Happy Earth Day! Today I watched “The Devil we Know”. The documentary covers the toxic chemical cover up done by DuPont and 3M. In 1945 the DuPont plant in West Virginia began the production of the C-8 synthetic chemical that is extremely harmful. C-8 has been found in the blood of 99% of the world. It causes birth defects, cancer, harms animals, etc. The land was purchased from a WV Farmer where DuPont claimed they would dispose of non-toxic chemicals.  After the plant started the farmer who sold the land noticed that fish were dying in the river and his cattle where dying from drinking from the river. 

The documentary covers the story of how a household brand like Teflon has impacted so many people and their lives. One man in the documentary was born with birth defects due to the chemical exposure his mother had while working for Teflon making the non-stick pans. The synthetic chemicals used in Teflon products created many birth defects. One man was born blind on one eye and only had on nostril. They did not think he would make it through his first night. He ended up making it through and went on to have 30 surgeries before he turned 5. This had a great impact on his life and it was caused due to the C-8 chemicals produced in WV by DuPont. The toxic chemicals are now apart of every person on this planet because we consume them through food or water. 

The chemicals from Teflon products cause cancer in animals and people. This pollution causes 9 million premature deaths annually. This number is compelling to me. Teflon, DuPont, and 3M have all tried covered up this information. They offered settlements to those effected, but the class decided not settle and filed a class-action law suit against DuPont. There is no amount of money that fix the lives that are taken by C-8 and other synthetic chemicals created by these companies. To this day DuPont and 3M still try to cover up what happened and continues to happen. The exposures to the contaminated water, air, and soil kill more people than smoking, hunger, natural disasters, war, AIDS, or malaria (thedevilweknow.com). This is shocking and scary. Peoples lives are affected daily by this. 

It’s important to remember that the Teflon products are still used in houses today. There is no way to escape the chemicals that are used in these products. It’s in our carpets, floss, water resistant clothes, and non-stick cookware. The producers of this film wanted to uncover what they have tried so hard to cover up. This documentary was eye-opening and educational. It made me sad watching this. This has effected they entire planet and it can from Americas backwards economics. This could have been prevented and it wasn’t. Now our generation must find ways to live with this and try to fix it. The documentary can be viewed on Netflix, I also recommend checking out thedevilweknow.com for more facts and information on the issue. 

https://www.netflix.com/title/80164032

This documentary that shows us the state of our oceans and uncovers alarming facts about the consequences of our disposable lifestyle. It documents the global effects of plastic pollution. Throughout the film it shows us technology and solutions that everyone can do in order to help create a cleaner and greener ocean. The world we live in is full of plastic. The things we use in our day to day are made out of plastic. Shopping bags, bottles, toothbrushes, and even our clothes contain plastic. We have been mass-producing plastic since the 1950s. Every year we produce hundreds of million os tonnes of plastic. The majority of our plastic is not recycled and ends up in our landfills and oceans. The beginning part of the film starts out with an adventure to film the blue whale. This animals is the largest animal on the planet and while on their adventure it leads to them discovering a thick layer of plastic debris that is floating in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Over the course of the film it shows the viewers the marine environment that will be affected by the heavily polluted cities and dumps that are full of plastic waste. Throughout the film, we are shown footage of numerous marine species that have been affected by plastic debris. Marine animals and sea birds often mistake floating plastic for food. Large pieces of plastic, when eaten, can obstruct the animals’ digestive tracts of the animals, essentially starving them to death. There is not a quick fix for our plastic problem since plastic is so ingrained into our society. The film talks about various strategies that can help reduce the impact of plastic. If it was a simple fix, the ideal solution would be to avoid plastic containing products. Avoid using single use plastic products and recycling all the time. If items are not recyclable than a new technology has been developed to covert them into fuel. 

