Eat More Sustainably with this Fantastic Documentary

Trying to eat more sustainably or live an eco-friendly lifestyle?

This documentary is an absolute must-watch for anyone trying to eat more sustainably and mindfully. Being realistic, when most people consider their carbon footprint, they rarely think further than their cars and electricity usage. But, the global warming is much more complex than that. Did you know that the majority of human caused greenhouse gases (51%) are caused by the animal agriculture industry? In fact, the majority of our carbon footprint comes as a side effect to raising crops and animals. Most people have no clue about this, and to be honest, for most of my life I didn’t either. But after watching the documentary Cowspiracy everything changed for me.

My Story

I was just like most Americans, going about my business, eating meat, and not giving it a second thought. In fact, I was actually quite oblivious to the carbon footprint of animal agriculture. I never considered my diet as part of my carbon footprint further than the transportation emissions.

Like many people these days, I thought more abstractly about meat being the flesh of a once-living being. Now, I am quite ashamed now about I took animal products for granted. I even used to waste quite a lot of those products too. I’d let them spoil in my fridge or would throw them out. I never stopped to think about all that went into producing that product.

About Cowspiracy…

But now I know better, and I wished I had learned about this documentary sooner. After watching Cowspiracy I finally educated myself on the price of the human consumption of animal products. It has changed every single way I think about food and how that food got to my table or plate. And, it has made me a better person for it.

This is an absolute must-watch for everyone, not just tree huggers and vegans. This documentary is in fact especially important for those that consume dairy, eggs, and meat. This changed my entire perspective on the entire food industry. While I didn’t become vegan right away, I was more aware about the impact my food had on the planet. Slowly, after some time, I started to decrease the amount of animal products in my diet and became vegetarian.

When I first noticed this documentary, I thought it would be about the suffering of animals in the livestock industry. The morality of raising animals to slaughter is definitely an important topic, along with the horrific treatment of livestock. But, this documentary mainly focuses on the environmental impact of raising those animals. I will warn you, there are some graphic scenes. They include live fish being killed, a historic clip of hunters killing African elephants, and a duck being slaughtered. I skipped the scene with the duck, but it’s up to you whether to watch these scenes or not. Yes, this documentary is very sad but extremely important at the same time. Especially to those trying to eat more sustainably and live and eco-friendly lifestyle, it is essential to watch this.

Environmental Impacts

In the documentary, they do an incredible job of outlining all the environmental impacts of animal agriculture. For instance, they discuss the amount of water it takes to produce animal products, and the destruction that clearing land for animal farms has caused world-wide. Not only that, but they also cover the shocking amount of greenhouse gas produced by the animal industry. Which, according to a UN research report a few years back, accounts for 51% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions per year. That’s more than the entire transportation sector combined.

And you may be wondering if this was all true, wouldn’t more people be talking about it? I was confused why the US government was recommending people take shorter showers to conserve water when 1 1/4 pound beef burger takes about 660 gallons to produce, or the equivalent of a two-month-long shower. But Cowspiracy also takes a look at how lobbyists in our government and the Patriot Act prevent facts from getting out and potentially harming the animal industry, even keeping environmental agencies from speaking out clearly proven facts.

How this documentary changed my life…

Now I’m eating more sustainably!

Ever since I watched that documentary, my life has changed in a very positive way. First of all, I had already been trying to cut down on meat but this documentary provided me with the motivation I needed to become fully vegetarian. Second of all, learning about the environment and how humans are destroying it has given me a sense of purpose I have never had before in my life. I feel an urge and a need now to spread the word of the true cost of animal agriculture and to teach others how and why to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. And I’m starting by publishing this post now.

If you want to watch this documentary, it’s currently on Netflix and can also be purchased online. No, I am not trying to promote this product to make money myself, but I am encouraging you to watch it because I genuinely think everybody should watch it. Or, if you don’t have time to watch the documentary, at least consider reading up on the cost animal agriculture takes on our planet and educate yourself on these things.

You don’t have to become vegetarian or vegan to be more eco-friendly, and I know that for many people that is simply not an option. But trying to eat less meat or buying fewer animal products can make a difference and be a step forwards towards protecting our earth and eating sustainably. Check out some of my eco-friendly recipes by checking out the rest of my blog posts, including The Absolute Best Sautéed Mushrooms, and my recipe for tofu tacos.