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This Speech Will Change How You See Everything

By Emily Moran Barwick | April 5, 2023 | 31 Comments

This speech sheds light on aspects of our food system that are deliberately hidden—allowing you to make truly informed choices. By highlighting how you already hold the core values of veganism, the information in this speech empowers you to align your actions with your existing values.

Table Of Contents

You deserve to know the truth, is veganism an extreme way of living, milk production requires repeated pregnancies, what happens to the male calves of the dairy industry, the toll of separating mother & child, infection is the norm: the physical demands of dairy, what happens to the female calves of the dairy industry, the greatest magic trick ever performed, layer hens: living beings treated as machines, what happens to the male chicks of the egg industry, what happens to the female chicks of the egg industry, the power of packaging, animal lovers eating animals, standard mutilations in the meat, dairy & egg industries.

• Humane Legislation: Defining the "Right Way" to Kill

This Is Happening All Over the World

The water footprint of animal products, our food & water are going to the animals we eat, the land usage of animal agriculture, the environmental impact of fishing, animal agriculture & ocean health, the extremism of eating animals, beyond personal choice, the health impact of animal products, we are living the greatest lie ever told, the good news: you can choose to live your values.

In this persuasive speech about veganism, speaker Emily Moran Barwick challenges you to reconsider your beliefs about veganism and our food system and look at the everyday with new eyes.

Instead of listing reasons why you should go vegan, this speech sheds light on aspects of animal agriculture that are deliberately hidden from the public—allowing you to make truly informed choices.

By highlighting how you already hold the core values of veganism, the information in this speech empowers you to align your actions with your existing values.

Technical Notes : As this article is a speech transcript, the written version will reflect a spoken delivery and also may not properly relay the speaker’s pace, tone, and emphasis.

This speech was originally published on June 15, 2016. Reasons for republication .

What would you do if you found out that everything you know, everything you believe, everything you’ve been told since you were a child was a lie?

And not just any lie, but one carefully crafted, finely tuned, expertly executed, and deliberately designed with the express purpose of assuring you that wrong was right, that bad was good, and that violence was love.

Hello, my name is Emily Moran Barwick. I’m an animal liberation activist, an artist, an educator and a vegan. I created BiteSizeVegan.org, where I educate people about veganism through a wide array of content styles while covering a diverse range of subjects.

Undoing a life-long belief is no easy task. But in order to make informed decisions, to look ourselves in the mirror and ask if we are truly living the values we purport to have, we must know the truth. We must educate ourselves about what is really going on, not rely on what we’ve been taught. We must make decisions based on facts, not fantasy.

In our time together today, I’m very likely going to challenge some of your life-long beliefs. I’m going to ask you to set your preconceptions aside and try to look at the ordinary with a fresh set of eyes.

I am aware that this is a great deal to ask of you, especially coming from a total stranger. I’m asking for your trust when I haven’t even earned it. But believe it or not, I am not here to force my beliefs upon you. Or to make you vegan. I won’t pretend to have that power. And no one really makes any lasting change through force anyway.

I’m simply here to show you what is really going on every second of every day all around the world behind closed doors. To present evidence—for your consideration—that things may not be as they appear.

I’ll want to preface this talk by saying that I’m going to be transparent with you, and I’ll even tell you if I don’t know something. I’ll also be providing citations throughout this post for every fact I state, along with a bibliography below so that you can dig deeper. I’ll only be able to scratch the surface in this brief window of time we have together.

So let’s get started. Veganism is often viewed as an “extreme” way of living. Vegans do not eat, wear, or use anything that comes from someone else’s body.

We don’t eat meat, drink milk or eat cheese . We don’t consume eggs or honey. We don’t wear leather , wool , silk , or down. We don’t use products that were tested on animals or contain byproducts from their slaughter.

We don’t attend circuses, zoos , aquariums, or any other event that exploits living beings for our entertainment and pleasure .

From the outside, such rigorous exclusions and avoidances can easily appear extreme. But remember: today is about challenging appearances and assumptions of extremism and normality.

Today is a lesson in unlearning .

The Truth About Dairy

What better way to unlearn than to start our journey at the end and work our way back to the beginning?

And what better way to question what’s accepted as good and normal than with something as wholesome and everyday as a glass of milk ?

The source of milk is no big secret: it comes from cows. But that’s about as far back as most people trace milk’s journey to our refrigerated grocery case.

Most of us grow up thinking that cows are made to be milked. We may think they have a constant supply of milk—even that they need to be milked to relieve the pressure.

Well let’s look at this critically for a moment. Cows are mammals, just like us. And mammals produce milk for one reason: to feed their babies.

Cows carry their babies for nine months—just like we do; they lactate to feed their babies—just like we do; and after weaning, they stop producing milk—just like we do.

So, in order to have a constant supply of cow’s milk for human consumption, we need a constant supply of pregnant cows.

In the dairy industry, cows are repeatedly inseminated —which is a nice word for raped. The restraining apparatus used to secure the cows is referred to—at least in America—as a “rape rack.” 1

Veal—an industry that even many meat-eaters oppose—wouldn’t exist without dairy. Every cup of yogurt, every scoop of ice cream, and every glass of milk is directly connected to the deaths of those baby calves.

Once a cow gives birth, we face another roadblock to our milk’s journey. Babies, after all, drink their mother’s milk.

So, to make sure there’s a constant supply of milk for us , the babies must be taken away soon after birth. This is precisely what occurs in the dairy industry .

If the calf is a male, he is sent to a veal farm where he is tied down, unable to move, or locked in a cage where he cannot even turn around until he’s slaughtered while still only a few weeks old.

But we’re not quite done tracing milk’s path to our cereal bowls. While the slaughter of babies is certainly horrific enough, we cannot forget the mothers left behind .

Cows bond intensely with their calves and will cry out for days when they are taken.

When residents of Newbury, MA called the police to report disturbing noises emanating from the Sunshine Dairy farm at all hours of the day and night, the police explained that the mother cows were “lamenting the separation from their calves”—but not to worry as “the cows are not in distress and that the noises are a normal part of farming practices.” 2

This is not anthropomorphizing. It is a mother’s grief and it’s utterly heartbreaking to watch .

