Had high hopes!
I am a cinephile and I love all movie genres, especially hard hitting documentaries, so I had high hopes for this film. However, it was an absolute dumpster fire. Other reviews claim it is misleading or contain misinformation without giving examples. I wasn't taking notes as I TRIED to enjoy its presentation but I would have needed a stenographer to catalogue all the BS. Some glaring highlights:
1) plant based protein is tainted by the interests of "big corporations" such as Beyond/Impossible...ummmm big-ag anyone? The scale of big corporations in the meat industry absolutely dwarfs these emerging food technology companies.
2) "by catch" of animals killed in the production of plant based calories (eg. Run over by combines, grazers killed to protect crops) means that vegans can't make an ethical argument. The reality is that the conversion of plant calories into animal calories is inherently VERY inefficient so not only do you have to kill the animal to eat it, the feed that went into raising it ALSO had this "by catch" effect - only it is magnified by that conversion inefficiency.
3) Raising animals for food doesn't have a negative effect on land use and wild spaces because much of it occurs on marginal land. Here's an idea if you want to protect habitat: let these marginal lands return to the wild! Let them be resown by mixed species of plants, trees and their attendant bugs, worms, birds, bats etc. Etc.
4) We needn't be concerned about methane from cows because it doesn't persist in the atmosphere like C02....except that in reality, before it breaks down has 1000X the greenhouse effect! Wow, just wow...
The above is the tip of the iceberg of the stream of garbage that is Beyond Impossible - steer clear!
FYI I am neither vegan nor vegetarian and very much enjoy the modest amount of red meat in my diet as well as the eggs from the chickens we raise (and when we need to "dispatch" a bird, we have a first hand connection in getting it into the meat freezer). I suspect the film maker never makes an authentic connection with the flesh from the meat-foam-pod tree that HIS diet consists of...
I was afraid that I would see a take-down of Beyond/Impossible (I eat and enjoy both brands) in this film, fortunately I can continue down this path guilt free.
1) plant based protein is tainted by the interests of "big corporations" such as Beyond/Impossible...ummmm big-ag anyone? The scale of big corporations in the meat industry absolutely dwarfs these emerging food technology companies.
2) "by catch" of animals killed in the production of plant based calories (eg. Run over by combines, grazers killed to protect crops) means that vegans can't make an ethical argument. The reality is that the conversion of plant calories into animal calories is inherently VERY inefficient so not only do you have to kill the animal to eat it, the feed that went into raising it ALSO had this "by catch" effect - only it is magnified by that conversion inefficiency.
3) Raising animals for food doesn't have a negative effect on land use and wild spaces because much of it occurs on marginal land. Here's an idea if you want to protect habitat: let these marginal lands return to the wild! Let them be resown by mixed species of plants, trees and their attendant bugs, worms, birds, bats etc. Etc.
4) We needn't be concerned about methane from cows because it doesn't persist in the atmosphere like C02....except that in reality, before it breaks down has 1000X the greenhouse effect! Wow, just wow...
The above is the tip of the iceberg of the stream of garbage that is Beyond Impossible - steer clear!
FYI I am neither vegan nor vegetarian and very much enjoy the modest amount of red meat in my diet as well as the eggs from the chickens we raise (and when we need to "dispatch" a bird, we have a first hand connection in getting it into the meat freezer). I suspect the film maker never makes an authentic connection with the flesh from the meat-foam-pod tree that HIS diet consists of...
I was afraid that I would see a take-down of Beyond/Impossible (I eat and enjoy both brands) in this film, fortunately I can continue down this path guilt free.
- rzbtmnqr
- Mar 16, 2022