Giles Alderson and Dan Richardson’s Food for Thought is more than a documentary about going vegan. What is surprising is how much of it is about the myths and misconceptions that surround what we perceive as food nutrition, as well as our attitudes toward the way we consume and how that is directly linked to our systematic destruction of the natural world. Our home.
The film takes us on a worldwide tour of farms, nature preserves, protection organizations, and science-friendly cutting-edge synthetic food developers, including testimonials from leading figures in the fight to change mindsets and not just diets in the quest for a truly sustainable future. Richardson and Alderson leave no stone unturned, showcasing a mass movement towards veganism whilst dispelling the stigma which the lifestyle has long been met with and, at the same time, conveying, in the form of an on-camera experiment, the benefits and challenges of the march toward a meatless existence.
“…a small group of ordinary people is put to task on a thirty-day challenge to go vegan…”
To this end, a small group of ordinary people is put to the task on a thirty-day challenge to go vegan, blogging once a week about their miseries, motivations, and all musings during their progress. This element, interlaced with interviews with activists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs, forms a puzzle that, when the pieces all come together, sheds a bright beam of interrogatory light on the bitter truth that we human beings are the most dangerous animals on Earth. The diabolically sadistic practices employed by those who harvest the livestock of our planet, all in the name of a good double cheeseburger and fries, widens the eyes and confounds the understanding.
Food for Thought flows seamlessly, thanks to the film-making duo at its heart. Giles and Dan’s eagerness, vitality, passion, and persistence bring a flurry of feels to the forefront as barriers of resistance tumble, exposing the brutal undercurrent that courses beneath our society. Still, their central message is never sidelined or lost. This is not merely, I repeat, a documentary about going vegan.
Instead, it confronts us with the reality of how we really need to look into the eyes of the other living beings that we share this small planet with and think: how much longer can we wantonly kill to feed our lust for gorging on the flesh of animals? As our population grows, this presents the inevitable question of starvation. But what Food for Thought offers is a vision of a future in which we no longer have to murder to fill our menu. We can defeat the specters of hunger and sustainability by turning the farming practices we have to feed the cattle for slaughter to feed the world. Picture it. A better world where nothing has to die so something else can survive. It’s a beautiful notion captured in a beautiful film.
"…more than a documentary about going vegan."