The bodies of dairy cows generally give out at age four or five—at which point they are regarded as “spent”—despite their natural lifespan of twenty years or more. They are sent to slaughter for cheap meat and pet food—deemed unfit for human consumption.

The Final Separation: Slaughter of Fetal Calves

At the slaughterhouse, many of these mothers face their final and most brutal separation from yet another child .

At the slaughterhouse, this most horrific and final separation of mother and child is just the last in a cycle of pregnancy after pregnancy, and loss after loss.

While formal statistics are difficult to obtain as most studies focus on the economic cost of “fetal wastage,” approximately 10%-70% of cows arrive at the slaughterhouse pregnant. 3

In fact, there are entire industries that rely upon the slaughter of pregnant animals.

A wide array of scientific experiments use what’s called fetal serum from a range of animals—with bovine fetal serum being the most widely utilized. 4

Bovine fetal serum is obtained by cutting a living fetus out of the mother’s womb, piercing the heart and draining the blood. The process can take up to 35 minutes while the fetal calf remains alive. 5

But this most horrific and final separation of mother and child was just the last in a cycle of pregnancy after pregnancy and loss after loss.

There’s an official number of pus cells allowed in milk, euphemistically referred to as the “somatic cell count.”

In addition to this extreme psychological and emotional trauma , the physical demands of repeated milkings and the crowded and unsanitary living conditions lead to frequent infections and sores.

Dairy cows are pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones, all of which seep into their milk. 6

In fact, there’s an official number of pus cells allowed in milk, euphemistically referred to as the “somatic cell count.”

In the United States, around 22 million [22,177,500] pus cells are allowed per single fluid ounce of milk [750,000 cells/mL], with global allowable limits ranging from just under 12 million [11,828,000 cells/fl. oz. in Canada & the EU (400,000 cells/mL)] to 29.5 million cells/fl.oz. in Brazil [1,000,000 cells/mL]. 7

When we push onwards through to our dairy cow’s beginning, back past the first pregnancy, before she became the broken, hollowed-out shell eventually collapsing under the insane demands of her short life, we come to her birth. The moment she emerges into the world, wide-eyed and brand new.

The moment she is taken from her own mother.

You see, we talked about what happened to the male calves who are sent off for veal. The daughters of the dairy industry are still separated from their mothers.

They’re kept around to take their mother’s place and keep the money machine going. Keep the milk flowing.

So that every grocery store, every corner shop, every gas station will be sure to stock this wholesome, normalized, entirely ordinary product.

We are being sold the ultimate outcome of rape, enslavement, kidnapping, abuse, disease, torture, infanticide & murder— whitewashed into an image of wholesome nutrition. It’s the greatest magic trick ever performed.

The animal products we perceive as mundane, when reverse-engineered, reveal a perversely complex and—to put it lightly—an ethically challenging journey from genesis, through processing and production, to the end product.

That is to say: from the animals’ birth, through confinement, abuse, slaughter, and denigration of corpses to the shiny, happy, store-ready products that we literally eat up without even a single thought as to what the animals went through.

We are being sold the pus-filled ultimate outcome of rape, enslavement, kidnapping, abuse, disease, torture, infanticide, and murder—whitewashed into an image of wholesome nutrition.

And people say veganism is extreme.

The Truth About Eggs

Unfortunately—or perhaps you may feel fortunately—we don’t have time to take this reverse journey in such depth with all of the products we create from living beings.

But let’s at least take an abridged look at another seemingly harmless item. One consumed all over the world and with which most Americans start their day.

One lovingly mixed into baked goods for birthdays and other special occasions. One decorated in celebration of peace and new life: the incredible, edible egg .

Like milk, the source of eggs is clear: they come from chickens. Unlike milk, chickens do not have to be impregnated to supply them.

But any time we make a living being into a machine —a supplier of inventory—the bottom line will always be profit. And increasing profit means increasing output and increasing efficiency.

Any time we make a living being into a machine—a supplier of inventory—the bottom line will always be profit.

Just like the mothers of dairy, the bodies of layer hens give out prematurely from the extreme demands of production. 8 Hens lose vital nutrients every time their body forms an egg.

Every aspect of their lives is regulated to ensure maximum output.

From controlling their laying cycles with days and days of persistent light, followed by long periods of complete darkness, to starving them for weeks at a time in an effort to force yet another egg cycle from their worn-out bodies—a process benignly referred to as “induced molting” 9 —to the outright manipulation of their very genetic makeup .

We’ve optimized our machines, you see, and bred one kind of chicken for meat, and another kind for eggs.

Because of this, the egg industry produces billions of unwanted male baby chicks every year. Just like male dairy calves, who are unable to produce milk, male layer chicks can’t lay eggs. So they are of no use.

Male baby chicks are either painfully gassed, slowly suffocated in plastic bags, or they are ground up alive—referred to as “maceration” within the industry. We’re talking about the cute, fluffy yellow baby chicks we adore come Easter time.

This is standard practice all around the world , with the United States and European Union specifying that chicks must be less than 72 hours old when they are killed. 10

They are not even granted three days of life.

The sisters of the egg industry’s discarded sons get to live out their short lives in cramped battery cages, unable to even extend their wings. 11

Of course, you’ve likely heard about the rise of free-range and cage-free facilities . 12 But in truth, the only comfort these labels bring is to our own conscience. 13

Cage-free birds are crammed into tiny sheds and have twice the mortality rates of battery-caged hens. 14

Layer hens are generally good for 1–3 cycles, each lasting roughly a year. In countries where induced molting (again, the industry term for starvation) is illegal, they’re simply killed around their first birthday.

I hope you are starting to see the power of this lie.

We might as well start our day by throwing chicks in a blender.

Of presenting cruel confinement, starvation, abuse, the barbaric murder of day-old babies, and the slaughter of one-year-olds—themselves still children—as something completely normal and kind. Packaged in perfect little orbs.

And we have the audacity to decorate them in celebration of new life.

To fawn over the very chicks who were ground up alive for their production. To mix them into treats for our children and loved ones. To start our day with the products of abject misery and call it “sunny side up.”

We could spend all week reverse-engineering the paths of the seemingly endless number of animal-derived products we encounter on a regular basis.

