Forks and Knives

Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with

drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition” (Forks Over Knives 23:20). Forks

Over Knives is a documentary that explored Edison’s idea that nutrition can cure and prevent

disease. Lee Fulkerson directed Forks Over Knives, with John Corry as producer and Virgil

Films and Entertainment as distributor, Forks Over Knives was released on May 6, 2011. Forks

Over Knives targeted everyone. Although the documentary especially targeted those who have

diabetes, heart disease, or hypertension, those who are at risk of having diabetes, heart disease,

and hypertension, and those who have a animal based diet. Fulkerson’s reason he made this

documentary was to inform his audience of the rise in obesity, the correlation between diet and

diseases, and to educate his audience that a whole and plant based diet along with exercise is an

alternative to taking prescription drugs to medicate and cure their diabetes, heart disease, and

hypertension. Forks Over Knives evaluated the correlation between diet and disease and the

effectiveness of a whole and plant based diet in substitute of prescription drugs to help combat

diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and other diseases. Forks Over Knives followed the

progression of Dr. Collin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s research and the doctors’

application of the research they found. Fulkerson, San’Dera Nation, and Joey Aucoin are only a

few people whose lives were impacted by the research found by Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn.

Nation and Aucoin had diabetes, hypertension, and were at risk of having heart disease. While

Fulkerson had a high risk of getting diabetes and having a heart attack. These individuals shared

their personal stories about how Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn’s research has impacted and

changed their lives. As Fulkerson, Nation, and Aucoin changed their diets from animal based
foods to whole and plant based foods they were able to no longer have to take their prescription

drugs and were able to live a better life. Forks Over Knives also showed the increase of food

consumption in the United States of America and consequently this has caused a rise in heart

disease, cancer, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and other diseases. Forks Over Knives uses

logos informatively, and uses pathos and ethos persuasively.

Forks Over Knives appeals to its audience’s sense of logic by its use of statistics and

facts. The documentary began with a series of news clips that talked about the increase of obesity

and food consumption in the United States of America. Forks Over Knives states, “No less than

forty percent of Americans today are obese” (1:42), it also states, “At the beginning of the

twentieth century Americans consumption of meat was one-hundred and twenty pounds of meat

annually and in 2007 meat consumption by Americans jumped to two-hundred and twenty-two

pounds of meat annually” (8:56), and “One out of three people born in the United States of

America today will develop diabetes during their lifetime” (3:12). The first two statements

effectively showed the increase of obesity in the United States of America. Obesity can increase

the audience’s chance of getting diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and other diseases. The

foods that the audience has eaten has an affect on their ability to become obese, or their ability to

get diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and other diseases. Forks Over Knives began to teach

its audience that the food they have eaten has an effect on their health. Through the use of

statistics and facts Forks Over Knives informatively appealed to its audience’s sense of logic and

the documentary was able to show its audience that their diet has an affect on their health.

Forks Over Knives continues to appeal to its audience’s sense of logic through its use of

research and experimentation. Forks Over Knives showed Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn’s
research and experiments. Campbell’s research led him to perform experiments on rats. For

Campbell’s experiments he gave the rats a high percentage of animal based food for three weeks.

The high percent animal based diet caused an increase in the rat’s disease growth. Then

Campbell gave the rats a low percentage of animal based food for three weeks. The low percent

animal based diet caused a decrease in the rat’s disease growth (25:01).Esselstyn’s research led

him to his experiment. Esselstyn’s experiment was that he helped individuals who had heart

disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Esselstyn’s patients were told by their doctors to prepare to

die because there was nothing they could do. For his experiment Esselstyn gave his patients a

strict whole and plant based diet. The strict whole and plant based diet helped the patients to live

longer and get off their prescription drugs (44:35). Both Campbell and Esselstyn came to the

same conclusion that nutrients from animal based foods increased disease growth and the

nutrients from whole and plant based foods decreased disease growth and helped treat diseases

without the use of prescription drugs. Through the use of experimentation and research Forks

Over Knives informatively appealed to its audience’s sense of logic. Forks Over Knives use of

logos helped it prove its point that an animal based diet can increase disease growth and a whole

and plant based diet can decrease growth.

Forks Over Knives persuasively appealed to the audience’s sense of emotion by

generating fear inside of its audience. Forks Over Knives produces fear through, “This could be

the first generation of children in the United States of America that lives less than its parents”

(2:06), also through, “Heart disease and stroke will claim the lives of 460,000 American

women”(0:28), and “Every minute a person in the United States of America is killed by heart

disease” (2:57). That is a total of nearly 1,500 people a day who will be killed by heart disease.

