Looking to fill your watchlist with the best of vegan documentaries on streaming services like Hulu? Go no further, for we’ll be your vegan documentary guide for today! Here’s a curated list of vegan documentaries on Hulu that will amaze the pants off Hulu users.
Read on to get a healthy mass of information on veganism as a philosophy; can it save you from chronic diseases? What are the benefits of vegan diets? Is following a vegan lifestyle the panacea we all were looking for? We’ll answer all and more for you!
Best Vegan Documentaries on Hulu
- Unsupersize Me (2013)
- Hungry For Change (2012)
- Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (2010)
- Food, Inc. (2008)
- Food Choices (2016)
- Eating Animals (2017)
- Food Evolution (2016)
- Vegan Everyday Stories (2016)
- In Defense of Food (2015)
- I Am Greta (2020)
- Honeyland (2019)
Is Veganism A Philosophy?
Yes, Veganism is a philosophy; an amalgamation of various theories that can benefit the planet. A vegan lifestyle doesn’t equal just following vegan diets. Apologies if we are breaking your bubble, because veganism is not all that simple. According to the Vegan Society, Veganism is about abstaining from practising all sorts of exploitation of animals; be it for food, clothing or any other purpose. Veganism is about despising animal cruelty and finding alternatives that can benefit the planet, humans and animals.
What Are Vegan Documentaries?
With the realisation that climate change is real and global warming is the bane of our existence, movie makers across the world have capitalised on this dismal reality by producing more and more documentary films on the same, presenting us with a microcosm of our actions and their consequences.
Just like vegan podcasts, vegan documentaries encapsulate all such topics that create awareness about all that’s wrong with the environment and how we can correct it. From climate change, animal cruelty and the environmental impact of animal agriculture, to benefits of a vegan lifestyle, misconceptions about a vegan diet and factory farming, a vegan documentary explores it all!
11 Best Vegan Documentaries Streaming on Hulu
We now take you on a cinematic journey through the vegan world with a focus on Hulu’s extensive collection of thought-provoking and impactful vegan documentaries. From inspiring stories of animal activism to eye-opening investigations into the food industry, we present eleven of the best vegan documentaries available on Hulu. Where vegan blogs provide valuable insights into the food we eat, these films shed light on the ethical, environmental, and health aspects of a vegan lifestyle as a whole. So, grab your popcorn, settle in, and let these powerful documentaries immerse you in the world of compassion, awareness, and positive change.
1. Unsupersize Me (2013)
IMDB Rating : 6.4/10
Following the journey of Tracy Ryan, a woman who switched to a plant based diet and lost 200 lbs, and Juan-Carlos Asse, owner of Zen Fitness and Tracy’s personal trainer, this vegan documentary takes it upon itself to prove that a plant based diet coupled with a good exercise regimen can do wonders for an individual’s health.
The movie can be inspiring for many who have major health issues that can only be solved with losing weight, and push them towards the benefits of eating a whole-foods vegan diet rich in nutrients.
2. Hungry for Change (2012)
IMDB Rating : 7.4/10
Exposing the diet industry’s ways of deluding people so as to keep profiting from their misery, Hungry For Change will make you think over your food choices on a daily basis and will make you question, “How beneficial can a shift away from processed foods and towards whole foods be?”
Interspersed with interviews with some well-known advocates of a healthy diet, the message of the documentary is clear; choose a healthy lifestyle by choosing vegan whole-foods over animal products.
3. Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (2010)
IMDB Rating : 7.5/10
Directed by Joe Cross, an Australian entrepreneur, filmmaker, and wellness advocate, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is a vegan documentary film that features Joe Cross and his 60-day juice fast undertaken to lose weight and get in shape. The documentary follows Cross as he travels around the world inspiring more people to get in shape and save themselves from chronic diseases arising out of morbid obesity.
The film teaches what a diet change can achieve for someone who is at the verge of dying. To encourage more people to follow in his footsteps, Joe and his team has launched a website with juicing programs and recipes that can help beginners in their health change journey!
4. Food, Inc. (2008)
IMDB Rating : 7.8/10
Narrated by author and activist Eric Schlosser, Food Inc. reveals how big corporations have taken over a major part of the food industry, hiding truths about how our food is manufactured because if we come to know the process, we might never want to eat it! Yes, it’s that horrible.
The film reveals how the modern animal agriculture industry is making a “killing” (quite literally) and has become a horror to behold. The supermarket meat that we consume is sickly and in no way fit for consumption. But the power to turn the tables is in our hands. If we consume local and organic products, no producer can stop the market of deadly meat from crashing!
5. Food Choices (2016)
IMDB Rating : 7.3/10
Food Choices is a phenomenal vegan documentary directed by Michal Siewierski. The film follows Siewierski on his three-year journey to find out that one key-diet in the sea of diets, supplements and food products available to us as consumers. Siewierski examines the impact a person’s food choices have not just on his/her personal health, but also on the health of the whole planet.
