Translator: Mayssa Issaoui Reviewer: Nada Qanbar
Hi, I'm Hailey.
We wake up, and some people grab a protein bar on their way out.
Some have a quick bowl of cereal before they go to school.
And on weekends, people go out with their families
to treat themselves to pancakes.
But, have you ever stopped to think,
"Where is this food coming from?
What exactly am I eating and putting into my body?"
Plenty of people would ask,
"Well, why does it matter?
I was hungry, and now I'm not,
so problem solved."
But when someone eats, there are so many factors
that contribute to what goes into their bodies.
It's not as simple as being hungry to being full.
Previously, diets had been a trend,
and now complete lifestyle changes are becoming prominent.
There are low carb diets, pescetarians,
people who don't eat meat but eat eggs,
people who eat eggs but not meat,
vegetarians, juice cleanses, fruitarians, kangatarians,
people who eat only lettuce or chocolate.
The list is endless.
I happen to fit into a lifestyle as well.
I'm vegan.
And, hold on. Before you groan, and decide to tune me out -- listen,
because maybe you'll find something interesting.
Being vegan means that I don't eat meat, dairy eggs, or any animal products.
Plenty of people may call it a "fad",
but this so-called "fad" is actually having huge impacts --
environmentally and health-wise.
Plus, there's the moral aspect to consider too.
For me, being vegan was originally about health.
I'm very competitive with myself, so I said,
"Let's see how long I can go
without eating things like dairy and eggs,
while focusing on raw foods like vegetables and fruits."
And wow! It was quite difficult.
It took time to understand what I needed to consume daily.
I'd see pizza and needed to have it.
After realizing that there's a lot more to vegan than just eating vegetables,
I did research,
and that definitely gave me the kick I needed
to find where I fell in this lifestyle.
But, plenty of people can argue that veganism isn't healthy
because, well, Oreos are vegan,
Frosted Flakes are vegan,
along with many other sugary foods.
But my daily calories are mostly vegetables, fruits, carbs, and proteins
while consuming very little fats.
When I ate everything and anything,
less than 20 to 30 percent of my diet was fruits and vegetables.
But now, over 50 percent are fruits and vegetables.
I learned to love Brussels sprouts and green beans.
I've opened my eyes to new combinations like adding spinach to smoothies.
And I've noticed changes,
physical changes.
I feel so much lighter.
I'm not weighed down by thick, rich foods like milk or cream.
My skin cleared up so much.
And aside from my personal experience,
there are proven facts that being vegan has tons of health benefits.
Heart disease kills one out of every three Americans.
One out of thirteen people in America have diabetes.
And 21 percent of 12 to 19-year-old Americans are obese.
Eating vegan reduces how much saturated fat,
animal hormones and cholesterol one eats.
By decreasing these aspects of your diet,
you can reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Plus, up to 80 percent of food poisoning cases are due to infected meat.
According to the American Dietetic Association,
vegans and vegetarians show lower blood cholesterol,
lower blood pressure,
lower chances of getting cancer,
and a decreased chance of heart disease.
It gets a bit repetitive,
but just in case you missed it,
taking meat out of your diet is good for you.
The common question after informing someone I don't eat meat
is "what about protein?"
And I really don't like that question.
We have lentils, tofu, black beans, quinoa, soy milk, green peas, artichokes,
hemp seeds, oatmeal, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and umami,
spinach, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, almonds, chickpeas,
and my personal favorite --
peanut butter;
as compared to the meat version of protein:
chicken, fish, turkey, pork, and beef.
Now, like I said before, vegan does not only benefit health-wise,
there are environmental aspects to consider as well.
Documentaries, like Cowspiracy and Earthlings,
have shed light on the environmental effects
animal agriculture has on our earth.
One, animal agriculture water consumption
ranges from 34 to 76 trillion gallons annually.
Two, agriculture is responsible for 80 to 90 percent
of US water consumption.
And three, growing the feed crop for livestock
consumes 56 percent of the water in the US.
Imagine how efficient it would be to use that water to make food.
But rather than feed it to animals, feed it to families who are starving.
Besides for land animals using resources,
marine life is greatly affected by humans as well.