In fact Dutch artist Christien Meindertsma spent 3 years tracing and cataloging all of the products made from a single pig: PIG 05049. 15

The only way to maintain this duality of our professed values (as animal lovers) and our daily actions (as animal eaters)—is to ensure that the animals we eat and use have no names , no faces , and no identities . So we give them inventory numbers.

This brings us to the next layer of our collective self-deception: the systematic erasure of individual identity.

You see, this is where the lie is most vulnerable. Because beneath the years of indoctrination, we still believe ourselves to be animal lovers .

We go to the movies and root for Babe the pig, cheer for the chickens of Chicken Run, and pull for Nemo the fish to find his way back to his father.

Then we go home and eat bacon and eggs and make chicken fingers and fish sticks for the kids.

The only way to maintain this most glaring dissonance—this duality of our professed values and our daily actions—is to ensure that the animals we eat and use have no names , no faces , and no identities .

So we give them inventory numbers.

The Systematic Erasure of Individual Identity: Animals as Inventory

To mark these living beings as inventory, we brand them with hot irons or freeze their skin off. We tattoo and tag them, inject electronic transponders under their skin, or strap them to their necks or ankles. We even give them barcodes. 16

The important thing is that they are clearly identified as property . And that they are treated as such.

Because as soon as we see them as individuals , we threaten the very foundation of the lie upon which we so desperately depend.

We humans love to play the role of savior in the disasters of our own creation. We swoop in to milk the cow and relieve the painful pressure of her swollen udder—pressure that wouldn’t exist had we not taken her child away.

If their bodies don’t conform to our desires, we alter them at will.

Baby pigs have their teeth cut out, their ears notched, their tails cut off, and their testicles ripped out—all without anesthetic.

Chickens, turkeys and other birds in the meat and egg industries have their sensitive beaks cut or seared off .

Cows have their horns cut or burned off and are also castrated without anesthetic .

And with some of our most impressive mental gymnastics —which would be admirable if it weren’t so horrific—we say this barbaric mutilation, this conversion of living beings from some ONES to some THINGS is for their own good .

Because if we don’t clip their teeth or cut their beaks or slice off their tails, they’ll attack and chew on each other.

What we fail to mention is that these behaviors are stress responses to confinement in overly-crowded, insanity-inducing conditions. That if we didn’t put them in these abusive conditions , they wouldn’t react the way they do.

But we humans love to play the role of savior in the disasters of our own creation. We swoop in to milk the cow and relieve the painful pressure of her swollen udder. Pressure that wouldn’t exist had we not taken her child away.

Humane Legislation: Defining the “Right Way” to Kill

The term “humane slaughter” is a perfect embodiment of our desperate attempt to simultaneously be animal lovers and animal killers. To be their protectors and their tormentors. tweet this

We amass mountains of paperwork, conduct thousands of studies, spend untold amounts of money, form governmental, institutional, and industry panels, all to decide, define and decree the right way to kill .

You can pour through the documents from the USDA, 17 or the European Union, 18 or any country for that matter, to learn the legal speak that makes taking the life of a living being acceptable .

And you don’t have to look too far to start finding caveats and loopholes. Religious slaughter without any form of stunning gets a pass.

Birds and fish are excluded from humane slaughter regulations —the very name of which is a perfect embodiment of our desperate attempt to simultaneously be animal lovers and animal killers. To be their protectors and their tormentors.

I mean it really is absurd when we step back and think about it. Do we have manuals on how to humanely rape? Or how to compassionately kidnap? Or ethically rob? Of course not, because those are oxymorons. They cannot coexist.

But when it comes to killing animals, we will bend over backwards and create massive paper trails of regulations to feel good about what we are doing.

Again, I must ask— is veganism really the extreme choice here?

Look at what we have to go through to make eating animals acceptable.

What Happens Behind Closed Doors

Note: At this point in the speech, I inform the audience that I will be playing a video of what happens to animals within the animal products industries. This footage has been blurred in the YouTube video of the speech but is available in full in the accordion below (along with an explanation for the blurring).

Before we move into issues of the environment and health impacts of diet, I’m going to play brief video.

The portions of the footage where the location is known will be labeled as such. But it doesn’t mean that the same thing isn’t happening in other parts of the world. I trimmed down hours of footage into a 3-minute clip.

It will not be pleasant, but I’d implore you to watch anyway. You can’t make an informed decision without having all the facts.

If you feel you must turn away, I’d just ask you to think on the question: “If I can’t watch the process, do I have a right to eat the product?”

This is the footage originally shown in this speech. Due to the nature of the footage, the speech video was age-restricted on YouTube, severely decreasing its accessibility to a broad audience.

In order to make the speech available to all viewers, I blurred the footage within the YouTube video. However, I believe it’s of vital importance for the uncensored footage to be available to all, which is why I have included it in this post.

In my years of being vegan and speaking with many, many non-vegans, I have yet to ever hear one reason that even comes close to justifying putting a sentient being through what we just saw. Not one .

You cannot watch that and say that the animals we kill for our food don’t know any better. That they die peacefully and humanely.

They can sense the fear. They can smell the blood. And they fight. They fight to the end.

And you can’t say that it’s happening in some far away place because it’s happening all over the world .

The CO2 chambers you saw—those were the medieval devices lowering pigs to an extraordinarily painful death of burning from the inside out— that is seen as the most humane method of slaughtering pigs .

It’s employed worldwide , including here in the United States. 19

The Environmental Impact of Animal Agriculture

Thus far, I’ve focused primarily on the ethical truths behind the mask of normality.

But the wake of our destruction is littered with far more than the trillions of beings we kill every year.

The environmental , health and societal impact of what (whom) we put in our mouth is astounding.

There is no way I’ll be able to cover these areas today in the depth they deserve, so I encourage you to refer to the resources linked throughout and at the base of this article. But let’s try to take a bird’s eye view of our impact on this planet.

When it comes to the environment, we usually hear about conserving water, cutting down on emissions, halting deforestation.

The single most devastating force behind our planet’s environmental collapse remains not only unspoken, but actually  actively denied  by the very organizations charged with saving our planet.

Environmental protection agencies encourage us to take shorter showers, carpool or ride our bikes, go paperless, and recycle more.

Our governments hold international conferences to address climate change and seek solutions.

