Documentaries and Other Video Goodies

If you’re interested in learning more about the whole-food plant-based diet, veganism, the reasons for them, and the science behind them, believe that I am a ferocious hunter (of knowledge) and have done my best to compile all of the resource that I personally have watched, read, seen, and can confidently say are good resources for the WFPB/vegan-curious.

While I do love a good book, video is still an extremely powerful medium for getting a point across, and really who doesn’t love queueing up a Netflix documentary at the end of the day, or burning through a workday listening to YouTube playlist.

Documentaries

Dominion (2018)

Might as well start the list off with a bang. If I had a dollar for everytime a vegan or vegan resource has said “go watch Dominion”, I’d be living in a chalet on the beach of south Pacific island. But it’s recommended for good reason. “Dominion” rips back the curtain on the animal agriculture system and takes an unblinking look at the cruelty that sustains the American way of life.

You can watch this one for free on their website.

Earthlings (2005)

I am sad to say that, while some of the points in this film have been negated by more modern victories of our time, too much of the material covered in this one is still true. This is another extremely gripping documentary that delves into the many ways animals are exploited and harmed for human consumption.

You can check out the filmmaker’s website here and watch the 10th anniversary edition of the documentary on YouTube.

Food, Inc. (2008)

“Food, Inc.” takes a look not just at the lives of the animals impacted, but also does a good job of looking at our industrial food-chain at large, and how the people within it are also impacted. If you ever REALLY wanted to know where your food comes from in unflinching detail, this one is for you.

As of this writing, you can watch it on Hulu.

Forks Over Knives (2011)

“Forks Over Knives” was the first of the group that really set aside the moral implications and took a pointed look at what the Western diet does to human body, and uses several studies to effectively link the diet of modern Americans to many of our chronic illnesses, and the effect that a WFPB diet can have.

You can pay to stream it directly at their website, but it is also available on many streaming services for rent or purchase, including iTunes and Amazon.

Cowspiracy (2014)

“Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret” looks at animal agriculture from an angle the previous entries on this list overlooked: the effect on the environment. From water shortages to our disastrous effect on the climate, this documentary pulls no punches about how it addresses what animal agriculture is doing to the environment at large, and where it’s heading.

You can find this one one Netflix.

What the Health (2017)

Following “Cowspiracy,” film makers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn continued their war against ignorance, coming back to the subject of how diet and chronic disease are tied. They took it a step further, addressing nutrition and disease boards and societies directly to ask why no one was willing to recommend plant-based diets.

Like its predecessor, you can find this gem on Netflix.

The Game Changers (2018)

To me, this one really signaled that the mainstream was starting to take a longer look at veganism (though I could be framing it from my own plant-fed echo chamber). This one addressed the oldest myth in the vegan stratosphere: that you have to have tons of (animal) protein to build muscle. It managed to also get a lot of attention by focusing in on elite vegan athletes, and even featured such luminaries as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scott Jurek, and Patrik Baboumian.

Save all the money you’re wasting on whey and freezers full of steak and cuddle up with this game changer (wink wink) on Netflix.