World Without Cows: What would happen in a world without cows
What if you removed all the cows? This documentary was presented at the Twelve Lions Film Festival in September and will be at the San Pedro International Film Festival in November.
"World Without Cows", directed by journalists Michelle Michael and Brandon Whitworth, who spent nearly three years visiting farmers, academics, scientists and others to gain an up-close look at the social, financial and environmental impact of cows, and to explore the potential repercussions of a world without them, was recently launched, offering a provocative perspective on the impact a world without cows would have. Through a unique cinematic approach and scientific analysis, this feature-length film explores how cows contribute not only to human food, but also to ecological balance and global sustainability.
"World Without Cows" invites viewers to reflect on the importance of livestock farming in our daily lives and the crucial role of cows in various ecosystems. Throughout the documentary, experts in the field of the environment, nutrition and agriculture offer data and studies that dispel myths and open the debate on the relationship between food production and environmental preservation.
The documentary also addresses issues such as the climate crisis , land use and alternatives to animal protein, raising essential questions for the future of food on an increasingly crowded planet. Through interviews, graphic animations and striking scenes, "World Without Cows" challenges the audience to imagine a world in which cows disappear and the implications this would have on our diets, economies and cultural traditions.
The 85-minute documentary aims to broaden the conversation, encouraging viewers to think more deeply about how cattle impact our world and discover that there’s much more to consider when it comes to cattle and the vitality of our planet.
"This isn’t just an opinion-based conversation where people are yelling their own thoughts and opinions at you", Whitworth said. "These are doctors, Ph.Ds., farmers, ranchers and people who have firsthand experience and education in all these areas. It’s facts. It’s science".
One of the experts Michael and Whitworth consulted is Jack Bobo, a food futurist and director of the Food Systems Institute at the University of Nottingham.
"For 10,000 years, farmers and ranchers have been asked to do one thing, and that’s produce more food,” Bobo said. “We’re adding a billion people every 11 or 12 years. The challenge is, every day between now and 2050, it gets harder to feed the world".
Justin Sherrard, a global strategist at Rabobank, estimates that about one in 10 people in the world depends on cattle for their livelihood directly - more than 800 million people.
"Ultimately, we’ve got to address every part of the global food system", he said.
Dr. John Lynch, a climatologist from the University of Oxford, said scaling down greenhouse gas emissions is urgently needed.
"What’s the world going to look like in 30 or 40 years if we just carry on heating up the planet and making these more extreme events occur more often?" Lynch asked
"I think we could go a do a survey, and many people would say, yes, cows are the worst thing in the world for the climate", he continued. "Cows are not the biggest contributor to climate change. That’s still fossil fuels".
Dr. Frank Mitloehner, a professor and air quality specialist who leads The CLEAR Center at the University of California, Davis, addresses global land availability, greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of cattle on climate.
"I’m not a person telling you livestock has no impact, or that it’s a tiny impact", Mitloehner said. "Like every part of society, animal agriculture needs to do its part and help reduce our impact on climate. We can and we should do that. But we should not make up stories of these animals being responsible for the majority of emissions. They’re not responsible for the majority of emissions".
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