Films / Movies / Films About Diet and Food

From the Ground Up – A Documentary About How Plant-Based Vegan Athletes Become World-Class Athletic Competitors

by Jennie Richards · Published February 8, 2018 · Updated September 23, 2021

The feature documentary From the Ground Up examines why world-class professional athletes that are competing at the highest level have chosen a plant-based, whole foods vegan diet over an animal-based diet, and reveals how that decision has positively changed their athletic performance and health. While former football player and filmmaker Santino Panico interviews an impressive array of national and world champion athletes asking them how they reached the same conclusion about diet—he also is on his own journey to compare his own athletic performance before going vegan as a football player—and after going vegan—as a runner running the New York City Marathon.

While Panico meets with numerous vegetarian and vegan elite competitors to hear their individual stories, he also interviews leading medical professionals, doctors, animal welfare experts that highlight the health, environmental, and animal welfare impacts of eating a meat-based diet, and benefits of a plant-based diet. From The Ground Up approaches the issue of diet from ethical, environmental and health perspectives.

The film also looks at the sexual politics of meat, the cultural and historical myth that meat produces masculinity, the outdated ideas of meat and male masculinity, and shows how the world’s best athletes who are vegan completely upend the notion that you need meat for protein. Especially when plants provide the most direct, digestible, healthiest source of protein available without all of the health problems and chronic disease associated with animal foods.

Film Length: 1 hr / 35 min

Film Released: 2017

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Statistics Highlighted

- 99% of the animals that humans consume for food come from factory farms
- 2 billion animals were slaughtered in the U.S. alone in 2015
- In the U.S., 3 out of the 4 leading causes of death including—heart disease, several cancers, and strokes—are closely related to our food choices. Also several chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are caused by our food choices.
- The most disease-promoting food is processed meat; the 2^nd most disease-promoting food is red meat—associated with heart disease, chronic disease and early death
- It takes 520 gallons of water and 4.2 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of chicken meat
- It takes 1,849 gallons of water and 32 pounds of grain to yield 1 pound of beef
- It takes 720 gallons of water and 11 pounds of grain to yield 1 pound of pork
- 15% of all greenhouse gasses are generated by animal agriculture sector, causing climate change and global warming.

World-Class Athletes Interviewed & Why They Went Vegan/Vegetarian

Aaron Simpson – Professional MMA, World Champion Fighter

“My primary reason for me to cut animal products out of my diet was solely a compassionate choice. I could no longer justify eating animals and contributing to the slaughter of animals. Taking animals lives for my own greed. It wasn’t explained to me as a kid, I was sold this myth as a kid. With eating meat and killing—it’s a learned habit. I taught my kids to be kind, we taught them why we don’t kill animals, why we don’t eat meat.”

Heather Jo Clark – Professional Boxer, Mixed Martial Artist

“I’m mostly vegetarian and full vegan as much as often as I can. I don’t agree with how they treat animals, it really, really hurts me.”

Jake Shields – MMA, World-Champion Fighter

“I’ve been a vegetarian since the early 70s—my parents were. I’ve always loved animals, and eating meat was cruel, factory farming was cruel. I’ve always felt very strong as a vegan, and never have felt overpowered by anyone. You don’t need meat to feel strong. I want to be an example.”

Alex Caceres – Mixed Martial Artist, UFC Fighter

“I only eat plants. Diet and nutrition play a very important role for me. I have never felt stronger.”

Mac Danzig – MMA UFC Fighter

“I’m a vegan. Before I ever made the decision to go vegan, I was working on a farm animal sanctuary. Through that, I was able to understand how bad it was for the animals who were rescued. I always knew it was wrong, but I turned a blind eye to it. I tried being vegan—and felt great. I was only going to control myself and what I ate, and I wasn’t going to live my life contributing to those animal industries.”

Cam F. Awesome – Men’s U.S. Champion Boxer/Golden Gloves Heavyweight Winner

“Since eating a strictly plant-based diet starting in 2012, I have become faster, stronger, my recovery time is quicker, I don’t get as sore anymore—it’s completely changed my life. I realized what is happening to the animals, what we are doing to animals, how they are treating the animals, what we are putting inside the animals—and we are consuming that ourselves. When the last thing an animal is doing is crying for its life, I don’t think that’s a good thing to put into our bodies. It’s bad energy.”

