“Environmentalists” Called Out in Cowspiracy

Move over Spider-Man, Cowspiracy is the new must-see movie this summer. The riveting documentary is produced by Kip Andersen, an amateur filmmaker who became increasingly concerned about the environment after seeing An Inconvenient Truth. While the film inspired him to recycle more, take shorter showers, and use energy-efficient lighting, he felt like he wasn’t doing enough to counter climate change and other environmental problems. After doing some research, he realized that animal agriculture is destroying the Earth more than any other industry—but that many environmental groups aren’t talking about it.

Animal agriculture is largely responsible for climate change, deforestation, water depletion, and other environmental problems. At least 51 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture, according to a Worldwatch Institute report.

Kip wanted to know why the high-profile environmental groups that should be challenging the meat and dairy industries were essentially ignoring them. So he teamed up with producer Keegan Kuhn and put representatives from Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and other well-known environmental groups in the hot seat and asked them.

If you want to hear what they had to say, watch Cowspiracy. The movie is coming to theaters nationwide this summer. If you’re lucky enough to be in San Francisco or Los Angeles this week, you can catch a special early screening:

• June 19: San Francisco premiere of Cowspiracy
• June 26: Los Angeles premiere of Cowspiracy

The flick will also be released on DVD and on some streaming channels, including Netflix and iTunes, but why wait? Check your local theater for listings.

Spoiler alert: Cowspiracy makes a lot of the environmental groups’ reps squirm in their seats. It explains exactly why everyone—especially people who care about the environment—should go vegan and calls on environmental organizations to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.