All the while the single most devastating force behind our planet’s environmental collapse remains not only unspoken, but actually actively denied by the very organizations charged with saving our planet. 20

Animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate change . 21

It’s responsible for up to 51% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 13% of all global transportation. 22

It uses a third of the earth’s fresh water, 23 up to 45% of the Earth’s land , 24 and is responsible for 91% of Amazon rainforest destruction—with 1–2 acres cleared every second. 25

It is also a leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones , and habitat destruction. 26

The efforts we make to recycle and take shorter showers are rather insignificant in comparison.

Accounting for variation in production system, the global average water footprint for a single pound of beef is 1,847 gallons/lb, with numbers ranging all the way to 8,000 gallons/lb. 27

Without fail, plant-based products have the smallest water footprints based on weight. 28

Of course weight doesn’t necessarily mean sustenance. Still, global averages show that “when viewed from a caloric standpoint, the water footprint of animal products is larger than for crop products” with “the average water footprint per calorie for beef [being] twenty times larger than for cereals and starchy roots.” 29

Animal Protein Requires More Water Than Plant Protein

With protein being one of the greatest nutrition concerns for people considering veganism, it’s worth noting that “the water footprint per gram of protein for milk, eggs and chicken meat is about 1.5 times larger than for pulses,” with beef’s footprint being 6 times larger. 30

Leading to the conclusion that “it is more efficient to obtain calories, protein, and fat through crop products than animal products.” 31

But we don’t really need studies to tell us that eating animals requires more energy input and creates more waste than eating plants. How can it not?

Eating animals is incredibly inefficient . We are filtering our nutrients, water, and resources through someone else’s body.

Eating animals is incredibly inefficient. We are filtering our nutrients, water, and resources through someone else’s body.

Globally, we’re feeding close to 40% of our grain to our food animals. 32 How can that not be worse for the environment than simply eating the plants ourselves?

The United States alone could feed 800 million people with the grain we feed to our livestock. 33 That’s more than the estimated 795 million people going hungry in the world today. 34

Ninety-eight percent of the massive water footprint for animal agriculture we just covered goes to growing feed crops for the animals we eat. 35

I’m not suggesting that a global shift to veganism will automatically result in the proper redistribution of our crops to those in need, nor address the issue of unnecessary food wastage, but it’s the only way we can have enough food to feed everyone.

For an in-depth (and updated) look at the inefficiency of animal products, the diversion of our resources, and the necessity of a global shift to plant-based diets, please see “ Can Veganism Solve World Hunger? An Honest Answer “

This is where many people point to small, local farms, and sustainable practices. Like grass-fed beef. Or free-range, cage-free eggs .

The thing is, we don’t have the land . There’s simply not enough land for the number of animals we eat every year.

The amount of land that it takes to produce 37,000 pounds of plant-based foods will only yield 375 pounds of meat. 36

The land required to feed one vegan for one year is 1/6th acre. It takes three times as much for a vegetarian (someone who consumes dairy and eggs but no meat) and eighteen times as much for a meat-eater. 37

You can grow fifteen times more protein on any given area of land with plants versus animals. 38

On top of all of that, studies show that pasture-raised cows emit 40%–60% more greenhouse gases than grain-fed cows. 39

I could talk about the environmental cost of animal agriculture all day and we would only just be scratching the surface.

I do want to speak briefly to fishing and ocean health before moving on. I produced a video report, “ Empty Oceans: Is The World Running Out Of Fish? ” encompassing the most recent research (at the time of production) on the state of our oceans, which you may refer to, but I’ll summarize some main takeaways.

Whether you eat fish and marine life or not, this matter impacts all of us. The ocean, or rather the phytoplankton within the ocean, provides somewhere between 50%–80% of our oxygen, 40 and the oceans’ ecosystems store carbon in massive quantities. 41

Since we tend to go for the “biggest fish” first, only 10% of predatory fish species remain, 42 which could leave the unchecked species to feed on the ocean’s vegetation, releasing the stored carbon.

If we lost just 1% of these blue carbon ecosystems, it would be equivalent to releasing the annual greenhouse gas emissions of Australia. 43

We pull 90-100 million tonnes 44 of fish from our oceans each year, 45 with some sources even estimating 150 million tonnes. 46 There is no way for the marine populations to replenish themselves.

Our industrial fishing methods are incredibly inefficient, with some operations throwing 98% of their catches overboard, dead, 47 because they aren’t the targeted species.

As I said earlier, land-based animal agriculture is the leading cause of ocean dead zones , which are areas in the ocean starved of oxygen such that marine life suffocates and dies.

So the animals we are raising for food on land are killing the animals we are ripping from the ocean .

And to add a further layer of perversity, we are feeding the fish we catch to the cows, pigs, chicken, and other land animals—and to the fish we farm.

As consumers, we find comfort in the fact that most people eat the way we do—that most people don’t seem to be concerned. And we continue to believe the lie  that this is the way it’s supposed to be .

And people think veganism is extreme?

When humanity is decimating habitats , consuming land and resources, polluting the oceans , destroying the rainforest, driving species after species into extinction, feeding plants that we could eat to animals , and feeding other animals to animals that aren’t supposed to eat animals —all so that we can eventually eat the animals ourselves.

But of course as a consumer, we don’t see the trail. We see the pretty packages and sleek advertising.

We see these ordinary, innocent, everyday products. And we find comfort in the fact that most people eat the way we do—that most people don’t seem to be concerned.

And we continue to believe the lie that this is the way it’s supposed to be .

We say that children are our future, but what future can they have when we are eating the planet to death?

Ethics aside, we have environmentally reached the point beyond personal choice—beyond “you eat how you want to eat and I’ll eat how I want to eat.” This is a global crisis, and it’s not about you or me anymore.

The world cannot sustain meat, dairy, and egg production. It simply can’t. We have to start aligning our actions with our values.

I’m going to speak very briefly to the impact that animal consumption has on our health .

The doctors in whose hands we place our very lives aren’t even educated about the number one cause of disease and death in our country.

