Earthlings vs. Food, Inc.

[Guest guest]

First, the story:

 

Several years ago, someone I had met, a young man who had no strong feeling for

animals or religious/philosophical convictions in the direction of animal rights

- the kind of person you would think would never be receptive to a vegetarian

message - attended a Tony Robbins get-together of some sort, for the sole

purpose of finding ways to make more money, at which a movie (or a clip from a

movie) was shown, relating to how meat was produced. As a result of that

experience, this individual immediately stopped eating meat.

 

Regardless of the details (how long the " conversion " lasted, whether it included

abstention from seafood, etc.), the point that I was left with is the power of a

movie, or a segment from a movie, to influence a viewer's eating habits.

 

I am grateful to someone on another discussion group for alerting me to the

existence of a film entitled " Earthlings. " I just watched it in its entirety on

YouTube. It is as thought-provoking as it is disturbing and I highly recommend

it.

 

We all know that the world would be a better place if other living beings were

not slaughtered for food and clothing or tortured in the name of entertainment

and science. On this discussion list, for the most part, we are preaching to the

converted. What about the vast majority who have yet to " see the light " in this

regard?

 

I have had many dear non-vegetarian friends in life. Only a handful have I been

able to influence in the direction of vegetarianism, despite years of

friendship, numerous discussions and many visits to vegetarian restaurants. So

the incident with the Tony Robbins seminar got me to thinking: Would it be

possible to achieve converts to vegetarianism in significant numbers by giving

out CDs of something along the lines of whatever it was that Tony Robbins showed

at that meeting?

 

If so, what would the best film be? Would the average non-vegetarian take the

time to watch " Earthlings " ? Would " Food, Inc. " be more effective in this

capacity? Or would it be something else?

 

Dan Berman