Have You Watched “Game Changers”?

I watched a few movies this weekend, including The Hustle, Brittany Runs a Marathon, and The Aeronauts, but the one I’ll be thinking about–and acting on–for quite some time is a Netflix documentary called Game Changers.

When a friend recommended Game Changers to me, presenting it as a film about the benefits of a plant-based diet, I wasn’t sure if I would watch it. Honestly, I didn’t want to watch something that would scare me away from eating meat. That’s coming from someone (me) who is completely open to the benefits of not eating meat.

But I’m glad I watched it. It’s not a fearmongering-style documentary. It focuses much more on the benefits of a plant-based diet than the negatives of eating meat. And it’s told through the eyes of a skeptic, someone who challenges and questions the plant-based diet every step of the way (health, marketing, evolution, etc).

A few of my favorite moments in the film:

  • One of the strongest men in the world is a vegan, and people sometimes ask him, “How can you be as strong as an ox without eating meat?” His response is, “When have you ever seen an ox eat meat?”
  • A group of Boston firefighters switched to a plant-based diet for a week, as apparently the leading cause of death for active-duty firefighters is heart disease (not, as you might think, fires). After just a week, several of their cholesterol levels dropped nearly 100 points!

The film was inspirational to me in that I’d like to start moving away from eating meat products even more than I already have. I’m not interested in going vegan–that would be a true plant-based diet. Eggs and butter are in too many things I love (though I completely switched from milk to oat milk months ago).

But meat? There are so many tasty alternatives to meat these days. From classics like nuts, beans, seeds, and tofu to modern marvels like Beyond and Impossible meats, I have plenty of options.

I think the biggest challenge is that I already know how to cook meat in a variety of different ways, while I know much less about preparing non-meat products. But I’m eager to learn, and there are a bunch of delicious-looking recipes on the Game Changers website.

And maybe I’ll just take it one step at a time and try to be pescatarian before venturing into the fully vegetarian realm. Baby steps are easier than giant leaps.

Have you watched Game Changers? What did you think? What’s your favorite protein-laden meal that doesn’t feature meat?

5 thoughts on “Have You Watched “Game Changers”?”

  1. I have a wonderful meal that won’t make you miss meat at all! I’ve made this for almost 15 years, and even staunch meat-and-potato lovers enjoy it. It’s great when you’re looking for something with a Mexican flair. The original website on which I found it doesn’t seem to exist anymore, but it’s still lingering around on other pages. This one seems to be formatted the best.

    http://wjsullivan.net/Crispy%20Southwest%20Polenta%20Hash.html

    It’s actually vegan as long as you leave out the small amount of optional butter, and although one ingredient requires a bit of advanced prep, it’s pretty simple otherwise. I usually make the polenta the night before or first thing in the morning before work. I prefer prepping it the night before because I think the dish turns out better that way, but I like mine pretty crispy. My original recipe doesn’t call for corn kernels, and though I think they would work well in it, I’ve never put it in mine. Top with salsa (and maybe sour cream if you don’t care about staying vegan) and enjoy!

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  2. My wife and I loved the movie! Disclaimer we went vegan after watching another film a couple years ago, but this one is the most well made so far and the star power is unreal! (I loved the Arnold bits).

    I’m glad you’re being open minded about incorporating more plant based foods! Everyone’s journey is different and you should do it at the pace you’re most comfortable with. For me, it was the best decision of my life to go vegan, as I not only felt much better, lowered my cholesterol, reduced my carbon footprint, and stopped paying other people to kill animals for me. I’ve also learned about so many kinds of delicious plant food that I’ve never had before(like that asparagus moment in the movie haha), it’s exciting to look for recipes that can veganize anything that I used to crave.

    For protein I’ve been pretty into the Carl Junior’s beyond famous star lately(without cheese and mayo), but when I’m at home my go to would be toasted bagel with peanut butter.

    Best of luck on your plant based journey Jamey!

    Reply

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