We take drugs by the truckload, undergo dangerous surgeries, spend trillions of dollars on health care every year,all in our stubborn refusal to acknowledge the simple fact that diet is the number one cause of disability and premature death . 48

That the vast majority of deaths in the United States are entirely preventable if we would simply change the way we eat. 49

The denial of this truth is so pervasive, our desire to maintain the system we’ve constructed so strong, that only one quarter of medical schools in the United States teach even a single course in nutrition . 50

Heart disease, the number one killer in the United States, is a dietary disease that can be and has been reversed with a vegan, plant-based diet. 51

But instead, we take handfuls of medications and have doctors crack open our chests to roto-rooter our arteries rather than stop eating animals. 52

After all, a vegan diet is too extreme, right?

Once we look at it objectively, from the outside, our behavior is baffling.

We serve meat, dairy, and eggs at climate change conferences—supporting and consuming the very source of the problem that the conference was created to address.

We train doctors to save lives with years of expensive education covering every drug on the market while never addressing the true cause of disease.

We run our resources and nutrition through someone else’s body, squandering astronomical amounts of food and water and creating an astounding amount of waste.

We genetically manipulate , breed , confine, abuse, rape, torture, denigrate, mechanize , and murder sentient individuals under our self-created codes of conduct that bring comfort to consumers .

All to avoid facing the fact that we are living the greatest lie ever told .

Veganism—far from being an extreme lifestyle—is the most  sane  and  rational  way to live. It’s the most powerful tool we have for saving our planet, for improving our health when we eat health-consciously, and for regaining our compassion—for becoming the people we believe ourselves to be:  good   people .

But here’s the good news. We have the power to open our eyes. We have the choice to break the cycle and refuse to sell this lie to the next generation.

To realize that veganism—far from being an extreme lifestyle—is the most sane and rational way to live.

It’s the most powerful tool we have for saving our planet, for improving our health when we eat health-consciously, and for regaining our compassion—for becoming the people we believe ourselves to be: good people.

And good people don’t destroy the planet, leaving our children without a future. Good people don’t throw newborn babies into grinders.

Good people don’t rip day-old babies away from their mothers. Good people don’t rape, torture, and murder.

Yet “good people” everywhere are doing all of these things with every bite of every meal.

But that’s the beauty here. You no longer have to buy into the lie.

You decide what goes into your body. You decide whether you want to continue to have others kill for you . You decide whether you want to continue consuming death, terror, and heartbreak.

You have the information at your feet. The responsibility now lies in your hands.

You decide. And my hope is, you’ll decide to go vegan .

If you found this speech impactful, please SHARE it with others.

If you would like to support Bite Size Vegan in creating free, educational resources about veganism, please see the support page .

— Emily Moran Barwick

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Reasons for re-publication & other editor notes (from Emily): This speech was originally published June 15, 2016 under the title “The Extremism Of Veganism | Exposing The Greatest Lie”. At the time of publication, and for many years thereafter, this article was purely a straight transcript of the speech (essentially a massive “wall of text”). In a long -held desire to increase the accessibility of this (and all) Bite Size Vegan resources, I have completely overhauled the formatting and structure of this article: adding subheadings, images, pullquotes, and more useful links to updated and additional information. I also decided to re-name the speech to be more approachable for a general audience. While I am generally hesitant to alter the publication date of an article on my website, I have chosen to in this case due to the degree of change. However, I want to be clear that while I have updated linked resources within the text, and addressed broken links within the citations and bibliography, all of the statistics and figures remain as they were in 2016—they have not been updated to current data.

