[Applause]
before i was vegan i saw the world so
differently to how i see it now
if i enjoyed the comfort of ignorance or
the bliss of being
unaware you could say that veganism
ruined my vision
for there was a time when i used to walk
through a supermarket and didn't think
twice about the rows of body parts that
lined the shelves
there was a time when the glow of red
from a butcher's shop
didn't cause me to think of those whose
flesh was there for sale
there was a time when a leg of lamb was
not the leg of a lamb
or when milk simply came from a cow and
was never for a cow
there was a time where i would have been
gassed to eat bacon
not that pigs were gassed to make bacon
there was a time where a cow
was a steak and not a mother where
chicken came fried in a bucket
not from an animal whose throat had been
severed there was a time when a zoo was
a fun day out and not a tour of a prison
where a whale in a tank was an
entertainer and not a prisoner
there was a time when horse racing was a
sport and not a death sentence
there was a time when level was clothing
and not skin
but now all of that has changed the
supermarkets aligned not with cuts of
meat
but the remains of animals whose lives
were taken from them
where butchers are selling the flesh of
someone who did not want to die
and their white coat sustained with the
blood of someone who did not want to be
bled
i see a world of good people causing
harm to others
i see a world where my family pays to
cause someone else
to scream in terror the co2 gas chambers
are not controlled by someone evil but
by the choices of someone
that i love the pigs crashing and crying
out their bodies soon to be dismembered
and disemboweled so those close to me
can declare
that their loins in flesh are tender and
juicy
i see a world of contradictions pet the
dog cut the cow
pet the cat bleed the pig do you love
animals of course i do
just ignore the body on my plate or the
baby who cries out for their mother
that i have separated them from are you
against animal cruelty
of course i am just don't mention the
pig locked in the farrowing crates their
tail docked
their teeth cut out or the chicken
confined in a barn
their bodies selectively bred their
organs failing as they die slowly
trapped on their backs
what they do to dogs in china is
terrible just don't remind me of the
mother cow being forced into the stun
box
her eyes wide in terror her mind
frantically looking for a way to escape
as the slaughter of bolts her in the
head so i could eat the piece of steak
that i just love too much as i travel
through the place
where i live i now see the huge barns
that litter the countryside
buildings that bear no markings and
instead sit nestled amongst the
landscape
salient yet simultaneously unnoticed
conspicuous yet unconsciously ignored
these obstructive yet often dilapidated
structures
are everywhere incarcerated inside them
hundreds
thousands often even tens of thousands
of animals
sentient beings who are forever locked
inside these omnipresent prisons
prisons for those whose persecution
comes not because of any wrongdoing on
their part
but simply because of the species they
were born into
i now see the huge vehicles with farmed
animals inside
being driven to a slaughterhouse where
their lives will be taken from them
death trucks whose one job is to take
animals closer
and closer and closer to the bloody
knife
that will soon be dragged across their
throats i see a pig's pink snout
poking out of the slats of one of these
trucks breathing in fresh air for the
first time in their
life the head of one chicken amongst
thousands emerges
from one of the truck's crates feeling
the heat from the sun for the first time
and inquisitively looking around the
wide fearful eye of a lamb
peering through the holes terrified and
panicked
i see through the labels the adverts and
the tricks of an industry
that relies on our ignorance the
pictures depicting happy animals on
green lush pastures
the labels that seek to reassure us that
the body part wrapped in plastic
came from a sentient being who was
slaughtered and exploited
with compassion and kindness but
veganism didn't just open my eyes to the
negatives of the world
it showed me the good in people it
showed me the strength of community
and the inevitability of change
it showed me the fragility of the
industries that exploit others
and it showed me the power of change
you could say that veganism ruined my
vision but actually the opposite
is true and although the reality of the
truth can be harder
than the comfort of the lie it is
through this realization
that we can actually create a kind of
world where we don't need to hide behind
a lie
to feel comfortable
[Music]
you