Forks Over Knives

Get your sporks and chopsticks ready because we’ve just kicked off an eight week film series that’s all about, you guessed it, food! The first film was shown in the Davies Center at UW—Eau Claire on Tuesday evening and was followed by a community member discussion. Forks Over Knives is the first of eight free showings alternating between Menomonie and Eau Claire. Each will feature a community speaker, specializing in the topic of the film.

Forks Over Knives focuses on the subject of replacing the animal-protein rich American diet with a whole foods plant-based diet in order to prevent, and often times reverse, the effects of heart disease, diabetes, and various types of cancer. The film features research and practices from Dr. Esselstyn, a heart surgery specialist, and Dr. Colin Campbell, primary researcher and author of The China Study. Based on individual and nation-wide studies, these two researchers have found that food is the best medicine for the now common diseases and cancers plaguing societies whose diet is based largely on animal protein. Many of the eighteen patients given to Dr. Esselstyn were told that they should prepare for death. After being placed on a strict, whole foods plant-based diet, all eighteen patients survived the first twelve years of the study. At the time of the documentary release, fourteen were still alive and reported more energy than they even had at a young age.

After watching the film, I’m truly amazed and convinced that nutrition should be the basis for my own well-being. I remain slightly skeptical and I’m determined to try the vegan diet for myself. In the mean time, if you missed out on the film I defiantly recommend you watch it for yourself.