• It’s often stated by activists, myself included, that the restraining apparatus used to secure cows for AI is referred to within the dairy industry as a “rape rack.” In her informational essay, “Dairy Takes Babies from Their Mothers,” Sandra Higgins, BSc (Hons) Psych, MSc Couns Psych of Go Vegan World traces this terminology to its origin with vivisectionist Harry Harlow. See: Sandra Higgins, BSc (Hons) Psych, MSc Couns Psych, “Dairy Takes Babies from Their Mothers,” Go Vegan World (blog), accessed August 30, 2016, https://goveganworld.com/why-vegan/the-animals-we-use/dairy-take-babies-mothers/ ; Lauren Slater, “Monkey Love – The Boston Globe,” The Boston Globe , March 21, 2004, http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/03/21/monkey_love/ ; “Monkey Love,” Four Corners , accessed February 7, 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2006/s1658576.htm ; Britain’s Channel 4 and ABC TV, “Additional Resources for ‘Monkey Love,'” Four Corners, December 6, 2006, https://web.archive.org/web/20150114211206/http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2006/s1660901.htm. As of this writing, I have yet to find a solid example of its use within the industry. Of course, I would assume this kind of phrasing would not be widely publicized in official documents. I will update this citation if I am able to find a solid source .
• Dave Rogers, “Strange Noises Turn out to Be Cows Missing Their Calves,” The Daily News , October 23, 2013, http://www.newburyportnews.com/news/local_news/strange-noises-turn-out-to-be-cows-missing-their-calves/article_d872e4da-b318-5e90-870e-51266f8eea7f.html .
• B.O. Oduguwa, “Fetal Losses from Slaughtering Pregnant Cows at Lafenwa Abattoir in Abeokuta, South Western Nigeria,” Global Journal of Biology, Agriculture & Health Sciences 2, no. 2 (2013), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363935076_FETAL_LOSSES_FROM_SLAUGHTERING_PREGNANT_COWS_AT_LAFENWA_ABATTOIR_IN_ABEOKUTA_SOUTH_WESTERN_NIGERIA ; G. D. Mshelia, V.A. Maina, and M.D. Aminu, “Foetometrics and Economic Impact Analysis of Reproductive Wastages in Ruminant Species Slaughtered in North-Eastern Nigeria,” Journal of Animal Production Advances 5, no. 4 (2015), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275963613_Foetometrics_and_Economic_Impact_Analysis_of_Reproductive_Wastages_in_Ruminant_Species_Slaughtered_in_North-Eastern_Nigeria ; Peter Olutope Fayemi and Voster Muchenje, “Maternal Slaughter at Abattoirs: History, Causes, Cases and the Meat Industry,” SpringerPlus 2 (March 22, 2013), https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-125 ; B. K. Whitlock and H. S. Maxwell, “Pregnancy-Associated Glycoproteins and Pregnancy Wastage in Cattle,” Theriogenology 70, no. 3 (August 2008): 550–59, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2008.05.003 ; P. W. Ladds, P. M. Summers, and J. D. Humphrey, “Pregnancy in Slaughtered Cows in North-Eastern Australia: Incidence and Relationship to Pregnancy Diagnosis, Season, Age and Carcase Weight,” Australian Veterinary Journal 51, no. 10 (October 1975): 472–77, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1200929/ ; C. Ndi, N.E. Tambi, and N.W. Agharih, “Reducing Calf Wastage from the Slaughtering of Pregnant Cows in Cameroon,” Influence of Climate on Livestock Breeding , World Animal Review, 77 (April 1993), http://www.fao.org/docrep/v1650t/v1650t0g.htm ; G. H. Singleton and H. Dobson, “A Survey of the Reasons for Culling Pregnant Cows,” The Veterinary Record 136, no. 7 (February 18, 1995): 162–65, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7762126/ .
• Carlo EA Jochems et al., “The Use of Fetal Bovine Serum: Ethical or Scientific Problem?,” ATLA-NOTTINGHAM-* 30, no. 2 (2002): 219–28, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/JBF_Valk/publication/11396187_The_use_of_fetal_bovine_serum_Ethical_or_scientific_problem/links/54008f690cf23d9765a3ed64.pdf .
• Jochems et al.
• P. L. Ruegg and T. J. Tabone, “The Relationship Between Antibiotic Residue Violations and Somatic Cell Counts in Wisconsin Dairy Herds,” *Journal of Dairy Science 83, no. 12 (December 1, 2000): 2805–9, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(00)75178-2 ; Dan Charles, “FDA Tests Turn Up Dairy Farmers Breaking The Law On Antibiotics,” NPR , March 8, 20153:02 PM ET, http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/08/391248045/fda-tests-turn-up-dairy-farmers-breaking-the-law-on-antibiotics ; Department of Health and Human Services and Center for Veterinary Medicine, “Milk Drug Residue Sampling Survey,” Compliance Enforcement (Food and Drug Administration, March 2015), https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192948/https://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/ComplianceEnforcement/UCM435759.pdf ; American Cancer Society, “Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone,” American Cancer Society , September 10, 2014, http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/recombinant-bovine-growth-hormone ; Pamela L. Ruegg, “Relationship between Bulk Tank Milk Somatic Cell Count and Antibiotic Residues,” in Proceeding of the 2005 National Mastitis Council Meeting. National Mastitis Council , 2005, 28, https://web.archive.org/web/20160322031929/http://www.nmconline.org/articles/residues.pdf ; G. van Schaik, M. Lotem, and Y. H. Schukken, “Trends in Somatic Cell Counts, Bacterial Counts, and Antibiotic Residue Violations in New York State during 1999-2000,” Journal of Dairy Science 85, no. 4 (April 2002): 782–89, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(02)74136-2 .
• Veterinary Services Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Healthogy and Animal Health, “Determining U.S. Milk Quality Using Bulk-Tank Somatic Cell Counts” (USDA – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, September 2012), https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahms/dairy/downloads/dairy_monitoring/BTSCC_2011infosheet.pdf ; “Grade ‘A’ Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, Including Provisions from the Grade ‘A’ Condensed and Dry Milk Products and Condensed and Dry Whey–Supplement I to the Grade ‘A’ Pasteurized Milk Ordinance -2011 Revision,” USPHS/FDA Milk Ordinance (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011), https://web.archive.org/web/20160626022014/http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/MilkSafety/NationalConferenceonInterstateMilkShipmentsNCIMSModelDocuments/UCM291757.pdf ; Hoard’s Dairyman Staff, “Somatic Cell Legal Limit Will Stay the Same,” Hoard’s Dairyman , May 5, 2011, sec. HD Notebook, https://hoards.com/blog-2409-somatic-cell-legal-limit-will-stay-the-same.html ; Jack McAllister and Mark Witherspoon, “Measuring Somatic Cell Counts in DHIA,” Cooperative Extension Service: University of Kentucky College of Agriculture , 2013, http://bitesizevegan.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/McAllister-and-Witherspoon-2013-Measuring-Somatic-Cell-Counts-in-DHIA.pdf ; The Milk Quality Improvement Program, “Mastitis and Somatic Cells,” accessed April 22, 2016, http://www.milkfacts.info/Milk%20Microbiology/Mastitis%20and%20SCC.htm ; Jerome Wilfred Schroeder, Bovine Mastitis and Milking Management , Mastitis Control Programs (North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND: NDSU Extension Service, 1997), https://library.ndsu.edu/ir/bitstream/handle/10365/5362/as1129.pdf?sequence=1 ; G M Jones and T L Bailey, “Understanding the Basics of Mastitis,” Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , no. 04–233 (2009): 5, https://web.archive.org/web/20170611204516/https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/404/404-233/404-233_pdf.pdf ; J.S. Hogan and National Mastitis Council (U.S.), Current Concepts of Bovine Mastitis , Fifth edition (New Prague, Minnesota: National Mastitis Council, 2016), https://www.worldcat.org/title/current-concepts-of-bovine-mastitis/oclc/1002064103 ; J. Eric Hillerton and Elizabeth A. Berry, “Quality of the Milk Supply: European Regulations versus Practice,” in NMC Annual Meeting Proceedings , 2004, 207–14, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268260157_Quality_of_the_milk_supply_European_regulations_versus_practice ; Larry K. Smith and J. S. Hogan, “Milk Quality – A Worldwide Perspective,” vol. 1998 Annual Meeting Proceedings (National Mastitis Council Annual Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri: National Mastitis Council, 1998), https://web.archive.org/web/20160322034924/http://www.nmconline.org/articles/keynote98.htm ; Elizabeth Farina et al., “Private and Public Milk Standards in Argentina and Brazil,” Food Policy 30 (February 1, 2005), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2005.05.008 .