These statements effectively generated fear in men and women both old and young. Diet can be a
key factor in preventing, treating, curing, and reversing diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and

other diseases. The prevention of diseases along with a good diet can help Forks Over Knives’

audience to live longer. Forks Over Knives created awareness among its audience to evaluate

their diets and make a change towards a more whole and plant based diet. Through Forks Over

Knives use of fear the documentary was able to persuasively appeal to its audience’s sense of

emotion. The documentary’s use of pathos helped it to be able to prove its point that a whole and

plant based diet can decrease its audience’s disease growth and help them to be able to live

longer.

Forks Over Knives continues to persuasively appeal to its audience’s sense of emotion by

also generating hope inside its audience. Forks Over Knives uses Nation, Aucoin, and

Fulkerson’s success stories. Nation is a mother of five children She had hypertension and

diabetes. Nation was taking prescription drugs to treat her hypertension and diabetes. Then, she

met Dr. Esselstyn. Dr. Esselstyn recommended that Nation treat her hypertension and diabetes

with a whole and plant based diet instead (37:00). After Nation was on the whole and plant based

diet for two months she received great results from this diet (65:21). After some more time

Nation had reversed her diabetes and she no longer needed to take her prescription drugs to treat

her diabetes (85:48). Aucoin is a landscape developer. Aucoin said, “I do not eat to live. I live to

eat.” Aucoin had high cholesterol, type two diabetes, and was at risk of having a heart attack and

a stroke (14:29). Aucoin took nine pills and two shots every day (86:28). Aucoin went to a

doctor and changed his diet from an animal based diet to a whole and plant based diet. After

eight weeks of eating the whole and plant based diet Aucoin was able to no longer need to take

his prescription drugs. Now that Aucoin has eaten a whole and plant based diet he has more

energy and is able to save money because he no longer needs to buy his prescription drugs
(42:54). Fulkerson is a normal person just like Forks Over Knives’ audience. Fulkerson drank

soda and energy drinks and he ate his share of fast food. Fulkerson went to two doctors.

Fulkerson found out that he had high cholesterol and he was at a high risk of having a heart

attack. Fulkerson’s doctors changed his animal based diet to a whole and plant based diet (4:28).

Fulkerson’s wife talked about how Fulkerson had lost a lot of weight since he began the diet and

that he was waking up earlier and had more energy throughout the day (47:36). Through the use

of Nation, Aucoin, and Fulkerson’s stories the audience can relate to them. Nation, Aucoin, and

Fulkerson are normal people just like the audience. Nation is a hard working mother, Aucoin is a

hard working landscaper, and Fulkerson is a normal worker. Nation, Aucoin, and Fulkerson’s

stories show Forks Over Knives’ audience that if you have any of the above diseases that there is

hope. Even if the audience has diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease they do not need to live

with their disease. With a whole and plant based diet Forks Over Knives’ audience can treat and

reverse their diseases. Through the use of Nation, Aucoin, and Fulkerson’s stories it created

hope. Forks Over Knives was able to persuasively appeal to the documentary’s audience’s sense

of emotion when he used hope. Forks Over Knives is able to prove its point that the audience

does not need prescription drugs to help medicate or cure their diseases, but instead that they can

treat and reverse their diseases with a whole and plant based diet and live healthier better lives.

Forks Over Knives persuasively appeals to the documentary’s audience’s sense of

credibility through its use of experts. Forks Over Knives used Dr. Campbell as one of its experts.

Campbell obtained his education at Pennsylvania State University and Cornell University (9:37

and 10:21). He also traveled to the Philippines for a humanitarian project to feed the

malnourished children. In the Philippines, Campbell gave the poor citizens a plant based diet

because it was cheaper and they wanted to keep costs down. While in the Philippines Campbell
found that the more wealthy citizens’ children were more likely to get and have liver cancer.

Campbell also learned while in the Philippines of an Indian science journal containing research

about protein based diets and their health effects (11:47). Campbell started to create his theory

that a whole and plant based diet was better for people’s health while he was in the Philippines.

Later, when Campbell returned to America he began to experiment on rats to test and prove his

theory (25:01). This helped Campbell construct trust and credibility with the audience. Forks

Over Knives’ audience knows that Campbell was knowledgeable in his field and he knows what

he talked about because he went to school and he did his own research and experiments to test

and prove his theory. Forks Over Knives use of experts help it create credibility and effectively

appeal to the audience’s sense of credibility. The documentary is able to continue to prove its

point that diet has an effect on people’s health and they growth of disease.

