Veganism isn't about being perfect.
It isn't about being superior.
It's about looking beyond ourselves,
thinking about how our choices affect others,
and choosing to live as compassionately as we can.
It's about doing the right thing in a world where apathy and injustice is the norm.
And veganism isn't a diet; it's not a religion. It's a lifestyle, and it's easy.
Right now all around the world, animals are in trucks on their way to slaughterhouses -
buildings that we've carefully constructed so that we can systematically kill.
And they're terrified.
They're hungry and thirsty, and all they have is each other, staring wide-eyed in fear wondering what's coming next.
And when the trucks arrive, they're forced off the chutes where they walk to their own death.
Billions of animals are queuing up to be slaughtered, and they're so scared.
There's the smell of blood in the air, and they don't want to die.
Living, feeling animals go in there and come out chopped up into hundreds of pieces so that we can eat their corpses.
But the worst part about it is that we know this is happening, but choose to ignore it.
We've been told that animal products are the best source of nutrients, like protein, iron, and calcium,
but their benefits have been largely exaggerated in the interest of profit.
We don't need to eat dead animals to be healthy, but if we do, eventually they will kill us.
Animal agriculture is the single most destructive industry on the planet.
At our current rate of environmental destruction,
no child under the age of five will make it past retirement age.
So many people choose to support this on a daily basis, even though most of us couldn't kill the animals ourselves.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
And I just wish I could help you understand, because I was the same.
I didn't know,
but then I forced myself to look. I made myself think about what's going on,
and I realized I couldn't look into the eyes of an animal and say,
"My taste buds are worth more than your life."
I realized that we don't need to harm animals to live a healthy, fulfilled life,
so I became vegan.
Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude as far as is possible and
practicable. All forms of exploitation of and cruelty to animals for food clothing or any other purpose,
which by extension promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, other animals, and the environment.
In dietary terms, it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.
Everyone wants to change the world, but no one really knows how to do it.
But veganism is an attainable goal. It's something we can all do right now, and it makes a difference.
You can stand up at least three times a day and say, "I'm opposed to injustice.
"I care about my health, and I care about the state of this planet,"
And your actions are aligned with your beliefs.
And so many people wonder, "Why vegan
"and not just vegetarian?"
It's easy for most of us to understand that eating meat means an animal has to be killed.
But realizing the harm dairy and eggs cause requires an understanding of how the animal industries work,
which has been hidden from us all our lives.
The common belief is that cows produce milk all their lives for humans to drink, and that it causes no harm or suffering.
But like all mammals, cows produce milk for their babies to grow from calves to cows and bulls.
Because humans desire the milk that was intended for them,
the babies are taken away from their mothers immediately,
which is one of the most emotionally devastating things anyone can ever do.
The males are usually confined for about eight weeks, and then killed for veal.
The females endure the same life as their mothers.
They're repeatedly impregnated and milked until they're around five years old when they're considered too spent to produce profitable quantities of milk.
If left alone, cows can live over twenty years, but in the dairy industry, it would be too expensive to keep them alive,
so they're sent to the same slaughterhouses as their mothers and babies and distant relatives in the beef industry.
It all ends with a bullet to the head and the knife to the throat.
And egg industry works in a similar way.
Hens are bred to produce egg-laying chickens.
They're sorted by sex with the males separated from the females.
Since the males are useless to the egg industry, they're suffocated or ground up alive and used for cheap meat.
The females are debeaked and made to produce eggs until they are no longer profitable.
Hens can normally live over six years old, but the egg industry, they are sent off for slaughter around one to two years.
And these basic violations of freedom occur whether it's an organic, free-range, or so-called high welfare farm.
It only takes a small amount of extra effort to form new habits.
Once you change, it becomes easy.
There are a number of important videos and documentaries to watch to make the switch as simple as possible.
To learn the facts about veganism, watch the films "Earthlings", "Forks Over Knives", and "Cowspiracy".
And the most important vegan speech you can watch is the one by Gary Yourofsky.
For help progressing to a vegan lifestyle, check out the grocery guide and other videos from Cheap Lazy Vegan.
There are hundreds of recipe websites and channels for making great vegan food.
And I have complete guides to vegan clothing, cosmetics, and food, as well as a vegan starter kit podcast.
People think becoming vegan means you have to give up everything you love.
But giving up cruel, harmful products you've become addicted to is a liberation.
Nowadays, there are vegan versions of every meal you can think of. There are vegan cakes, chocolates, milks, cheeses, and meats.
But the healthiest way to live is just to eat the plants.
Being vegan is easy as soon as you make the decision.
But the hardest part about it is realizing that our friends, family, and everyone we love
supports such harmful industries with little to no second thought.
Once you make the connection, it's maddening to realize how conditioned we've all been
to think exploiting and abusing innocent animals is okay.
When you understand the enormity of destruction and injustice going on at the moment,
you'll feel hopeless.
But there's a growing community of people living in alignment with their beliefs.
They're all around the world doing their best to change things, and you can be a part of that, too.
It's so simple.
There are so many resources out there - so many people dedicating their lives to making it easy.
All it takes is a small group of people to make a difference, for the individuals to make a stand against injustice.
Because ignorance can't last forever, and the world is changing.
There's no excuse for supporting what's going on right now.
Most people don't realize how much their everyday actions affect others.
But there comes a time when ignorance is no longer an excuse.
Once you know,
you have to change.
If we don't change our compassion, we will be forced to by desperation.
Gary Yourofsky: "They're killing you, they're killing the animals, and they're killing this planet.
"And those blinders are on nice and tight.
Bite Size Vegan: "You know, and I honestly believe that the vast majority of people who consume animals and their byproducts
are not doing so out of malice or inherent evil.
"But - but out of ignorance of the truth."
Gary: "My goal is simple: all I want to do is reconnect people with animals -
"awaken some emotions and some feelings and some logic that has [sic] been buried and suppressed intentionally by our society."
James Wildman: "If you're told the lie enough times it becomes part of your reality.
"And if enough people are taught that lie, well now it becomes part of the culture.
"And if that culture then passes that misinformation along to the next generation,
"well now it becomes tradition.
"And what we have to remember is that just because we have a tradition doesn't mean it's morally acceptable.
-"To think we have such a thing called a 'slaughterhouse' where people are employed -
"to grab an animal, use electric prods to force it to go where they want,
"to jam bolts in their heads, to slice their throats up, hang them from chains, and watch them die,
"as blood drips out of their throat and their legs kick desperately,
"to think that even exists in the numbers that it does.
"What I'm talking about - there's a few bad people around that do that. What I'm talking about, this is the norm.
"If we can't stop and look at that and say, 'Holy crap, what have we done?'
"If we can't face that, we will not be able to face anything."
James Aspey: "Every single person here who has made the connection has a duty to act on behalf of animals.
"And take that seriously, because this is not some mundane diet choice.
"This is the difference between enslavement and freedom,
"between torture and peace,
"between death and life.
"This is serious, and you understand it, and you are a part of this revolution."
-"So the difference between someone that finds veganism easy and someone that finds veganism hard is
"the person that finds it easy is thinking about the victim;
"the person finds it hard is thinking about themselves."
James: "One person does make a difference,
"And together,
"We're changing the world."