Documentary “Cowspiracy: The Secret of Sustainability” premieres on Netflix

Let’s start this column by trying to establish a quick line of reasoning. Companies that own large slaughterhouses and meat producers were the main donors and financiers of the last elections, including the two main political parties that disputed the presidential race.

In the coming years, Brazil should become the main exporter of beef in the world, making the livestock industry move billions of dollars a year. What moves the world? I’d like to answer that it’s love, but unfortunately we know it’s money.

The meat and dairy industry is primarily responsible for the production of greenhouse gases and, consequently, global warming. In addition, the reduction in the availability of clean water and deforestation are also on account of livestock. Why, then, do part of the great environmentalist movements, NGOs and activists – such as Greenpeace, WWF, Oceana, Amazon Watch – don’t they deal with this issue?

This is what the documentary “Cowspiracy: the secret of sustainability” tries to reveal, which is available from this Tuesday (15th), worldwide, by streaming on Netflix. This is a new cut of the film made by actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio. The documentary was made by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn and features testimonials from Michael Pollan, renowned journalist and author of “The omnivore’s dilemma”, Richard Oppenlander, author of “Food Choice and Sustainability”, and Will Potter, author of “Green is the new Red”.

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The story begins with director Kip Andersen telling his story of involvement with the environmentalist cause. He began to worry about the damage done to the planet after watching Al Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”. However, after taking steps to recycle, reuse and reduce impact for a while, Kip wondered if there weren’t more elements to this account. After all, if all the inhabitants of the planet adopted ecologically correct habits, would it be possible to save the planet definitively?

“I found that a 114 gram burger requires nearly 2,500 liters of water to produce. I’ve been taking short showers to conserve water, and I find that eating just one hamburger is equivalent to two full months of showering,” says Kip.

In the United States, domestic water consumption corresponds to only 5% of the country’s total expenditure, while livestock consume 55% of these water resources. Kip lives in California, one of the states most devastated by drought in the United States, when he questions government officials about the lack of information about water consumption for meat production, the director is faced with the political issue. “Water management is one thing and behavior change is another”, says one of the interviewees.

On the film’s website, the directors propose that each of us do our part to reduce the problem and launch the challenge: how about 30 days of a vegan diet? In a video, they comment on how it is possible to change habits of a lifetime and start choosing healthier options with less impact on the entire planet.

One of the objectives established by the United Nations for the world is to eliminate hunger by 2030. For this, however, it is necessary that profound changes are made in the diet of the inhabitants of this planet. Red meat production consumes 11 times more water and pollutes 5 times more than chicken or pigs, but more than cutting red meat, you need to adopt a plant-based diet. Only then will the international community be able to find ways to feed the nearly 800 million people who are currently hungry in the world in 15 years. Eating is a political act. By deciding what makes up your plate, you are also deciding some of the directions the planet will take.