Of all of the films I have seen this year, none has given me as much, if you excuse the pun, food for thought.
In fact, in around 70 minutes, Planeat has made me fear for my life.
Basically, Planeat is a vegan's charter. But while I am aware of veganism (I work closely with two vegans) I have never considered following them down that path.
If I'm honest, I just love stuffing my face with bad stuff.
However, Planeat very succinctly showed me the error of my ways on two clear fronts.
Firstly, it shows the scientific case for a plant-based diet.
It demonstrates how cases of cancer and heart disease among particular populations across the world vary on the basis of what the people eat.
One of the chief researchers in the film is an American professor called T Colin Campbell who was brought up in a background of cattle farming.
He even began looking at how best protein from meat could improve the lives on the malnourished.
His eureka moment was to discover that protein from meat and dairy products was actually having a detrimental effect on people's health.
The instances of cancer in those with a diet similar to mine are scary.
Almost as scary as the instances of those with heart disease.
Astonishingly, we saw evidence that heart disease can be fought with nothing more than a plant-based diet.
The second factor is that I have never been convinced that I would be satisfied by the taste of vegan food - especially having eaten my colleague's vegan chocolate (it tastes like tyres!).
However, some of the recipes being put forward by top-line chefs looked absolutely mouth-watering.
Planeat is a film which I would recommend to anyone. It is partly about saving the planet (I'm still not convinced that wind produced by cows is causing global warming) and partly about saving ourselves.
Either way, knowledge like this should not be spurned.
As the movie says, the love of food is one we all share but not all love affairs are good for us.
Rating? 8/10
PS Thanks to Alex Rowley from Planeat for the DVD screener.
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