And this is where we can circle back
to where your food is coming from.
Certain areas of the oceans are ruined,
reefs are depleted, and species are nearly extinct.
And that's not just because animals just disappeared.
People eat fish, and fish, and more fish.
Did you know that 63 billion pounds of fish that are caught globally
are discarded?
And along with that 63 billion pounds of discarded fish,
according to the Animal Welfare Institute, 40 to 50 million sharks get killed
by getting caught in these lines.
To compare,
from 1958 to 2014,
there have been 548 fatal shark attacks,
as said by the International Shark Attack File.
Forty to fifty million sharks killed by people annually,
compared to 548 people killed by sharks in 56 years.
And to top it off,
we could see fishless oceans by 2048.
So, all of you fish lovers out there just the heads up.
And for me,
the most influential reason I went vegan:
the moral side of it.
What I say may be a bit graphic,
but just understand that this is what's happening every single day.
Companies have turned the circle of life into the circle of money.
It is the circle of life when a lion hunts for hours to find a meal
for the entire pride.
But where's the circle of life
in the mass production of your chicken nuggets?
Going to the grocery store to buy them,
or heating up the oven to bake them?
Through research, I've seen such horrible and scary images
of these so-called free-range or cage-free companies.
These massive corporations put up a wall so that people cannot truly see
how appalling these processes are.
Animals' necks are sliced open as their life pours onto the floor
in pools of deep red blood.
Their lives of these animals are regarded as nothing.
Pigs and cows are kicked repeatedly, while they do nothing but shake and panic.
Little chicks are thrown into grinders alive.
These are the realities that we cannot ignore.
What is it for? A good cheeseburger?
If you have a dog or a cat, please raise your hand.
What makes your dog or cat different from the bacon you ate this morning?
Well, pigs are actually smarter.
The animals that we think don't get scared or sad actually do.
Just like your dog or cat can miss you,
or show you love by wagging its tail or purring,
cows and pigs can cry and squeal out of fear.
The living conditions and lives of these creatures are sickening.
And the image I wanted to show
is actually too graphic and cannot be shown.
But this is where your burgers and other foods you eat are coming from.
Again, I'm sorry for these graphic images and words,
but I think everyone has the right
to know and understand where their food is coming from.
There are heaps of alternatives.
I have cheeses and milks, just like you,
I have proteins, just like you,
I have everything you do,
except the things I eat were not made without taking one's life.
Recently, I went to L.A. --
basically the vegan capital of the US.
On the screen are a few examples
of the delicious vegan foods I had while I was there.
The photos on the screen are vegan nachos and then a tempeh burger.
My friend, who I was visiting,
said that although she wasn't vegan,
she'd come back and be sure to order that burger because it was that good.
And even cooler -- literally,
Ben and Jerry's just came out with a dairyless ice cream
that is fantastic, if I do say so myself.
As I mentioned earlier, it's no easy task.
I recently had to have my blood tested due to extreme fatigue,
a common symptom of anemia or possibly a B12 deficiency,
both health issues if someone doesn't eat enough of certain foods.
But turns out my blood levels
were the best they've ever been in a long time.
Just going to show that going vegan was a choice that I will forever stand by.
But I hope I've given you some food for thought.
The point I'm trying to make is --
be educated.
Learn where your food is coming from
and understand the impacts of what you eat.
We have to understand that this isn't our earth.
We share with other beings that can feel and see,
hear and speak.
While they may not speak the same as we do,
they still speak.
They can love and they can hate.
We do not own the earth.
It isn't up to us to play God
and choose the fate of our fellow earthlings.
It's time that we open our eyes and see
that what we are doing is not right.
A pig or a cow is no less of a being than a dog,
just like a dog is no less of a being than us.
I'd like to end with a quote from Earthlings,
the documentary that opened my eyes on this matter.
"Since we all inhabit the earth, all of us are considered earthlings.
There is no sexism, no racism or speciesism in the term 'earthling.'
It encompasses each and every one of us:
warm or cold-blooded,
mammal, vertebrate or invertebrate
bird, reptile, amphibian,
fish, and human alike."
Thank you.
(Applause)