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Makayla King

English 1010

Mrs. Szetela

12 January 2018

Is Veganism The Answer?

There has been a lot of controversy on the pros and cons of a plant-based diet, going

vegan essentially; whether or not we should completely eliminate meat from out diet or if dairy

is actually bad for you. The documentary, ​What The Health​, released to the public on March 7,

2017, directed and produced by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn, is going to address these issues

in favor of a plant-based diet, in which they form a bridge between diet and disease. Kip

Andersen and Keegan Kuhn, the dynamic duo, also produced the documentary ​Cowspiracy: A

Sustainability Secret ​in 2014. The purpose of these documentaries are to invoke a change in

appetite and diet within the obese population of America, or the part of America that is plagued

with Type 2 Diabetes. They appeal to their audience by choosing different and distinct forms of

rhetoric; logos, pathos, and ethos. These forms in which will be discussed further and analyzed in

detail to, in a sense, prove the credibility, logisticality, and the emotional attachment contrived

from different scenarios painted by the director and producers.

However, by using certain rhetorical appeals there could be a much larger conversation

being spoken that, through analysis, will reveal the directors true intentions. Perhaps, there will

be a new-formed bridge between the gap from text and deeper meaning, not necessarily

philosophical but reasonable. Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn used specific examples of rhetoric

(logos, ethos, pathos, etc.) throughout their documentary, and those forms will be critically
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analyzed and will produce an opinion and a truth both about the documentary, ​What The Health

and for it.

What The Health​ is a film that was produced in order to educate America on the “truth”

of what we eat. Kip Andersen, an intrepid filmmaker partakes on a journey to find the truth on

why so many Americans have diabetes and if what he has been eating as a child is equivalent to

the deadly cigarette. Diabetes has become a widespread pandemic. People are living off of

medication that slowly shreds stomachs and eats away at livers, a life in which Kip has addressed

is no way to live. Health organizations have stopped looking for preventive measures in order to

gain revenue. Hospitals haven’t been educating the masses on preventive measures and big

organizations haven’t given correct information on healthy dieting plans due to their

sponsorship. For example, beef corporations sponsor the American Diabetes Association, even

when beef has been found to be linked with cancer. These large corporations not only treat the

animals inhumane but they treat the people within and around the corporations inhumane. Kip

makes connections between money and withheld information. Not only is diabetes becoming an

issue, cancer is being diagnosed often as well. Kip Andersen makes claims that following a

plant-based diet is close to a cure and preventive measure for cancer and diabetes. In short,

Andersen attacks the problems within the food industry such as fickle corporations, corrupt

sponsorship, withheld information from the public, animal cruelty, the truth about meat factories,

etc. and comes up with the big solution; veganism.

The first rhetorical appeal that will be discussed is logos; the use of logic in order to

persuade someone or educate them of your point. Using logic to explain something is extremely

effective in this case because it makes it difficult for the listener or the reader to argue it. For
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example, Dr. Milton Mills, a clinical care physician uses logos by saying, “I hear this a lot in

body builders they say I need chicken or I need fish to build muscle tissue, that is utter nonsense.

The largest, strongest terrestrial animals on the planet are all herbivores.” (​What The Health,

1:05:25​) ​Thinking of this is completely logical, we don’t need meat to be strong because the

strongest mammals on the planet are on their own version of a plant-based diet and they are

healthy in their own way. People will listen to this and wonder why they thought they needed

meat to grow strong, protein from meat is the core of this misconception. Which, they attack

later on by saying that protein isn’t made in animals but it is made in plants and we retain the

residue through animal consumption. Andersen most likely put this in the documentary due to

this largely known falsity. Many people are hesitant to delve into the unknown mystery,

“veganism”, because they are afraid that they will not retain enough protein. However, their

argument is proven false by Dr. Mills explaining the birthplace of protein. “​When the body needs

to construct a protein for an enzyme or to repair muscles tissue, it collects the necessary amino

acids and strings them back together in the sequence appropriate for what it is currently creating.

This occurs regardless whether you consume animal or plant protein.​”​ ​(Julieanna Hever, March

24, 2016). Andersen professes his confusion as to why large organizations such as the American

Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society, and Susan G. Komen are promoting the very

things to cause diabetes and cancer according to Andersen’s research. Looking at the sponsorship

for these organizations, he sees that they are meat corporations and dairy corporations; Tyson,

Kraft, Subway, Yum, Yoplait, etc. “The Top 5 Most Hypocritical Corporate Sponsors” explains,