Hillary Biscay – Ultraman World Champion, 60+ Ironmans

“I eat an all plant-based diet. There’s no difference between the three puppies I have at home and a cow on my plate. Once I became a vegan, I had my very best races ever. There’s never been a moment after I made the vegan decision, where I considered going back to eating meat. It was so important when I thought about the implications of my eating.”

Ed Templeton – Professional World Skateboard Champion

“I read about slaughterhouses, once I learned about that, I could not go back. I don’t have to hunt to survive, I can go to grocery stores and buy everything I need.”

Diana Winfree – Professional Dancer

“I was 5 years old when I remember eating a burger, and I had just come from a ‘petting zoo.’ I was so mortified that I would be eating that adorable cow. I could not chew that adorable cow that I just saw at the petting zoo. So at 5 years old, I stopped eating anything from an animal. Being a dancer and being a vegetarian have been linked my whole life. Twenty something years later—I’m still a vegetarian.”

Torre Washington – Professional Body Builder

“I was raised vegetarian by my mother who was a Seventh Day Adventist. But I took it to the next level and became vegan, I learned more about the connection with animals and our universe. I can do more than compete, I can help others realize as a vegan you can be even more powerful. I’m happy to change the perception that’s out there. We live in a world where there’s too much ‘me’ and not enough ‘we.’”

Steph Davis – Professional American Rock Climber, Base Jumper, 7-Summit Climber, Wingsuit Flyer

“My vegan plant-based whole foods eating helped my performance. I asked myself how can I climb better, be stronger, be healthier, do my sports better – that was my motivator. I was exposed to information I didn’t know, I was embarrassed that I didn’t know about factory farming. When I saw it, I could not support that, it’s horrible. When you spend money, you ‘vote’ for something. I removed my dollars from supporting factory farming. The thing that tortures me the most is human beings torturing other creatures. Animals should live as natural a life as possible.”

Griff Whalen – NFL Football Player

“I eat all vegan whole foods. I was looking for every way I could be a better athlete. When I became vegan it was a huge advantage for me, with a ton of benefits—immediate and long-term. I immediately felt lighter and faster, more energized, less arthritic, have more endurance—I’ve become very passionate about health and nutrition.”

Baggio Husidic – Professional Soccer Player

“My diet is whole foods plant-based, and I’ve seen a significant different in my performance. I recover faster than all the other players. Sports are behind on diet and training. I realized that what I put in is what I get out—that was the ultimate realization for becoming a vegan.”

Toni Pressley – Professional Soccer Player

“I decided to switch to a vegan diet, after I had gained weight. I lost 20 pounds, I perform now at a high level and I thrive with this diet. I think vegan food tastes amazing!”

Chris Campbell – Freestyle Wrestling, World Champion Wrestler, Olympic Medalist

“When I decided I wanted to be the best in the world, I looked at what diet would get me there, and I became a vegetarian. I was the oldest American to ever win an Olympic medal and I think my vegan diet helped me get there.”

Rich Roll – Ultra-Endurance Athlete, Iron Man Triathlete, completed the EPIC5 Challenge

“I’m plant-powered, I eat 100% plant-based. I had a health crisis at 39, I was 50 pounds overweight, working 80 hours a week at a corporate law firm. After a cheeseburger I thought I was going to have a heart-attack. I changed my diet.”

Anna Ehrgott – Professional Surfer

“I went vegetarian when I was 6 years old, it just hit me that I was eating these animals that I had made a connection with and it didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel comfortable with killing a cow, and it didn’t seem any better to be paying someone else to do it for me. I started looking at the environmental concerns with animal agriculture, and how big an impact each of our small choices are making on the environment. It’s a huge pollutant. We need to add ‘refusal’ – just not buying animal products because we don’t need them. Food can be our medicine or it can make us ill.”

Scott Jurek – Consecutive Ultra-Marathon Winner, Ran the Appalachian Trail 2,200 miles in world record time, in 46 days

“I saw people’s lives destroyed by chronic disease, my mother had multiple sclerosis. I needed to change my diet to avoid the health problems I was seeing.”

Santino Panico – Collegiate Football Player / Marathon Runner

“After playing in college football, I knew my body wasn’t well. I turned to what I was eating. It occurred to me, the way I was eating may have been causing problems including giving me indigestion, chronic migraines and fatigue. I decided to try a plant-based diet. I went vegan, felt better, lost my football weight, had fewer migraines, and no indigestion.”