Forks Over Knives continues to persuasively appeal to the audience’s sense of credibility

by continuing to use experts. Dr. Esselstyn obtained his education at Yale University (9:40).

After Esselstyn went to Yale he started his career as a doctor at the world famous Cleveland

Clinic. Shortly after starting his career surgery became his speciality (12:08). Esselstyn began to

doubt the medical procedures he was using to treat his patients’ heart disease. Esselstyn realized

he was not doing anything for the next unsuspecting victim of heart disease (18:07). Esselstyn

started to research and found that when the Nazis invaded Norway, animal based foods were

taken out of Norway’s diet. Esselstyn found out that when the animal based foods were taken out

of the Norwegian diet heart attacks and strokes went down. When animal based foods were

reintroduced to the Norwegian diet heart attacks and strokes went back up (20:03). Esselstyn did

his own research with patients who had heart disease. He changed patients diets from animal

based foods to whole and plant based foods. Esselstyn and his wife helped educate his patients
on how prepare and make whole and plant based meals. After Esselstyn’s patients stuck to a

strict whole and plant based diet they were able to get off their prescription drugs (44:35). This

helped Esselstyn build trust and credibility with the audience because he went to a well known

university to get his education and he completed his own research and experimentation.

Esselstyn’s education and experimentation showed that he is informed on the topic of diet and

health. Esselstyn’s title of doctor helped him create credibility. Both doctors construct trust and

credibility with Forks Over Knives’ audience. Forks Over Knives use of experts helps the

documentary able to effectively use ethos and the documentary is able to convince the audience

that their diets are linked to their health and determines the rate of their disease growth.

Furthermore, Forks Over Knives continues to effectively appeals to its audience’s sense

of credibility by its continuous use of experts. Forks Over Knives used Dr. Matt Lederman and,

his wife, Dr. Alona Pulde. Lederman and Pulde are both M.D.s. Lederman was trained in internal

medicine and Pulde was trained in family practice (9:08). Lederman and Pulde are among a

small. But growing number of physicians that are using a whole and plant based diet to treat their

patients. Lederman and Pulde showed their patients how to shop and how to prepare whole and

plant based meals. Lederman and Pulde used food as treatment because they feel it is the best

medicine available and food is a medicine that makes patients feel better and truly improver their

health and lives (30:40). Forks Over Knives use of Lederman and Pulde as experts helps the

documentary persuasively appeal to its audience’s sense of credibility. The documentary is able

to convince its audience that with a whole and plant based diet is a medicine that is better than

prescription drugs and that with whole and plant based diet the audience will be able to prevent

and treat disease and live a longer and healthier life.

 Although, Forks Over Knives did have some logical fallacies. The documentary uses

hasty generalization fallacy, either or fallacy, and begging the claim fallacy. Forks Over Knives

uses hasty generalization fallacy because the documentary does not spend a lot of time on the

counter side of the argument. Connie B. Diekman is the director of nutrition at Washington

University, a past president of The American Dietetic Association and an advisor to the National

Dairy Council. Diekman was on the side of the argument that meat is an essential and important

part of the documentary’s diet. Diekman says when the audience removed animal based foods

from their diets they ran the risk of inadequate protein content. Dikeman also said the audience

needs meat because animal protien provides amino acids that they need for cell growth, tissue

repair, and for their overall health (26:50). Forks Over Knives spends little time on Diekman’s

counter argument. Right after Diekman explained her side of the argument the documentary

immediately moved on to directly why Diekman’s counter argument is wrong. Forks Over

Knives used the logical fallacy either or because the Fulkerson’s documentary puts it as the

audience either is on a good whole and plant based diet or they are on a bad animal based diet.

Also the audience is either using prescription drugs to treat their diseases or they are using a

whole and plant based to treat their diseases. Forks Over Knives use of the either or logical

fallacy weakens the research Campbell and Esselstyn found. Forks Over Knives focused on how

diet caused diseases, whereas there are other factors such as genetics. Genetics can have an

involvement in the cause of diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases. Forks Over Knives uses

begging the claim fallacy. Forks Over Knives’ claim was that a whole and plant based diet can

cure disease instead of taking prescription drugs. The director, Fulkerson, believes that this claim

was true and therefore based the whole documentary around this claim. With the use of begging
the claim logical fallacy weakens Forks Over Knives argument because he does not spend a lot

of time on the counter side of the argument.