• Harish Sethu, “The Forgotten Mothers of the Chickens We Eat,” Counting Animals , April 30, 2014, http://www.CountingAnimals.com/the-forgotten-mothers-of-chickens-we-eat/ .
• United Poultry Concerns, “Forced Molting,” United Poultry Concerns, February 2, 2022, http://www.upc-online.org/molting/ ; Ken Anderson, “Induced Molting of Commercial Layers,” NC State Extension Publications , no. AG-801 (February 11, 2015), https://web.archive.org/web/20160518055230/http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/induced-molting-of-commercial-layers ; M. Yousaf and A.s. Chaudhry, “History, Changing Scenarios and Future Strategies to Induce Moulting in Laying Hens,” World’s Poultry Science Journal 64, no. 01 (March 2008): 65–75, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043933907001729 ; McDonald’s Cruelty: The Rotten Truth About Egg McMuffins , 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6E8H3C1CrU ; Phillip Clauer, “Modern Egg Industry,” PennState Extension , July 5, 2012, https://web.archive.org/web/20161016041332/http://extension.psu.edu/animals/poultry/topics/general-educational-material/the-chicken/modern-egg-industry ; Susan C. Kahler and Gail C. Golab, “Shedding Light on Induced Molting,” JAVMA News , June 15, 2000, https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2000-07-01/shedding-light-induced-molting ; United Poultry Concerns, “The Animal Welfare and Food Safety Issues Associated With the Forced Molting of Laying Birds” (United Poultry Concerns, September 23, 2003), http://www.upc-online.org/molting/52703.htm ; A. B. Molino et al., “The Effects of Alternative Forced-Molting Methods on the Performance and Egg Quality of Commercial Layers,” Revista Brasileira de Ciência Avícola 11, no. 2 (June 2009): 109–13, https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-635X2009000200006 ; James Edward Rice, Clarence Arthur Rogers, and Clara Nixon, The Molting of Fowls (Cornell University, 1908), https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Molting_of_Fowls/eEQiAQAAMAAJ .
• Steven Leary and Gail C Golab, AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2013 Edition (Schaumburg, IL: American Veterinary Medical Association, 2013), https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf ; The Council of the European Union, “Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the Protection of Animals at the Time of Killing,” Pub. L. No. Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, § Date of document: 24/09/2009, Date of effect: 08/12/2009, Entry into force Date pub. + 20 See Art 30, Date of effect: 01/01/2013, Application See Art 30, Date of end of validity: 31/12/9999, OJ L 303 30 (2009), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:303:0001:0030:EN:PDF .
• Marian Stamp Dawkins and Sylvia Hardie, “Space Needs of Laying Hens,” British Poultry Science 30, no. 2 (June 1, 1989): 413–16, https://doi.org/10.1080/00071668908417163 ; Gregory Barber, “Are Cage-Free Eggs All They’re Cracked Up to Be?,” Mother Jones , February 10, 2016, http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2016/02/corporations-are-going-cage-free-whats-next-hens .
• Chase Purdy, “Egg Industry Yielding in Cage-Free Fight,” POLITICO , September 21, 2015, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/egg-industry-hands-animal-advocates-big-win-in-cage-free-fight-213905 ; Terrence O’Keefe, “Egg Producers See Big Shift to Cage-Free Eggs by 2025,” WATTAgNet , February 11, 2016, sec. Poultry Welfare, http://www.wattagnet.com/articles/25650-egg-producers-see-big-shift-to-cage-free-eggs-by– ; Terrence O’Keefe, “US Cage-Free Egg Layer Flock Is Rapidly Increasing,” WATTAgNet , November 16, 2015, sec. Business & Markets, http://www.wattagnet.com/articles/24914-us-cage-free-egg-layer-flock-is-rapidly-increasing .
• Sara Shields and Ian JH Duncan, “A Comparison of the Welfare of Hens in Battery Cages and Alternative Systems,” An HSUS Report, IMPACTS ON FARM ANIMALS, 2009, http://animalstudiesrepository.org/hsus_reps_impacts_on_animals/18/ ; Barber, “Are Cage-Free Eggs All They’re Cracked Up to Be?”; British Hen Welfare Trust, “Enriched Cages,” BHWT.org, accessed March 31, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20160331091200/http://www.bhwt.org.uk/egg-industry/enriched-cages/ ; Jason Lewis, “French Farmers Ignore Battery Hen Ban,” The Telegraph , January 1, 2012, sec. Earth News, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/8986255/French-farmers-ignore-battery-hen-ban.html ; Jennifer Chaussee, “The Insanely Complicated Logistics of Cage-Free Eggs for All,” WIRED , January 25, 2016, http://www.wired.com/2016/01/the-insanely-complicated-logistics-of-cage-free-eggs-for-all/ .
• For an updated, in–depth exploration of mortality rates in layer hens, please see “ What Does Cage–Free Eggs Mean? “; Coalition For Sustainable Egg Supply, “Research Results Report Appendix,” Laying Hen Housing Research Project (The Center for Food Integrity, 2015), https://web.archive.org/web/20160325092347/https://www2.sustainableeggcoalition.org/document_center/download/final-results/ResearchResultsReportAppendix.pdf ; Coalition For Sustainable Egg Supply, “Final Research Results Report,” Laying Hen Housing Research Project (The Center for Food Integrity, 2015), https://web.archive.org/web/20160325090921/http://www2.sustainableeggcoalition.org/document_center/download/public/CSESResearchResultsReport.pdf ; Coalition For Sustainable Egg Supply, “Summary Research Results Report,” Laying Hen Housing Research Project (The Center for Food Integrity, March 2015), https://web.archive.org/web/20160325150951/http://www2.sustainableeggcoalition.org/document_center/download/final-results/SummaryResearchResultsReport.pdf .
• Christien Meindertsma, “How Pig Parts Make the World Turn,” http://www.ted.com/talks/christien_meindertsma_on_pig_05049?language=en ; Christien Meindertsma, PIG 05049 , 2007, Artist book with video documentation, 2007, https://christienmeindertsma.com/PIG-05049 .
• United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, “Good Practices for the Meat Industry. Section 3: Animal Identification Practices,” n.d., https://www.fao.org/3/y5454e/y5454e03.pdf ; Michael Neary and Ann Yager, “Methods of Livestock Identification” (Purdue University Department of Animal Sciences), accessed April 22, 2016, https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/as/as-556-w.pdf .
