I remember being a little girl, visiting my grandma and grandpa, and in their backyard were two huge pigs who I named Jack and Jill. I loved them! I thought they were so cute and so cool!! I spent the whole weekend feeding them and talking to them out in the backyard. I could't wait to come and visit again so I could see my friends Jack and Jill the pigs again, but the next time I went to visit they were gone, and I can recall we had bacon for breakfast that weekend. It wasn't until I was older my grandma told me what happened to Jack and Jill, confirming that they were our breakfast the next time I came to visit. I remember I felt a little sick after she told me that but I guess that was just the circle of life right? Pigs were just meant to be eaten. Then there was that time my sister gave up eating meat for 3 months when we were in elementary school. Her reasoning, because animals were our friends not food. I remember how our aunts and uncles thought she was crazy! She got teased quite a bit by our family and one morning when my mom made bacon for breakfast, that was the end of that and we really didn't talk about her decision to go vegetarian much once she went back to eating meat. I had never teased her about her decision to give up meat during those short 3 months but I really didn't understand how anyone could give up meat. It's so good I remember thinking. How could anyone give up fried chicken, and cheeseburgers, and Taco Tuesday, and bacon wrapped shrimp? I also remember thinking to myself it doesn't matter if you don't eat meat, the grocery stores will still have it lining the shelves. Meat will always be there in the store even if I give it up, so what's the point-if you can't beat them, join them right?

Well, after watching these documentaries, my entire way of thinking about meat changed, dramatically. I had been so wrong. I had believed the advertisements and marketing and of course the southern way of thinking my African American family grew up believing. These ideas about meat had just been passed down to me, programmed within me since I was a child, I hadn't been told anything different. It wasn't until I went searching for the truth that I would change the way I looked at food and that I would unlock the compassion I've had inside of me all along.  

It all started one day because my sister, who is an avid documentary watcher might I add, told me to watch the latest documentary on Netflix called What the Health. This well though out documentary is what started my quest for knowledge when it comes to food and for that I am so grateful for this film. After watching this film, I realized I had fallen into the same trap as so many of us do. We go to school and within our first week, the teacher is showing us the food pyramid with all of our food groups and we as children don't question it, we just believe it to be true. We should be eating fruits and vegetables, whole grains, potatoes, pasta, rice, and of course meats, milk, yogurts and wait...cheese?  I love a good conspiracy theory documentary, but honestly after watching this it will seriously make you rethink the traditional healthy "American diet" and ask yourself "Am I apart of some sick government agenda?". The documentary talks about how our consumption of animal products is connected to our nation's biggest silent killers such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease and the immense damage the consumption of animal products has on our health. What I found mind blowing to say the least, were the sponsors behind groups like the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association-huge pharmaceutical companies and animal agriculture. Say what!? I truly urge you to be open to this film because it will most likely take you down the rabbit hole of wanting more knowledge, just like myself, and if you do here are some other great films to watch, specifically in this order.

The next documentary I decided to watch was called Food Choices. This documentary is very similar to What the Health but gives you more information about exactly how to go about giving up meat and processed foods as What the Health talks about why you should eliminate animal products from your diet. Personally, before I became vegan, I thought that being vegan was either for hippies or rich people who could afford to grocery shop at Whole Foods, but I was totally wrong. You don't have to be a "hippie" to be vegan and you certainly do not have to be rich because plants are cheap my friends. Now I shop at Whole Foods because... I can actually afford it because I only eat plants! This documentary will help put all those myths to rest regarding organic vs. non-organic, is being vegan expensive, and of course that burning question, "Where do you get your protein from?".  

I had heard great things about Cowspiracy but was always afraid to watch it because I didn't want to know about what I was eating or where my food really came from. This documentary actually is quite the opposite of exposing where our food comes from rather how our consumption of meat is increasingly hurting our planet. Cowspiracy is also a film made by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn who created What the Health. In this documentary, you'll explore how human's need for meat is one of the highest contributors to climate change and global warming. After watching this film I felt compelled to not only remove meat for my health and morality, but to help save the planet as well.

Some friends of mine who have already given up meat mentioned I should watch Earthlings. This documentary used to be on Netflix but has since been removed. You can still find it however on YouTube. After talking to my friends I had mentally prepared myself for this documentary. This documentary doesn't shy away from the truth about euthanization of pets at shelters, the inhumane treatment of cows, pigs, and chickens to mass produce our need for meat, and also talks about how animals are used for clothing material as well as medical and scientific testing.  I certainly recommend watching this documentary to educate yourself on the practices that are happening in slaughter houses and farms as these are not isolated incidents but standardized practices. 

Okja, is a beautifully made film that I will never forget and that I will always credit as the film that made me go vegan. The film is a bit abstract I will warn you however if you can have an open mind this fictitious story of a girl in Korea and her pet pig Okja is actually a very real one that will tug on your heart strings. Okja is a genetically engineered pig that is supposed to yield the most delicious meat however he must be raised on a farm for 10 years before he can be used for his meat. During this time he bonds with his owner, the granddaughter of the farmer who knows Okja's true fate. When Okja is taken back by the corporation who created him, his owner goes to great lengths to save him from slaughter. The last 10 minutes of this film changed my life and had me asking the question "What are we doing?". They love, they feel, they are alive. No hamburger is worth the death of a mother cow after she has been enslaved for her milk and raped to reproduce, no bacon is worth a pig getting their throats slit and whipped, no fried chicken is worth a chicken living in filth and dirt in cramped conditions without sunlight. I cried unlike I had ever cried before after watching this film because this film did what no other documentary could do, they explained the empathy we must have for the creatures of this earth. It was then at the end of this film I had mad the connection that dogs, pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, goats, etc are all the same and that their lives matter. We as humans have a responsibility to care for the animals that we share this earth with. Animals are not here for us. We are here together.