Forks Over Knives effectively used a chronological pattern of organization throughout

the documentary. Forks Over Knives started with Campbell and Esselstyn’s college careers and

moved on to follow them through their careers. The documentary showed the progression of

Campbell and Esselstyn’s research on diet and diseases growth. Then Forks Over Knives shows

how Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn applied their research and its impact on Nation, Aucoin,

and Fulkerson’s lives. Through the documentary’s use of chronological pattern organization

Forks Over Knives was able to easily demonstrate its point that the audience the effects of an

animal based diet and a whole and plant based diet on the audience’s health.

Forks Over Knives informatively uses an unchallenging vocabulary with very few

challenging words throughout the whole documentary. Forks Over Knives’ word choice used

very simple and understandable words. If Forks Over Knives used more scientific and medical

words that were more challenging then the documentary explained the definition of them. This

helped the documentary’s audience to be able to easily understand the effects of diet on their

health. The narrator, Fulkerson, used a very monotone voice as he narrated. Fulkerson’s voice

could be boring which could cause the audience to lose interest. Although, Dr. Esselstyn, Dr.

Campbell, Nation, and Aucoin’s voices added variation of tone which caused Forks Over Knives

to be more interesting and the audience be more willing to watch the documentary. Through the

use of an easy vocabulary and differing tones of voice Fulkerson is able to easily keep the

audience interest and learn more information about the correlation between diet and diseases and

their health.
 Forks Over Knives used statistics, experts’ opinions, and individual’s stories as evidence

competently. Forks Over Knives used these different types of evidence help prove the

documentary’s point. The statistics help Forks Over Knives appeal to the documentary’s

audience’s sense of logic, experts’ opinions help the documentary appeal to its audience’s sense

of credibility, and individual stories help the documentary appeal to its audience’s sense of

emotion. Through the use of statistics, experts’ opinions, and individual’s stories as evidence

Forks Over Knives logically, emotionally, and ethically connect with the audience and the

documentary was able to prove its point that there is a correlation between diet and disease. Also

Forks Over Knives was able to prove its point that with a whole and plant based diet along with

exercise can be an alternative for the documentary’s audience so, they do not need to take

prescription drugs to treat their diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, or other diseases.

When one considered the scientific proof, the use of individual’s stories, and experts’

opinions it is easy to believe that a whole and plant based diet is better for your health. With the

continuing rise of obesity and disease in the United States Forks Over Knives encouraged the

documentary’s audience to examine their diets and health for a greater sense of life. Forks Over

Knives proved that a whole and plant based diet can be its audience’s medicine and heal them to

enable them to be able to have a healthier life. Forks Over Knives used logos, pathos, and ethos

effectively. Forks Over Knives informatively used logos through its use of statistics, facts,

research, and experiments to help convince the audience logically. Forks Over Knives use of

pathos is powerful. Forks Over Knives generated fear and hope inside the audience by using

individuals’ stories and statistics and facts. Forks Over Knives use of pathos helped the

documentary to convince the audience emotionally. Forks Over Knives used ethos compellingly.

Forks Over Knives used experts to create credibility. Forks Over Knives use of ethos helps the
documentary to convince the audience ethically. Although Forks Over Knives used hasty

generalization fallacy, either or fallacy, and begging the claim fallacy. Forks Over Knives spent

little time on the counter argument, focused on one side of the argument, and acted like there are

only two options when there are actually many. Fulkerson’s use of logical fallacies weakens

Forks Over Knives’ point. Forks Over Knives appealed to pathos and ethos very well, but is not

so effective in the documentary’s appeal to logos. Forks Over Knives effectively convinced the

documentary’s audience and appealed to pathos and ethos with its use of Fulkerson, Nation, and

Aucoin’s stories and the use of Lederman, Pulde, Esselstyn, and Campbell’s expertise . Whereas,

Forks Over Knives use of facts and statistics for its appeal to logos is not very strong in

convincing the audience of the documentary’s main point. Overall, Forks Over Knives was a

very convincing documentary through the doucmentary’s use of logos, pathos, and ethos. With

the documentary’s use of logos, pathos, and ethos Forks Over Knives is able to easily convince

the audience and the documentary’s use of logical fallacies does not have a big effect on Forks

Over Knives argument.

Work Cited
Forks Over Knives. Directed by Lee Fulkerson, Virgil Films and Entertainment, 2011.