Film Study Worksheet for Cowspiracy, a Documentary Seeking to Persuade the Viewer

On a Matter of Political or Social Significance

Read the questions before you watch the film so that you will know what to look for while you watch. If you make notes
while the film is playing, make sure that your note taking doesn't interfere with carefully watching the movie. You do not
need to make any notes on the worksheet but after the film is over you will be required to fully respond to the questions.

Complete the assignment by answering each question in paragraph form. Answers need to be complete and
comprehensive, demonstrating that you paid attention to the film and thought about what was shown on the screen. You
may use more than one paragraph if necessary. All responses should be in complete sentences using proper spelling,
grammar and punctuation.

1. State the title of the film and the year it was released. Then briefly describe what the film is about and the position that
it advocates.

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2. Describe the progression of the film: how it begins, what stages it passes through, and how it concludes.

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3. List six facts described in the film that impressed you and explain how each fact relates to the films premise or theme.

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4. How did the filmmakers try to convince you of the position that the film supports? Look for appeals to logic, emotion,
and prejudice.

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5. Did any of the reasoning given in support of the position advocated by the film seem to be weak or misleading? If so,
describe the concept put forward in the film and why you thought the reasoning was flawed.

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6. Listen to the music and as you watch the film, look for cinematic techniques used in presenting particular scenes which
were designed to appeal to the viewers emotions and to encourage the viewer to agree with the position advocated by
the film, without reliance upon fact or logical argument.

Notes:

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 Why Ranchers Should Care About The Documentary Cowspiracy
Jul 21, 2014 by Amanda Radke in BEEF Daily
RSS

A new documentary entitled, "Cowspiracy," paints the beef business in a very negative light, citing cattle as the sole
reason we have sustainability issues on our planet. Ranchers will need to"beef" up on their beef production facts to
help balance out the conversation about sustainability and animal agriculture.
Related Media

HSUS Says Ranchers Dont Care About Animals

I havent seen the documentary Cowspiracy yet, but after viewing the trailer and reading some of the
publicity for it, Im sure it wont be one any cattle producer will enjoy watching. The trailer points to a dark
sustainability secret which is the one single industry destroying the planet more than any other. According
to the trailer, this industry is responsible for global warming, water shortages, methane emissions, species
extinction, and the ocean dead zones. Cowspiracy places the blame on livestock production.
In the trailer, the creators insinuate they are taking a big personal risk, even endangering their lives, by
making this film. In fact, they claim that the livestock industry is so nefarious, so powerful, that the major
established environmental organizations are afraid to take it on. But the films creators dont have any
problem painting ranching as the worlds worst environmental villain in the first 10 seconds, and it only gets
worse from there.

Of course, Cowspiracy just appears to be regurgitating the common myths the beef industry has worked hard
to correct over the years. For example, the Cowspiracy website claims it takes 660 gals. of water to make one
hamburger, or the equivalent of 2 months worth of showers.

Spread the word about "Cowspiracy" with your online community. Tweet this!
However, according to Facts About Beef, In reality, it takes 441 gals. of water to produce 1 lb. of boneless
beef. Farmers and ranchers are committed to water conservation and have reduced the amount of water used
to raise beef by 12% compared to 30 years ago. In comparison, 441 gals. of water is a fraction of what is
used to produce other everyday items. It takes over 713 gals. of water to produce one cotton t-shirt; 39,090
gals. to manufacture a new car; and 36 million gals./day is leaked from the New York City water supply
system.
So if we really care about water conservation, we should stop wearing clothes, driving cars and using water
altogether in our homes and businesses.
An inflated estimate of water use in beef production is just one of the myths being perpetuated by this film. Its
clear the films producers are anti-meat and anti-food animal. The documentary debuts this summer, and Im
sure it will make more than a few viewers feel guilty about consuming their beloved cheeseburger. Thats why
its up to us to share the factual information about beef production and the environment.
I encourage everyone to visit reference sites like FactsAboutBeef.com or check out our Earth Day page for
resources on this topic.
Will you go view Cowspiracy? Do you think the documentary is something ranchers should worry about? How
would you respond to being painted a villain by a couple of guys with a video camera? How can we show our
consumers how the beef industry has decreased its use of natural resources while producing more beef?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
 AN EXAMPLE OF HOW STATISTICS CAN MISLEAD:
ANALYZING ONE BEEF INDUSTRY RESPONSE TO COWSPIRACY
Suggested Class Discussion
TWM recommends that the class discussion include at least the matters set out below. Write the important
points on the board TWM's suggestions are in bold. Students may come up with other reasons, or with
rebuttals. Encourage a lively debate. The industry response debunked below was an early partial response
to the movie. Teachers might want to check for additional industry responses to Cowspiracy and present
them to the class for analysis.

