Book Reviews

Peaceable Kingdom
by Tribe of Heart Documentaries
Review by Cathe Olson

Few films have moved me as much as this documentary did. I found myself experiencing a whole array of emotions: shock, horror, pity and guilt, but ultimately hope. This is a film you will want to share with all of your non-vegan friends.

“Peaceable Kingdom” tells the story of Gene and Lorri Bauston, a young couple unable to turn their back on animals mistreated by the factory farm industry. In 1986 they rescued a living sheep abandoned on a stockyard "deadpile" and created Farm Sanctuary. Within ten years Farm Sanctuary became the nation’s largest farm animal rescue and protection organization.

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The film offers glimpses of animals mistreated in factory farms: a dumpster behind a hatchery full of male chicks – many still alive; rows of cages in an egg factory packed with nearly featherless, debeaked chickens; and iron-deprived veal cows barely able to stand on their rubbery legs. As you hear the screams of animals at the stockyards and slaughterhouses, you can actually feel the fear that the animals are experiencing.

The scenes where visitors interact with Farm Sanctuary animals are as revealing as the scenes showing the mistreatment. It becomes evident that each animal has a personality and responds to love and friendship. The scene where a pig rolls on his side with a big grin as his belly is scratched reminded me of my dog. Gene Bauston said it well- “When you get a chance to look into an animal’s eyes, you recognize that they are living, feeling animals and that their hearts beat just like our hearts beat; that they want to enjoy life and they don’t want to be in pain.”

One of the regular visitors to the sanctuary is Michigan beef farmer Harold Brown. He had been taught that animals were only there for our use and conditioned to conceal how he felt about the animals being slaughtered. When he adopted a sanctuary cow, Snickers, he finally allowed himself to show the feelings he had suppressed since childhood.

The film also features fourth-generation cattleman Howard Lyman (author of “Mad Cowboy”). He describes how he corrupted his family’s organic farm with modern factory farming methods, and how his health and his conscience were almost destroyed by chemicals and greed. After a major health crisis, he realized how destructive his life had become and became an animal activist.

What I liked most about “Peaceable Kingdom” was that although it showed the awfulness of animal mistreatment, the ultimate message of the film was hope. There are people out there that care and are trying to change things. It was also a story of inspiration, as we see that even one person really can make a difference.

For more information about the filmmakers, visit their web site at www.tribeofheart.org. Tribe of Heart also produced “The Witness,” a compelling documentary exposing what goes on in the fur industry.

Order Peaceable Kingdom Now!

Cathe Olson is the author of the new nondairy ice cream cookbook: Lick It! Cream Dreamy Vegan Ice Cream Your Mouth Will Love, as well as Simply Natural Baby Food and The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook. Visit Cathe's website at www.simplynaturalbooks.com and her blog at http://catheolson.blogspot.com.

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