Interspersed with interviews with 28 world-renowned experts, this documentary promotes a diet rich in plant based products and offers changed perspectives on food and diet.
6. Eating Animals (2017)
IMDB Rating : 7.3/10
Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s bestselling book and narrated by Natalie Portman, Eating Animals is a breathtaking film that makes you question the very basics of factory farming and question its ethicality. The documentary reveals shocking truths about the inhumane and cruel treatment of animals.
The film provides necessary eye-openers when it comes to food production and the economic, environmental and public health consequences of factory farming. The documentary also proposes that the future lies in more and more plant based alternatives since they are healthier and sustainably more viable.
7. Food Evolution (2016)
IMDB Rating : 6.9/10
Directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy and narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Food Evolution takes it upon itself to discuss the debate around genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Encapsulating one of the most heated debates of the modern world, the film takes the problem head on and explores whether GMOs are a bad option for meeting the increasing food needs in the face of climate change and global warming.
What is the key to healthy food on our plates? Should we go organic? Or should we stick to GMOs? Watch the documentary to know more!
8. Vegan Everyday Stories (2016)
IMDB Rating : 7.8/10
Pushing out the message to go vegan, Vegan Everyday Stories is a documentary film directed by Glenn Scott Lacey with a motive to spread out the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. The documentary showcases the personal journeys of four different people with a common thread; they are all vegan and promote veganism for the whole world to follow!
An ultramarathon runner turned vegan, a cattle rancher’s wife turning her ranch into an animal sanctuary, an eight-year old girl that makes her family of six go vegan and is on a mission to turn the whole world vegan, and a food truck owner cooking plant based foods, the film captures all these stories in detail.
9. In Defense of Food (2015)
IMDB Rating : 7.7/10
Based on the award-winning journalist Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, this documentary explores the modern dietary choices and healthy substitutes for it. It tackles questions regarding the best diet for staying healthy.
The food industry is extremely good at manipulating our food choices and offering unhealthy products that keep us addicted to what’s bad. The documentary reveals how four of the top things that can kill you are chronic diseases linked to diet. So what goes on our plate is an important decision.
10. I Am Greta (2020)
IMDB Rating : 7.7/10
Directed by the Swedish director Nathan Grossman, I Am Greta follows the rise of Greta Thunberg, a 15-year old climate activist as she speaks up for climate action first in her school, then outside the Swedish Parliament, and culminates with her voyage across the Atlantic ocean to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit. Greta is indeed a “force of nature” as the documentary observes.
11. Honeyland (2019)
IMDB Rating : 8/10
The Most Awarded Film at the Sundance Film Festival 2019, Honeyland captures the beauty of traditional beekeeping and honey cultivation as practised by Hatidze, a woman living with her ailing mother in the mountains of Macedonia. Honeyland follows Hatidze as she watches the newly moved-in neighbours cultivate honey by disregarding the subtle balance between nature and humanity.
Honeyland’s simplicity says it all and things unsaid scream louder than ever in this beautifully created documentary cum film.
Top 3 Benefits Of Vegan Diets
Apart from some stark truths depicted in the vegan documentaries on Hulu, Amazon Prime and Netflix, lets have a look at some important benefits of vegan diet too. There are so many benefits of a vegan diet that you will fall short of fingers to count them on! But, for starters, here’s a list of top three benefits that a vegan diet can bless upon your body and mind:
You Save Animals, Yoohoo!
This is probably the biggest incentive to switch to a vegan diet. By avoiding animal products, one can change the consumer demand in the market, thus decreasing the rates of animal cruelty across the globe. If animals are not in demand, humans will let them live in peace. This might require a big change, but remember that every drop in the bucket counts!
Bye! Bye! Chronic Diseases And Cancers
A vegan diet is known to enhance kidney function and keep the blood sugar levels to a minimum, thus saving the consumers from a whole range of chronic diseases that have now become common reasons of death among Americans. Thus, the chances of having type 2 diabetes for someone who has a balanced vegan diet are very low. So is the case with cancers. People with a balanced diet rich in whole foods are less likely to fall prey to deadly cancers!
Hellloo! Aunt Nutrients
Surprise, surprise! A whole-food vegan diet is super rich in nutrients. Believe it or not, we have always had a whole range of food products that are not meat and dairy and equally — sometimes even more — rich in the same nutrients that animal products can provide. So why not depend on them for a balanced diet?
Conclusion
As they say, one can never be too old for education and educating oneself through visual media is the best way to learn! There are so many enlightening documentaries like Unsupersize Me, Hungry for Change, I’m Greta, Food Choices, Food Inc, Honeyland, In Defense of Food, Vegan Everyday Stories, Food Evolution, Eating Animals and Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead to watch. Burt remember, you are just one vegan documentary away from changing the way you live and adopting a vegan lifestyle that can benefit not just your body, but also the planet and animals.
