Chris Palmer
This letter from OWOO Foundation President Chris Palmer, was the result of an inspiring evening at BLUE with James Cameron

This letter, from One World One Ocean Foundation President Chris Palmer, to his four daughters, was the result of an inspiring evening at the Blue Ocean Film Festival, with legendary film director and ocean explorer James Cameron. It holds special relevance in light of our GO Fish! campaign, highlighting sustainable seafood this month.

 

 

 

Dear Kimmie, Sujay, Tina, and Jen,

 

I thought you might be interested in the following story.

 

As you know, I attended the BLUE Ocean Film Festival last week in Monterey, CA.

 

One of the people we honored was the film producer and explorer Jim Cameron (Titanic, Avatar). He received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

As you may know, Cameron recently dived to the deepest part of the ocean (the Marianas Trench), the only person ever to do this alone. It is over a mile deeper than Mount Everest is tall. It was a gutsy, brave thing to do. The pressures at those depths are crushingly high.

 

When he gave his acceptance speech at BLUE, he talked about how he did it, and we were all fascinated by his stories and how he overcame the challenges he faced.

 

He knew that all of us in the audience were filmmakers, environmentalists, and ocean conservation activists. He alerted us during his speech that he wanted to offer a challenge to us.

 

He told us that the biggest threat to the ocean came from climate change—loss of coral, acidification, rising levels, etc.

 

Then he said his wife Suzy about six months ago had made him sit down and watch the theatrical film Forks Over Knives.

 

Cameron said it had a radical and overwhelming influence on him. He said he immediately went to the kitchen and threw out everything related to animals—meat, dairy, etc.

 

The film taught him that big industrial agriculture was a far bigger contributor to greenhouse gases than the residential and transportation sectors combined (check). It is huge.

 

He said that anyone who is serious about ocean conservation and climate change has to be on a plant-based diet. Not to do this is to indulge in the most crass and flagrant hypocrisy.

 

He said that since going over to a plant-based diet six months ago, he has never felt so good. He runs twice as far as he used to, his cholesterol is way down, and he has much more energy and vitality.

 

He told us that a plant-based diet is good for everyone, including animals.

 

He went on to say that he was resolved now to spend his career making films on this topic which would make a difference and change the world. Raising awareness isn’t enough he declared. He intends for his films to change society and create real action.

 

I was delighted to hear all this. It all made good sense to me.

 

The irony was that during the grand dinner following his speech, meat was served!

 

I was sitting one seat away from Jim Cameron during dinner and had the opportunity to talk to him about his speech. He was delighted to learn about the food preferences of Tina and Jenny! He and I both selected the vegetarian choice and both agreed it was delicious.

 

It was interesting to learn that a film can have such a dramatic impact on someone.

 

I thought you’d all be interested to hear about this. I liked him very much.

 

Love,

 

Dad/Chris

XXXOOO