“​Many non-profits and other charities rely on corporate sponsorships to keep them afloat – and

some of those partnerships seem as counterproductive as KFC's and Komen’s “pink bucket”
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campaign.​” (Alyssa Figueroa / AlterNet, 2012). Andersen uses his logic as a “shock factor”

when, in reality, the article “The Top 5 Most Hypocritical Corporate Sponsors”​ ​debunks his

epiphany, making it seem as though it wasn’t as stupefying as he made it out to be. Andersen’s

reasoning for incorporating this in the film is obvious, but the information isn’t news and seems

to be common place; even nonprofits need money. “​These organizations need money to help

others, so it doesn’t matter where the money comes from.” (Alyssa Figueroa / AlterNet, 2012)

Within the documentary Dr. Michael Greger, M.D states, “Most of the people in the world are

lactose intolerant, why would you body create this enzyme to digest dairy after weaning [off of

it]?” (​What The Health, ​27:00). Within the documentary they leave a lot of open ended question

for the viewers discretion. The amount of questions has come to outweigh the number of

answers, medical doctors show bafflement at the world around them. Andersen must have chose

the doctors that showed the most confidence and perplexity at why our world has begun to

operate in the way that it has. By explaining the natural process of human growth and asking

questions such as why we would be weaned off milk as infants just to be placed on a diet

drinking another mammals breastmilk. They also use a plethora of logos statements when they

explain how we believe that cancer is in our genes, and that because of this it is almost

predetermined. One of the most dangerous carcinogens that is widely known is the cigarette, the

same cigarette that Kip Andersen was attempting to prove or disprove was the same as eating a

plant-based diet. Dr. Michelle McMaken, M.D exclaims, “Dietary choices trump smoking.”

(​What The Health, ​7:00). Which in the end, that statement proves Andersens statement within the

first couple minutes of the documentary. Is my diet equivalent to smoking cigarettes? Dr.

McMaken says worse. This evidence is an excellent way to tie up loose ends from the beginning
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of the documentary. This is an attention-grabber due to its ability to focus on an issue that has

been rising for decades and is only now being recognized as fatal. Within the documentary, ​What

The Health,​ they say that a lot of cancer is born from our eating habits and we eat the way our

parents eat and their parents eat and so on and so forth. So, it would make sense that if we were

to adopt their eating habits that our chances of developing the issues that they were so ill-fated to

receive would become increasingly higher. The same is with obesity, many people believe that

being overweight or gaining weight is in their genes (not accounting bone density), when Kip

explains it is very much in eating habits being passed on from generation to generation, people

are able to break their cycle and change their eating habits. For example, some families eat out

every day without fail and they feed their kids with this food, and so when the kids grow up they

either change the habit or they too go out to eat everyday because it brings this sense of nostalgia

and familiarity. Logos is a very effective way of persuasion, another extremely effective way is

ethos.

Ethos is a rhetorical appeal that focuses on providing credibility to their readers/ viewers.

By using ethos you are focusing less on proving your statements and more on using names and

titles for the claims to be widely accepted. Dr. Alan Goldhamer is one of the doctors they use in

order to provide a sense of credibility. Goldhamer is the founder of TrueNorth Health Center.

The TrueNorth Health center describes him as, “Articulate, inspiring and energetic, Dr.

Goldhamer is one of the most pioneering and dedicated visionaries in health today.” (Alan

Goldhamer, D.C., 2016). Goldhamer pops up often within the documentary, after research, it is

known that he was one of the doctors that supervised the water-only fast, which is known to be a

“breakthrough” for those suffering from borderline hypertension. The TrueNorth website
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concludes, “Currently, Dr. Goldhamer is directing a team that is developing a prospective study,

incorporating random assignment and long-term follow-up on the cost and clinical outcomes in

the treatment of diabetes and high blood pressure with fasting and a health-promoting diet.”

(Alan Goldhamer, D.C., 2016). Another individual who had screen time was a man of the name

Dr. Joel Kahn. Kahn is a Cardiologist and founder of Kahn Center for Cardiac Longevity. But,

not only is he the founder of the Kahn Center, he is also the founder of his own Kahn blog. In his

blog he states, “​You are probably aware that plant-based diets have been shown to prevent and

reverse heart disease, and new research points to a host of other positive effects of a plant-based

diet.” (Dr. Joel Kahn, 2017). Kip as expertly chosen doctors that have devoted their profession to

a plant-based diet, which provides a good amount of credibility for a director that may or may

not have background in the subject. On Kahn’s sight he has many studies that he has conducted

and his most popular one is the one on a plant-based diet. Although most of his studies are

encapsulated by the idea of “diet.” Dr. Michael Greger, a physician and a New York Times

best-selling author, shows his face on numerous occasions throughout the documentary. One of

Greger’s most famous articles is the article “How Not To Die”, a piece outlining the dietary

precautions and measures needed to be taken in order to live a long and healthy life. Greger

states, “You can apparently live extended periods eating practically nothing but potatoes. That

would, by definition, be a whole-food, plant-based diet — but not a very healthy one. All plant

foods are not created equal.” (Greger, 2016). Greger seems to be a well renowned speaker and

expert on nutrition, so much so that, there is an entire website entailing speaking dates and quick

facts. Another credibility builder is Dr. Michael Klaper who is also a physician and an author.