https://www.netflix.com/title/80134814

This film examines the value of sustainable farming from a well-being of the land and health of society to the cause of an economy built around a locally grown food system. In order to have a sustainable food system it needs to be built on quality nutrition, community, and ethical agricultural practices. This is very different from today’s industrial production that is focused on quantity and profit. The importance of local farming and the impact of it has on the community, land relates to food activism and food security. In the beginning, Chef Rick, who opens the film by reflecting on his decision to source local ingredients. He told us that, he kept asking himself about he was going to make great food if he didn’t have any connection to the people who are growing that food. Throughout the documentary it is critical of industrial farming. The main focus of the film is central Illinois farmers Marty and Kris Travis and their grown son, Will. The family is very passionate about the way they work Spence Farm, the small plot of land they repurchased in 1999 after a prior generation had to sell it the decade before. Marty is a seventh-generation farmer who has watched his land and community fall victim to the pressures of big agribusiness. The Travises only started turning a profit after attending a meeting of Chicago restaurant chefs looking for a locally grown organic produce supply chain. The chefs would place an order for whatever underserved produce they needed the next season and the Travises would figure out how to organically grow it.Every season the film checks in with Marty Travis who shares what it’s like on his farm during that particular time of year. It was interesting to me to see what life is like through the eyes of Marty Travis and to learn a little bit about what he experiences each season. Their neighbors, traditional farmers farming a thousand acres or more and are making $400 an acre. While Spence Farm is making in $2,200 on each of their 160 acres. The film shows us the economics of farming without the high chemical input costs that have become the new way of farming and producing. he Travis family recruits other small struggling farmers, some give credit to the family for saving their own operations. From the film we learn that most of the farming land in Iowa is used to grow corn and oats. The raw product of these crops means that the farmers are entirely at the mercy of markets. Their crop prices have nothing to do with the quality of their output in a given year. From this we could say that the sustainable farmers in the film have more control over what they choose to grow and charge for their yield.

I recently watched the short documentary series Cooked on Netflix. Obviously, this series focuses on cooking, but more specifically the relationship that humans have with food and how it has altered over time. There are four total episodes and they are cleverly divided into the categories of fire, water, air, and earth. Although the focus is on food, it also outlined many significant environmental injustices and interesting human tendencies.

My favorite episode was the first one, which focused on how humans have adapted and captivated fire throughout time. We would not be who were are without fire because cooking is what originally separated us from other species. Fire is essentially what made us human. Eating raw has actually become unsafe for our health, meaning that fire caused us to become biologically developed to rely on cooked food. The importance of cooking is something that our society now takes for granted. The documentary talked about the meaning of tradition that is wrapped into a meal. The meal is essential to human nature and is critical to our well-being. I thought this sentiment was really interesting because in today’s society many typical families rarely sit down for a meal. We have given up an element of pleasure when it comes to having a meal, which was promoted through the introduction of fast food or tv dinners. The documentary utilized mouth watering and slow-mo food shots as a call to action to stop overlooking the act of cooking.

Another aspect that the Cooked addressed was that our society has become unaware of the cruelties happening in the meat industry, due to the companies covering it up. This became the trend when fast food created pressure on originally sustainable farms to produce more product at a faster pace. Factory farms are a product of the disconnect consumers have to their food source. This impactful portion of this series reminded me of the documentary we recently watched, Food Inc. The overarching theme of the food industry today is that most people have no idea how the food they are eating arrived on their plate. As corporations monopolized the meat industry, factory farms and mistreatment of animals became the norm. This a product of massive outsourcing, which turns the population into passive consumers.

Cooked also went on to explain how we have distanced ourselves from the gratitude we used to have for fire. Civilization began around a fire, yet we now view moving away from it as progress. Historically cultures survived because of fire, causing it to be tied to religious mentalities. For example, the Martu people in Western Australia who still incorporate a “fire baptism” into their religious worships. Now we have confined the element of fire to a simple aesthetic feature, hiding the use of it in metal containers. Another layer is that there are unseen fossil fuel fires burning everywhere, supporting our materialistic lifestyles.

Overall, if you can’t tell by my rambling of information, this documentary series in incredibly well done and I recommend it to everyone. Also, Michael Pollan is one of the creators of the show, so you know it is going to be good!

