A sneak peek at ‘PlantPure Nation’
True to their topic, a noted plant-based nutrition scientist and his son are seeking grass-roots support for the whole plant food lifestyle during a 25-city tour to promote their documentary film, “PlantPure Nation.”
A rough-cut screening of the 95-minute film is scheduled for 7 tonight at SouthSide Works Cinema, followed by a question-andanswer session with the father/son team — nutrition scientist and author T. Colin Campbell and Nelson Campbell, who directed the film. The companion PlantPure Nation cookbook is available at PlantPureNation. and at the event, which is open to the public.
The film is scheduled for national release July 4.
Mr. Campbell, an emeritus biochemistry professor at Cornell University and coauthor of the best-seller, “The China Study,” also has published more than 300 studies that document the health benefits of whole plant foods and the risks of animal-based foods.
And, yet, skepticism about plant-based diets persists with widespread ignorance of nutrition science and continued reluctance of people to try the diet, the Campbells say. The documentary focuses on how government and agribusiness have perpetuated such skepticism while supporting the dairy, beef and egg industries.
“I’m 100 percent motivated by the science,” the elder Mr. Campbell said. “The idea is true. It just works, and it works virtually for everyone, for most health conditions, most of the time, and for most ages, and I can defend that grandiose conclusion based on science.
“I will debate anyone, any time and any place, if they disagree,” he said. “Let’s have a public debate, and I’ll show what the evidence is. Try [the whole plant food diet] for 10 days and see what happens.”
Mr. Campbell was a key figure in the 2011 plant-food documentary, “Forks Over Knives,” with his books offering what he describes as “irrefutable science“that unprocessed fruits, vegetables and grains improve cholesterol, triglyceride and blood-glucose levels, reduce blood pressure, and lower the risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
Nelson Campbell initiated the film project after his father and a colleague presented their research to the Kentucky State Legislature for approval to conduct a pilot project in a small Eastern Kentucky community. The project would provide residents with a plant-based diet for 10 days and measure health results. Despite unanimous approval of a nonbinding resolution, the legislation ultimately got watered down in committee after intensive food-industry lobbying. But a similar project involving 130 people in North Carolina was successful with measured health benefits and large acceptance of the diet, he said.
“Tragically, there have been few official medical or state-sponsored efforts in the nation to support the life-sustaining benefits of a whole foods plant-based diet,” states PlantPureNation.com.