Klaper claims that “[A plant-based diet] offers the best array of nutrients to help our human
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bodies function at the optimal level of health and well-being” (Klaper, 2015). Klaper claims to

be a nutritionist expert and strongly believes that a plant-based diet, or a vegan diet, is the best

way to live longer and to live better. Which, according to the documentary, ​What The Health, ​so

does Kip Andersen; this is the main reason why Kip would choose these specific doctors because

they are doctors that have already made their minds up about whether or not a plant-based diet is

the diet that you should transform to. Most of his speakers are doctors that are extremely

opinionated and like to speak, therefore getting them to say what you want them to say--

especially when it is something they strongly advocate, wouldn’t be difficult. One last doctor that

held a memorable face and tone was Dr. Neal Barnard who holds the title of a clinical researcher,

author, and the president of the PCRM, which stands for the Physicians Committee for

Responsible Medicine. On the PCRM website it states, “Dr. Barnard’s groundbreaking National

Institutes of Health-funded clinical study show that diabetes responds dramatically to a low-fat,

vegetarian diet” (2015). It seems as though Barnard is focusing more on vegetarianism (more

common than veganism) rather than a plant-based diet. However, these “groundbreaking” results

are changing the world. To boost your credibility it is extremely smart to allow people who are

well known in the nutritional world and in the world of the “common man” to preach your thesis

in order for it to be accepted. Andersen uses ethos a lot more times using different doctors and

preachers throughout the duration of this film. One last use of ethos that would work the best is

in the first few moments of the documentary, first he starts of by saying he is a recovering

hypochondriac, then he states, “My father had his first heart bypass at has 49 and his second at

age 50. My grandpa died young from diabetes complications and both my other grandpa and

grandma died from cancer.” (​What The Health​, 1:51). These simple words provide a deep sense
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of credibility and motivation for Kip Andersen because having a family full of death due to the

same thing, bad dieting, then it would make sense for Kip to want to study nutrition, dieting, and

eventually a plant-based diet. This example not only represents ethos but it also represents

pathos, the third and last rhetorical appeal.

Pathos is the last rhetorical appeal and is the use of emotion and emotion-provoking

stimuli in order to persuade someone towards your point or to invoke sympathy within the

viewers, pathos usually precedes action. As discussed before Andersens family dying or

suffering from cancer, heart complications, and diabetes is something that is relatable to the

audience of obese Americans, therefore it does provide a sense of credibility but it also evokes

emotion (​What The Health, ​5:02). Another way Kip attempts at pathos is by using real-life

examples of people that are in similar situations as his audience, and uses his solution to better

their lives. Michael Abdala, age 69 suffers from Type 2 diabetes. He goes into a lengthy

explanation on the type of medication he is forced to take and the numerous amounts of doctors

claiming their knowledge superior then giving Abdala no answers on a permanent fix, at least not

like the plant-based diet that Andersen provides. Abdala states, “[Type 2 Diabetes] is a real

challenging thing. It’s something you don’t want to get” (​What The Health, ​8:06). Kip most

likely put this in the film envisioning an individual on a madhunt for a sign, a sign to change

their habits and to alter their diets in order to become healthier and to feel healthier. So, when

this particular individual would come across the documentary ​What The Health ​they would find

these answers by seeing someone in their same position using the solution that Kip Andersen

provides, it is an excellent form of advertising. To attack the new age of “love yourself” in an

age of bad health, Dr. Garth Davis states, “Everyone wants us to be comfortable with our bodies,
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but the movement to be comfortable with our bodies has made us comfortable with being sick”

(​What The Health​, 10:41). This comment obliterates the “love yourself” movement utterly and

completely. Although this most likely causes insecurity and self-consciousness to become

extremely imminent within the audiences lives it does provoke change. Kip could have placed

this within the film due to it relating your dieting to a sickness, and like every other sickness that

an individual is unlikely to be plagued with --- it must be treated. Cristina Stella, a staff attorney

at the Center for Food Safety states, “Consumers have no idea what is in the products that they

consume” (​What The Health, ​35:26). Andersen and Kuhn have been attempting to hammer home

this feeling of uncertainty and with this statement it raises this level and it instills a degree of fear

into this population of consumers. There are thoughts of, “we ​don’t ​know what we are eating”,