Here is a link to the series:  Cooked

https://www.netflix.com/browse/my-list?jbv=80174177&jbp=1&jbr=5

What The Health is a documentary on Netflix. It focuses on how the food we eat affects our health and environment. It also focuses on how businesses, industry, and public policy also affect what we eat. In the film it argues that meat and diary products are the main reason for cancer, diabetes, obesity, ad heart disease. This documentary promotes and discusses how a vegan diet is beneficial. In the film they believe that disease and our diets are related. I found it really interesting that they believed that having a plant-based diet could reverse chronic diseases. Throughout the film they interviewed people that many different problems, like diabetes and asthma. We can see that these individuals are overweight and they are taking a lot of different kinds of medications. They are in pain due to being overweight. I really do like the meaning behind this film but I think there are some example of personal bias. The film shows us how filmmaker Kip Anderson uncovers the secret to preventing and even reversing chronic diseases. It investigates why the nation’s leading health organizations don’t want us to know about it. With heart disease and cancer being the leading cause of death in America, and diabetes at an all-time high, the film helps reveal the major health issues. Processed meat causes cancer and diabetes. Sugar does not cause diabetes: it’s actually caused by the buildup of fat in the blood, which is causing insulin resistance, preventing the sugar from getting into your cells, where it belongs. The focus on sugar has taken all the focus off of meat, dairy, eggs, turkey, pork, and chicken. One serving of processed meat per day increased the risk of developing diabetes by 51 %. Filmmaker, Kip Anderson, asked a cancer information specialist at the American Cancer Society why they recommended processed meats, the expert said, “Let me put you on a brief hold and get back with you.” He came back and said someone would get back with him later. In the United States, 1 out of every 4 deaths is related to cancer. When Kip Anderson got a confirmation for a meeting with an American Cancer Society representative, he found out it was cancelled at the last minute when the representative found out the meeting was going to be about the correlation between diet and cancer. She said she could no longer do the interview. After repeated emails asking why, she eventually stopped responding all together. Dr. Alan Goldhamer said,  “Two-thirds of adults are now overweight or obese, and we have an epidemic cascade of debilitating disease that is overcoming the country. There is no way we can sustain the current style of care with the epidemic that we’re creating with our diet and lifestyle choices.”. Kip Anderson said, then it all came together when he realized whom these large health organizations were taking money from: The American Diabetes Association was taking money from Dannon, one of the world’s largest dairy yogurt producers; Kraft Foods, makers of Velveeta processed cheese; Oscar Mayer which markets Lunchables processed kids’ meals; and Bumble Bee Foods, makers of processed canned meats. The American Cancer Society was taking money from Tyson, one of the world’s largest meat producers; and Yum brand, owner of Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell. Susan G. Komen, which was supposed to be fighting breast cancer was corporate partnering with KFC, Dietz & Watson processed meats, and Yoplait Yogurt. Every single one of these organizations was taking money from the meat and dairy companies that are associated with the causes of these diseases. 

This was a fascinating documentary on why people might be becoming obese.Dr. Giles Yeo from the University of Cambridge argued while some people argue that it might have to do with being lazy, not caring, and simply eating takeouts, he claimed that it might be genetics. He has dedicated his entire life to testing different genes and trying to figure out a pattern between them.How is it possible that one twin could be so lean while another fat? Does genetics play a role? How come not matter what diet an individual tries, it does not work for him or her? There could be many other reasons, but this entire documentary mostly focused on genes and diet. Some individuals that were interviewed stated that they eat for comfort while others stated that they just did not feel full and had to consume more. One guy, named Les, in pain said that he would take food to his bedroom, lock himself up in his room and just eat. He dealt with being bullying by eating and now after losing his wife , he dealt with his loss by eating take outs. He could not exercise due to his arthritis and other health conditions. Dr.Yeo  throughout his journey too relied mostly on fast food because like he stated “that is what’s available” (Why Are We Getting So Fat). This wouldn’t have happened ten years ago.To burn the fish burger, large fries, and apple pie he would have to walk four hours but he could not because he had to drive for four hours, to get to his destination. Dr.Tony Goldstone, who was an obesity expert, did an experiment with a group of people who were trying to lose eat, by giving them an option to eat whatever they want. In the end, Dr.Goldstone told the participants that since they had two strands of an FTO gene, it was making it harder for them to lose weight. In essence, it was not because they were not eating and exercising enough, but rather their genes preventing them from reaching their goals.Some doctors were trying to give patients a shot containing hormones that would make them have less of an appetite, that way people would eat less. On the other hand, other doctors were trying to find ways to use human feces to make people lose weight.

I thought this was a great documentary because it goes well with what we are currently watching in class (Food Inc). I thought it was very interesting because what we eat and our own biology could play such a crucial role in this , it’s just astonishing. So many of us do not realize that the food chains have expanded to other parts of the world and it for the most part is causing more harm than good. It made me question life and how  we underestimate the value of healthy eating. I feel like we need to go back to growing our own food and appreciating the process of doing it.

I don’t know how to add a Netflix link but you can find this documentary on Netflix. Just type Why Are We Getting So Fat?

