Uh wow....
Well for us, we came across this movie after trying to find solutions for my son. On top of his Autism, we found out he needed to be on a gluten-free/casein-free diet. Gluten would cause his stomach to bloat and I won't describe what casein does. Since we knew he had limitations on what he could eat, we wanted to convert over as a family. So we kept dairy, gluten as well as sugar (as much as we can) out of our diet. Was quite amazed at how many products were on the shelves that at least contained 2 of those.
But this last summer we came across Forks Over Knives and that basically changed our whole way of thinking. In the last 5 months, it was amazing to see the changes in the way we ate. We basically had to force them to eat small portions of vegetables. Now we eat some amount of leafy greens (mostly spinach and kale) everyday with other assorted vegetables and/or fruits. And for the most part I would say about 70% of our meals are raw while the other 30 is vegetarian. Stevia and Honey replaced sugar (which is not even used that much). Spirulina and tumeric have been normal things to add to some meals.
That time span also yielded some positive results to our health. At first, it was a bit strange, because it was as if my body was purging and I could not understand how 3 corn tortillas stuff with vegetables was causing this. Well in time, that went away. Apparently I was clearing stuff from my body and I dropped 20 lbs, getting down to my high school weight (165 lbs). I also noticed that this winter my bronchitis didn't flare up like it usually does when the season changes to winter. So that was a nice little surprise.
However, this changes the way you shop as well. To keep things on a similar budget, you have to know what fruits/veggies are in season. You are going to have to go to the store more often since you want to buy in smaller quantities to make sure that you food is close to fresh as possible. Luckily our stores carry a lot of organic produce and the prices are reasonable. But we do go to the local farmer markets since we can actually know where our food is coming from. I learned much about this from this book
Raw Food on a Budget. This is not just for raw foodist since she gives a slew of tips on saving money eating organic foods. I believe she also sells her book through Amazon as well.
I am convinced that there is something to it since none of us has felt energy depleted not having meat in our diet. Not to say I have vowed never to eat meat again. We still ate turkey for Thanksgiving and while it had a different feeling in my stomach, there was no ill effect. I am just treating meat as I treat sweet treats. They are meant to be enjoyed once in a great while.
So yeah, Fork Over Knives was a kickstarter for us, but we did this out of necessity for my son and I don't foresee us going back.