Orange italics represent instructions or notes for the teacher.

Teacher: An early response to Cowspiracy by the meat industry is an article entitled Why
Ranchers Should Care About The Documentary "Cowspiracy" by Amanda Radke, a journalist for
an on-line magazine called "BEEF Daily." In the article, Ms. Radke quotes a beef industry
source, Facts About Beef, to try to rebut claims made in the movie.

Hand out or display the following paragraph:

From Facts About Beef, a beef industry source: "In reality, it takes 441 gals. of water to produce 1 lb. of
boneless beef. Farmers and ranchers are committed to water conservation and have reduced the amount
of water used to raise beef by 12% compared to 30 years ago. In comparison, 441 gals. of water is a
fraction of what is used to produce other everyday items. It takes over 713 gals. of water to produce one
cotton t-shirt; 39,090 gals. to manufacture a new car; and 36 million gals./day is leaked from the New
York City water supply system."
Teacher: Let's analyze these statistics. The claim that that a pound of beef takes only 441
gallons of water to produce is very different than the claim in Cowspiracy that a 1/3rd pound
hamburger takes 660 gallons. National Geographic estimates that it takes 1,799 gallons to
produce one pound of beef. That's about 1/3rd of 1800 gallons or 600 gallons for a one-third lb.
hamburger (but then there's the bun and the catsup). The authoritative Water Footprint
Network estimates that 634 gallons of water are required to produce a hamburger. These are
close to the numbers in the movie.
Sources: See The Hidden Water We Use from National Geographic and Water Trivia Facts from the EPA.
Teacher: Can you think of any reasons why these numbers might differ so much from the
number given by the Beef Industry?
Guide the discussion so that it includes the following concepts: the larger numbers most likely are more
complete, including water use from transportation, the water used to grow the feed, the water involved in
producing the electricity to heat the barns, the water required for disposal of waste etc.
Teacher: The numbers for the water footprint of T-shirts and cars provided by the Beef Industry
were taken from a source generally accepted as accurate. But let's look carefully at the Beef
Industry's comparisons.

Teacher: How many times would you wear a typical cotton T-shirt?
Take whatever number the class feels comfortable with and compare the per-usage water footprint for a
T-shirt with a bite of hamburger. The following is sample analysis.
If we wear the T-shirt twelve times and the water footprint for producing a T-shirt is 713 gallons,
the water footprint for each time we wear the T-shirt is 60 gallons (713/12 60.) That's a lot of
water. Some people will wear a T-shirt more than twelve times and their water use for each time
they wear the shirt will be less. But assuming we can eat a 1/3 lb. hamburger in ten bites, for 660
gallons per burger, that's 66 gallons a bite. If we have a big mouth and can eat the burger in five
bites, one bite would be 132 gallons. But let's assume it takes 10 bites to be conservative; that's
66 gallons a bite. Thus, assuming we use the T-shirt twelve times, each time we put on the shirt it
costs about the same amount of water as a single bite of hamburger. And a typical meat-eater will
eat meat once or twice a day, day after day after day.
Display or write on the board the following. The numbers may change depending on the class
discussion.
 Hamburger 66 gallons a bite