After hearing about the documentary “Chasing Coral” for months, I finally decided to sit down and actually watch it. The documentary starts out with the narrator, Richard Vevers, telling us how after spending ten years in advertising, working with some of London’s top agencies, he felt that there was something more he was meant to do with his life and later found himself in Australia doing underwater photography. Over time, Vevers noticed some of his favorite sea creatures were disappearing, which lead to the curiosity of what else was disappearing in the rest of the world’s oceans. In the last 30 years, the world has lost 50% of its coral reefs. Vevers acknowledged one of the biggest issues with the ocean being that it is “out of sight, out of mind” for the general public, which he called an “advertising issue”. The purpose for this documentary was for an assembled team of scientists, divers, engineers, and photographers to study and document the disappearance of corals in order to show the public what’s happening in our oceans. The ocean has an important role in our source of life; it controls things such as the climate and oxygen we breathe. With the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, more heat becomes trapped in our atmosphere and the majority is absorbed by the ocean which leads to an increase in water temperature. Throughout the documentary, Vevers traveled to meet with different scientists to learn more about the biology of coral and ended up exploring coral reefs that had turned white. After conducting studies with a team of coral reef biologists, they discovered turning white was a stress response to a 2˚C increase in temperature and ultimately ended with death. What was most interesting about this documentary was that this was the first time someone had captured this anomaly. In recent years, more people have learned of the damage several name brand sunscreens have on coral reefs and some cities have started enforcement of alternative sun protection methods. Like Vevers said, the ocean has an “out of sight” issue, so while people may know of the damage happening to corals, it is completely eye-opening to see the damage for yourself. Coral reefs are living organisms that provide habitat for many different species that becomes a resource of food for humans. For some countries, coral reefs play a big role in the economy because of the tourist attraction. The disappearance of coral reefs would completely disturb the oceanic ecosystem and the economic and social aspects of human life. The documentary ended with sharing the possibility of restoring the coral reefs through changes in human behavior. Overall, I believe the message of the documentary was necessary to share in order to get the attention of the general public and work together toward solving the issues of climate change. I highly recommend this documentary to anyone; it’s very informative and each scene is more captivating than the last.

https://www.chasingcoral.com/

What The Health is a “pro-vegan” documentary that came out in 2017 on Netflix. I would say that this documentary is very astonishing as after watching it for the first time back then, it caused me to change my eating habits forever. This film really changed the way I think about food and how it is produced in America. Overall, this documentary promotes and discusses the benefits of a 100% vegan diet while filmmakers go back and forth investigating different chronic diseases. They believe that diet and disease are directly correlated. The most fascinating part of the documentary and the filmmaker’s overarching message is that they claim that most chronic diseases are reversible through a totally plant-based diet. They believe many health issues today stem from what Americans are eating on a daily basis. Filmmakers interviewed real people with diabetes, asthma, and risks of stroke that are given only years or months to live. These Americans are very overweight, have constant pains, and are on at least 5-10 different medications daily. Just after two weeks on a plant-based diet, a women was able to completely stop taking her medications because they were simply unnecessary. She felt healthier, lost weight, and had no symptoms of asthma like she had before. After going vegan, a body builder was able to increase the amount of weight he could bench press and his tendonitis was gone. Having a background in health, I’ve heard of several stories where people were able to reverse their diabetes and cancer through vegan and all-juice diets. Personally, after only cutting meat out of my life, I lost weight, have more energy when I wake up in the morning, and really just feel better and healthier all around. Like they mentioned in the film, it is difficult to suddenly go from an animal-based diet to a plant-based one. Lifestyle changes take time to get used to. I’d recommend cutting out certain foods or perhaps a kind of meat slowly so that it is easier to adjust to. Also, it is not as expensive as one may think. I am a college student, working to pay my bills and have never stressed about having an expensive grocery tab. You just have to figure out what you like and where to get it. Although I love this film and its overall message, there are some extremes mentioned. The film claims that eating an egg a day is just as bad as smoking 5 cigarettes a day. I find this hard to believe because cigarettes and eggs do not have the same effects on the human body. They also claim that eating processed meat increases your chances for colorectal cancer. Similar to comparing eggs to cigarettes, just because processed meat is labeled as a class 1 carcinogen like cigarettes, does not mean they have the same effects to the human body. Eating processed meat is not like smoking cigarettes. On another note, the film mentions environmental pollution, a topic we have discussed in class. The films states that animals breathe in and are fed toxins (black carbon) and GMO’s. In turn, Americans eat these animals containing high amounts of toxins and they are trapped in the body forever. Then, these men and women grow up and pass the chemicals to their children. This part of the film scared me the most as I would not want to subject my future children to this. Something needs to change in this cycle. All in all, I recommend this documentary because it has really changed my life for the better. Though I do suggest comparing facts and doing your own research. A vegan diet and lifestyle will not only benefit you but the earth and future generations to come.

https://www.netflix.com/title/80174177