I recently viewed the new documentary Forks Over Knives and I couldn’t wait to chat about it on my blog. Forks Over Knives (FOK) is a must see film championing the plant based lifestyle for ultimate health, and backed by jaw dropping information – most notably the goods from the book, The China Study (one of my favorites – this was the book that turned my husband, Greg, to plant based living. I’d like to think it was my un-cooking – haha – but The China Study pushed him to plants full on with gusto).
For those of you who might not be familiar, The China Study is the earth-shattering book by Columbia University researcher Colin Campbell. If you eat meat or dairy after reading it, you’re in the same category as people who ride fast on motorcycles without wearing a helmet. On ice. Drunk. While doing Sudoku. Seriously, if you want to know the meticulously scientific, scary truth about meat’s causal linkage to cancer, heart disease, and numerous other killers, this is the book to read. The chapters on how doctors, hospitals, FDA and the meat/dairy industries have responded to this will get your blood boiling. Here’s the thing though… it’s a book. And, while the information is super compelling to anyone who reads it, we need more people to read it. For some… that ain’t gonna happen if ya know what I mean. Enter: Forks Over Knives.
If you would’ve asked me years ago what movie you should see for inspiring dietary change, I probably would’ve said The Future of Food. At the time it was a good option… filled with solid info, but it didn’t exactly hit the vegan living spot (it focused more on gmos) and its production values left a bit to be desired. After that, I was (and still am) a big fan of Food Matters. It’s great for inspiring change to healthy eating (I blogged my love for it here), but I’m of the mind that it’s particularly great for a certain audience perhaps. For example, my dad, a hardcore omni-chef, probably wouldn’t get as excited about vegan eating as I do from watching it. Then came Food, Inc. where the message is important and the production values are strong, but this film isn’t going to exactly teach you the importance of why a plant based diet is so important. Impressively, however, Food, Inc. made its way into many theaters, and was nominated for an academy award – deservedly so. (I blogged about Food, Inc. here)
What I really longed for was a documentary featuring the important information from The China Study, with strong production values, and available in theaters. This is where Forks Over Knives takes the cake. Finally. A documentary that is inspiring, riveting, packed with life changing statistics, moves along via the compelling stories woven throughout, and I believe is the film to move many people to plant based eating. FOK delivers. (I plan on taking a copy of the DVD to Michigan next time I visit dad – this is the type of film I think will move him.)
Check out the trailer for yourself. If you can’t get to this brilliant film in the movie theater, then stay on alert for when it’s available in DVD – order a copy here! I’m buying a couple for sure! Going to pass them around and watch it once every couple of months (I like to do that with films like this. It invigorates me and gets my plant strong body juices flowin’!).
Have you seen Forks Over Knives? What did you think? Did you go alone or did you go with someone who wasn’t into eating vegan? Did their tune change after viewing it?