this could help people to begin looking at labels and start wondering what it is that they are

eating. With this degree of curiosity and a measure of fastidiousness, people might even be able

to focus and become just as meticulous with their diet. “Have this system where animals are

living in their own waste.” Paige Tomaselli, a Senior Attorney at the Center for Food Safety

exclaims (​What The Health​, 35:28). This has always been a touchy subject that provokes anger

within the humane population of America. It is this that is vegans main argument. That it is

inhumane to promote or benefit a business that is treating animals terribly. Vegans claim that

cows are raised malnutritioned, the same goes for chickens, pigs, etc. It is hard for people to see

or hear about the environment of the factories, the citizens that are living around the factories,

and the workers who are working inside of those factories. “‘The biggest intervention people

could make towards reducing their carbon footprints would not be to abandon cars, but to eat

significantly less red meat,’ Benton said. ‘​Another recent study​ implies the single biggest
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intervention to free up calories that could be used to feed people would be not to use grains for

beef production in the US.’ However, he said the subject was always controversial: ‘This opens a

real can of worms’” (Carrington, 2014). This article states that just us eating the meat that is

being produced, we are creating a carbon footprint worse than cars; the way to reduce this said

carbon footprint is to eat a significantly less amount of red meat. In the documentary they

describe this as a human rights issue, it has gotten this bad. Rene Miller, a resident in Duplin

County tells Kip, “My sister had asthma, and we have asthma-- mostly everybody in this

neighborhood has asthma, my neighbor right there just died from cancer last year, my nephew

down the street… he has cancer” (​What The Health, ​39:08). The entirety of the scene in which

Andersen is traveling through Duplin County, a cancerous county is which many people die due

to living to close to the factory and its ghastly waste procedures. Most of the residents explain

that the smell in their county is so retched that most of them have to “regroup” after heading

outside. They state that the smell had “gotten in their clothes”. Isaac Ward explains that most of

the time they are spraying the hog infested water they do it on sundays in minority

neighborhoods. He says that he couldn’t handle going to church smelling like hog (​What The

Health, ​40:37). Kip uses these characters has pathos to make the viewers feel sympathy. The

images in the documentary are horrifying enough to make you turn vegan, without including its

claimed health benefits. Which is why pathos is one of the best rhetorical appeals to use for

viewers looking for a reason to change.

The documentary, ​What The Health, ​directed and produced by Kip Andersen and Keegan

Kuhn, was filmed for the sole purpose of targeting the obese or struggling population of America

and attempting to persuade them towards a vegan diet in order to halt the inhumane treatment of
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animals in factories, help stall type 2 diabetes and cancer, not promote hypocritical corporate

sponsors, and to ultimately save the world. They do this by using specific rhetorical appeals;

logos, ethos, and pathos. So, the real question is… is veganism our answer?
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Works Cited

Andersen, Kip, and Keegan Kuhn. ​What The Health ​. ​What The Health ​, A.U.M. Films &

Media, 16 Mar. 2017.

Julieanna Hever | March 24, 2016. “3 Myths About Protein and a Plant-Based Diet.”

VegNews.com​, vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4753&catId=2.

Alyssa Figueroa / AlterNet. “The Top 5 Most Hypocritical Corporate Sponsors.”

Alternet​, ​www.alternet.org/economy/top-5-most-hypocritical-corporate-sponsors​.

“Alan Goldhamer, D.C.” ​Alan Goldhamer, D.C. | TrueNorth Health​,

www.healthpromoting.com/clinic-services/staff/alan-goldhamer-dc​.

“Science Says These 8 Common Diseases Can Be Reversed By A Plant-Based Diet.” ​Dr.

Joel Kahn​, 3 Nov. 2017,

drjoelkahn.com/science-says-8-common-diseases-can-reversed-plant-based-diet/.

Greger, Dr. Michael. “6 Foods I Recommend Eating Every Day For A Long Life: A

Doctor Explains.” ​Mindbodygreen​, 28 Jan. 2016,

www.mindbodygreen.com/0-23472/6-foods-i-recommend-eating-every-day-for-a-long-life-a-doc

tor-explains.html​.

“Thriving on a Plant-Based Diet.” ​Michael Klaper, M.D., Nutrition-Based Medicine​,

doctorklaper.com/webinars/thriving-on-a-plant-based-diet/.

Anonymous. “Nutrition Information.” ​The Physicians Committee​, 30 June 2015,

www.pcrm.org/health/diets/ffl/nutrition​.

Carrington, Damian. “Giving up beef will reduce carbon footprint more than cars, says

expert.” ​The Guardian​, Guardian News and Media, 21 July 2014,

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www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/21/giving-up-beef-reduce-carbon-footprint-more-th

an-cars