1 day T-shirt one bite

Teacher: What about the new car statistic? How long do you think a new car will run?
Use whatever number the class feels comfortable with and compare the per-day water footprint for
building a car with the water it takes for one bite of hamburger. The following is sample analysis.
Assume that the new car runs for ten years or 3650 days. 39,090/3650 = 10.7 gals of water per
day or about 17% of a single bite of one hamburger (10.7/66=.15). Or let's assume it runs for
only five years, and most cars run far longer than five years. That pushes it up to about 1/3rd of a
bite of a hamburger -- and for this we get the machine that will provide transportation every day.
Let's be conservative and assume the car lasts for five years; that's less than 1/3rd of a bite for
the car for each day. This is just the cost to build a new car, not to operate it. The gasoline and oil
used in making the car run would require additional water.
Display or write on the board the following. The numbers may change depending on the class
discussion.

1 day car 1/3rd bite

Teacher: It is true that New York City has a massive leak in the major aqueduct bringing water
to the City and about 36,000,000 gallons of water are lost each day. They have a terrible
problem. They can't find a way to supply the city with water while they shut down the aqueduct
to fix it. So, the leak continues. At least it's not getting worse. Let's break the statistic down to
a daily usage per citizen of New York and see what it shows. The city has a population of about
8.4 million people. 36,000,000/8,400,000 = 4.33 gallons of wasted water per day per person.
4.33/66=07. Thus, the waste from this leak is about 7% of a bite of a typical 1/3rd lb
hamburger each day for each person in New York City.
Source: See e.g., Delaware Aqueduct Leak from Riverkeeper.
Display or write on the board the following.

NYC water loss 1/14th bite

Teacher: The daily water footprint of the Beef Industry's examples total up to roughly . . .

Display or write on the board the following words in bold-faced type. The numbers will change
depending on the class discussion.
Total 1.5 bites!
Teacher: But most people eat several servings of meat and dairy every day, day after day after
day.
Teachers might want to ask the class to state the number of servings of meat or dairy that they had the
day before.
Teacher: Ms. Radke only discussed water use in her article criticizing the movie. What problems
of meat production did she ignore?

Solicit input from the class. The following is a good list.

greenhouse gases more than the entire transportation sector;

pollution from manure animal agriculture creates trillions of pounds of manure
created each year by factory farmed animals, some of which leaches into rivers and
water sources;
deforestation clear-cutting the Amazon rain forests to raise soy beans to feed the
cattle;
 world hunger if the wheat, corn, and soybeans grown to feed the cattle were
reserved for human consumption, no person on the planet would have to go hungry;
antibiotic resistance massive use of antibiotics to keep thousands of animals
jammed together in the barns of factory farms contributes to the rise of antibiotic
resistant bacteria.

Teacher: This is a very simple analysis of the way statistics can mislead. There are entire books
devoted to this topic.

Other Discussion Questions:

Questions 3 - 7 on TWM's Movie Worksheet for Cowspiracy are excellent class discussion
questions. Additional questions are set out below:

1. Why is it hard to convince people to eliminate or substantially reduce their consumption of

meat? Suggested Response: Good responses will include the following: (1) people like the taste
and texture of meat, thus motivated blindness kicks in, and we try to justify what we want to
do and discount the arguments against what we don't want to do; (2) we are accustomed to
eating meat; society has developed rituals surrounding the consumption of meat, such as
barbecues, favorite family dishes etc.; eating meat and dairy is our normal state and the bias
toward normalcy lulls us into postponing the change and ignoring warning signs; (3) the meat,
milk, and restaurant industries bombard us with cleverly designed advertisements and
marketing techniques to get us to eat more meat and dairy; entire business enterprises are
based on meat or dairy consumption (e.g., Sizzlers Steak House, KFC, Arby's Roast Beef, any
ice-cream shop); (4) meat has definite short-term benefits in concentrated protein [but is this
important in a modern developed country?); (5) for some males meat consumption is falsely
associated with masculinity and physical power. Many people find any suggestion to reduce or
eliminate meat or dairy consumption to be threatening.

