The fact that the world is changing is not something we can ignore any more. It is apparent through all the news reports of polar ice caps melting and the weather rapidly changing from what was once predictable and unpredictable messes. Extremely warm winters which seem like late spring and sometimes cold summers, the world is changing and we are not really heading towards a bright future.
There are arguments as to why it is changing. There are movies which discuss and dissect these topics into something that we can easily understand.
The movie Cowspiracy comes to mind – a movie about animal agriculture and its impact on the environment. Here is what you should know about the movie and whether it can be the right one to change your mind about the environment.
Cowspiracy – A Synopsis
The movie is basically about animal farms or rather, animal agriculture and how these huge animal farms are overlooked. Being overlooked, they are also not regulated well enough and are considered a huge source of methane production, which is believed to be the primary source of environmental destruction.
Fish farms, cow, pork and chicken farms are thought to be the main culprits for deforestation, ocean dead zones, and climate change, overall. This is not a novel topic, but the movie does a good job of raising the subject, but in a very biased way.
A Documentary For Critical Thinkers
Cowspiracy does a good job of showing the world that yes, farmlands are very much responsible for deforestation and fish farms can be devastating to the environment. Animal agriculture is in some ways very barbaric, especially on huge animal farms which are part of the meat industry, which the world seems reliant on.
The documentary has great cinematography and does well to present these topics, however, the viewpoint is the issue. It is presented from the viewpoint of a vegan, and not one who is out there to open eyes as much as to convince others that this viewpoint is the best one.
Inaccuracies and Psychological Subtleties
Presenting inaccurate data as dogmatic is very problematic, as it raises the issue from 15% emissions produced to 51%, in this case. Peer-reviewed data is best used in documentaries, if one wants to create an unbiased approach to things, which presents data and is meant to open the eyes of the world to a topic which is on the down-low.
With a skewed approach, Cowspiracy aims to convert meat eaters and vegetarians into vegans, suggesting that this is the only way, which ignores the reality of the situation.
Absolute Solutions Do Not Work
Given that absolute solutions do not work, removing meat farms and fish farms will not happen in the near future. Subtler and more realistic solutions need to be presented, such as reducing meat farm numbers and their impact on the environment.
Cowspiracy is a good movie that can open people’s eyes about the environment, but a bad documentary, as it tries too hard to convince people about a certain viewpoint, rather than raise concerns and offer potential viable solutions.
