MILKED: White Lies in Dairy Land is an unmissable exposé of the truth about dairy, and is now streaming globally.
With its charismatic protagonist and high-profile lineup of experts, producers, and backers, the new documentary MILKED joins the ranks of internationally-acclaimed documentaries pointing the way to a plant-based future.
Featuring interviews with contributors such as Dr Jane Goodall, environmentalist and former actress Suzy Amis Cameron, and Cowspiracy co-director, Keegan Kuhn, MILKED reveals the behind-the-scenes reality of the kiwi dairy farming fairy-tale.
An impactful global story told with a local eye, the film also tells an empowering story, not only revealing the confronting truths, but detailing the solutions that lie before us.
Industry whitewash
In the early scenes of the film, we meet our narrator and host, Chris Huriwai (Ngāpuhi, Ngati Porou, Te Atiawa) who introduces us to the stark facts about the impacts of animal agriculture on the Earth’s climate and biodiversity. With livestock now outweighing wild mammals and birds by a factor of ten, causing extensive damage to ecosystems, and driving shocking rates of species extinction, it’s little wonder that a growing number of experts and environmental groups are calling for urgent change.
In one poignant scene, Chris meets local community leaders at Lake Omapere near his family home, which has become so polluted by an upstream dairy farm that it is no longer safe to swim in. With interviews like these, and easy-to-digest graphics, we accompany Chris on a journey that is as engaging as it is informative.
Protagonist Chris contemplates Lake Omapere
At the same time, we learn just how reluctant the dairy industry is to have this story told. Despite initially inviting Chris to meet with them, dairy giant Fonterra subsequently backs out. Those who have seen Cowspiracy will recall a similar trajectory, as it becomes clear that the industry has a great deal to hide, not just about its impacts on the environment, but its treatment of animals, and its dubious health claims. This makes for a compelling journey of discovery as Chris travels around seeking the truth about his unanswered questions.
A focus on solutions
The film is fact-packed and backed up with a well-referenced website that provides an eye-opening counterpoint to the industry spin. However, while the truths it provides are hard hitting, the film is focused on positive change, and offers an uplifting vision in which farmers and consumers are supported to embrace plant-based alternatives.
Director and producer Amy Taylor emphasised the importance of sharing an achievable vision for change. “With each interview, we understood more clearly just how alarming and wide reaching the impacts of the dairy industry were, despite our country’s claim to be the world’s best dairy producers”, she says. “But we also felt hopeful learning about the alternatives and solutions – how farmers can transition away from animal agriculture, and how through the simple act of what we choose to eat, we can create a more positive future for people, the planet, and the animals we share it with.”
During the film, Chris speaks to a number of experts, farmers and entrepreneurs who see the exciting opportunity for alternatives to animal products and are already leading the way to a greener, healthier and kinder future. Among them is Suzy Amis Cameron who owns Cameron Family Farms with her husband, Avatar Director James Cameron, which has successfully made the transition from dairy to organic vegetable production.
Chris at Cameron Family Farms
As well as featuring in an interview in the film, Suzy Amis Cameron also joined as an Executive Producer. “Animal agriculture is not only clogging our arteries and creating disease in our bodies, it is creating disease in our land, air and water”, she says. “A plant-based lifestyle can help us undo the damage to our bodies, and our planet.”
James Cameron has echoed this, describing the film as “a powerful wake-up call that the world is getting milked”. With Australia still recovering from devastating floods, and the latest UN climate report highlighting the damaging impacts of animal agriculture, the global release of this powerful documentary couldn’t be more timely.
Watch now!
After its premiere at the Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival in November, MILKED has gone on to win several prestigious international awards, including: Best of Show at the IndieFEST Film Awards, a Gold Award at the Spotlight Documentary Film Awards, as well as Best of Show and Award of Excellence: Women Filmmakers at Impact DOCS Film Awards.
Watch the trailer below, and stream the full film free online at WaterBear from 18 March 2022.
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Want to do more? Visit the MILKED take action page to discover how you can help support the transition to a plant-based food system.