2. Most of the statistics in Cowspiracy are estimates derived from academic studies, United
Nations reports, the U.S. Government, or established environmental organizations. However,
new studies come out every year. How should people evaluate any new studies about the
effects of animal agriculture on climate change? Suggested Response: Evaluate the new facts
being careful to avoid motivated blindness and the normalcy bias, while looking carefully at the
statistics and the bias, if any, of the source of the report.

3. Ask students to name and describe an example of "motivated blindness" from the movie or
from their own experience. Suggested Response: The "motivated blindness" from the movie is
the failure of established environmental organizations to see the need to try to convince people
to reduce their meat and dairy consumption. Another motivated blindness is the refusal of
people to recognize the facts about the environmental costs of animal agriculture.

4. Ask students to name and describe an example of the "bias toward normalcy" from the
movie or from their own experience. Suggested Response: See item 2 to the suggested
response to Discussion Question #1.

5. How does the bias toward normalcy affect the approach of our entire society to the
environmental impact of our lifestyle? Suggested Response: Everyone who is not a vegetarian
is ignoring the contribution of eating habits to the likely environmental catastrophe caused by
the way we live.

6. After watching Cowspiracy, will you make any changes in the way you live? Explain your
reasons. Suggested Response: Teachers should ask the students to apply the concepts of
motivated blinds and the bias toward normalcy to the positions taken by students.

7. How can the Beef Industry claim that it takes only 441 gallons of water to produce a pound
of beef, and organizations like National Geographic claim that it takes 1,799 gallons? Suggested
Response: It's all in what you count. The National Geographic numbers try to include the entire
water footprint, direct or indirect. The Beef Industry number may exclude, for example, the
water costs of the antibiotics given to cattle, the water involved in transporting the animals to
market, the water involved in heating the barns, etc.

Assignments:

Any of the discussion questions or questions 3 - 7 on the Movie Worksheet can serve as an
essay prompt.

1. Have students check each of the factual claims made in the movie with their own original
research from the most recent studies they can find. The claims and the sources relied on by
the filmmakers are on the Cowspiracy fact page. In the alternative, have students in groups or
individually, research the following topics:

the impact of animal agriculture on water use;

the impact on the environment of the disposal of the waste from factory farming of
cows, pigs, chickens and fish;
the comparative water footprints of providing 1 lb of protein from soy, wheat, beef,
pork, chick and fish;
the risks posed by antibiotic resistant bacteria, and the contribution of animal agriculture
to that problem;
the causes of the deforestation of the Amazonian rain forest, and its worldwide
environmental impact;
the environmental impact of a diet in which protein is obtained through grains or
legumes as opposed to a diet in which protein is obtained through meat consumption;
the impact on the health of an individual of a vegan diet.

The depth and length of the analysis will depend upon the time available and the abilities of the
class.

2. Have students plan and cook a vegan meal. Alternatively, students can be asked to divide
into groups and bring a vegan dish to a potluck. (There are a myriad of great recipes on the
web.)

3. Have students research and describe the process by which various industries externalize
their costs: the auto industry, the animal agriculture industry, the tobacco industry, the mining
industry (pick a different product such as gold, iron, coal, aluminium), the oil industry, the
production of ivory, the production of palm oil.

4. Have students prepare a water footprint analysis for what they eat for a meal.

5. Have students read Elie Wiesel's Night and analyze Wiesel's description of what happened
in his home town in terms of the bias toward normalcy and motivated blindness. [For classes
that have already read the book, have them re-read the first twenty pages. See note in the
sidebar.]