• 95th Congress, “Humane Methods of Slaughter Act,” 92 Stat. 1069 § Volume 92 (1978), https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg1069.pdf ; United States Department of Agriculture, “Humane Methods of Slaughter Act | Animal Welfare Information Center,” accessed April 22, 2016, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/food-safety-acts/humane-methods-slaughter-act ; Government Printing Office and United States Department of Agriculture, “Humane Slaughter of Livestock Regulations,” § 313.5 9 CFR Ch. III (1–1–00 Edition) § Part 313 (n.d.), https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2000-title9-vol2/pdf/CFR-2000-title9-vol2-part313.pdf ; American Veterinary Medical Association, “AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia” (United States Department of Agriculture, June 2007), https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/avma-policies/avma-guidelines-euthanasia-animals ; National Archives and Records Administration Office of the Federal Register, “92 Stat. 1069 – Humane Methods of Slaughter Act,” Pub. L. No. Public Law 95-445 (1978), https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/STATUTE-92/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.govinfo.gov%2Fapp%2Fdetails%2FSTATUTE-92%2FSTATUTE-92-Pg1069 ; Office of the Federal Register National Archives and Records Administration, “Title 9 – Animals and Animal Products,” AE 2.106/3:9/ § (2003), https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2003-title9-vol1/content-detail.html ; Steven Leary and Gail C Golab, AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2013 Edition (Schaumburg, IL: American Veterinary Medical Association, 2013), https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf ; Geoffery S. Becker, “Nonambulatory Livestock and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act,” Congressional Research Service 7–5700 (March 24, 2009), http://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/crs/RS22819.pdf ; Geoffery S. Becker, “USDA Meat Inspection and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act,” Congressional Research Service Report for Congress (United States Department of Agriculture, February 2008), https://web.archive.org/web/20160316015443/http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/19529 ; Government Printing Office., “Twenty-Eight Hour Law,” 49 USC, § Section 80502 (1994), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2011-title49/pdf/USCODE-2011-title49-subtitleX-chap805-sec80502.pdf ; United States Department of Agriculture, The Twenty-Eight Hour Law Annotated: Act of Congress Approved June 29, 1906, C. 3594, 34 Stat. 607 …* (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1909), https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Twenty_eight_Hour_Law_Annotated/i2LNAAAAMAAJ ; Harry Goding, Joseph Raub, and United States Department of Agriculture: Bureau of Animal Industry, “The 28-Hour Law Regulating the Interstate Transportation of Live Stock; It’s Purpose, Requirements, and Enforcement,” Bulletin No. 589 § (1918), https://web.archive.org/web/20150914200449/https://awic.nal.usda.gov/sites/awic.nal.usda.gov/files/uploads/28hour1918.pdf ; Tadlock Cowan, “Horse Slaughter Prevention Bills and Issues,” *Congressional Research Service , 2012, http://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/crs/RS21842.pdf ; United States Congress House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Hearings Before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives [Jan. 23, 30 and Feb. 20, 1906] on House Bills 47, 145, 440, 10699, 12316, 12478, and 12615, Proposing to Extend the Time for Which Cattle and Other Animals May Be Confined During Shipment from One State to Another (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1906), https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/ykIvAAAAMAAJ?hl=en ; United States Government Accountability Office, “Action Needed to Address Unintended Consequences from Cessation of Domestic Slaughter,” Report to Congressional Committees, June 2011, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11228.pdf .
• For a deep–dive into the European Union’s regulations, see my speech delivered in Dublin, Ireland The Council of the European Union, “Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the Protection of Animals at the Time of Killing,” Pub. L. No. Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, § Date of document: 24/09/2009, Date of effect: 08/12/2009, Entry into force Date pub. + 20 See Art 30, Date of effect: 01/01/2013, Application See Art 30, Date of end of validity: 31/12/9999, OJ L 303 30 (2009), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:303:0001:0030:EN:PDF ; European Commission, “REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on Systems Restraining Bovine Animals by Inversion or Any Unnatural Position,” February 8, 2016, https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2016/EN/1-2016-48-EN-F1-1.PDF .
• “Butina Reference List of Customers,” November 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20140311094717/http://www.butina.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Case_stories/Reference_list_nov_2013..pdf .
• Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret , 2014, http://www.cowspiracy.com .
• Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, “Livestock and Climate Change: What If the Key Actors in Climate Change Are…Cows, Pigs, and Chickens?,” World Watch Magazine , December 2009, https://web.archive.org/web/20160528182943/http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/Livestock%20and%20Climate%20Change.pdf .
• Goodland and Anhang.
• Mario Herrero et al., “Biomass Use, Production, Feed Efficiencies, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Livestock Systems,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110, no. 52 (December 24, 2013): 20888–93, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1308149110 ; Mesfin M. Mekonnen and Arjen Y. Hoekstra, “A Global Assessment of the Water Footprint of Farm Animal Products,” Ecosystems 15, no. 3 (April 2012): 401–15, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9517-8 ; P. W. Gerbens-Leenes, M. M. Mekonnen, and A. Y. Hoekstra, “The Water Footprint of Poultry, Pork and Beef: A Comparative Study in Different Countries and Production Systems,” Water Resources and Industry , Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) for better water governance and sustainable development, 1–2 (March 2013): 25–36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wri.2013.03.001 .
• Pete Smith et al., “Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU),” in Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , n.d., https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_wg3_ar5_chapter11.pdf ; Philip Thornton, Mario Herrero, and Polly Ericksen, “Livestock and Climate Change,” Livestock XChange , no. no 3 (2011), https://clippings.ilri.org/2011/11/03/livestock-and-climate-change-2/ .
• Dr Richard Oppenlander, Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work (Minneapolis, MN: Langdon Street Press, 2013), https://www.google.com/books/edition/Food_Choice_and_Sustainability/nZYRAgAAQBAJ ; Sérgio Margulis, Causes of Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon , World Bank Working Paper, no. 22 (Washington, D.C: World Bank, 2004), https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/758171468768828889/pdf/277150PAPER0wbwp0no1022.pdf .
• “PRESS RELEASE LOUISIANA UNIVERSITIES MARINE CONSORTIUM,” August 4, 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20150505163537/http://www.gulfhypoxia.net/Research/Shelfwide%20Cruises/2014/Hypoxia_Press_Release_2014.pdf ; EarthTalk, “What Causes Ocean ‘Dead Zones’?,” Scientific American, accessed February 26, 2016, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ocean-dead-zones/ ; United States Environmental Protection Agency, “What’s the Problem? | Animal Waste | Region 9 | US EPA,” July 3, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20150703204620/http://www3.epa.gov/region9/animalwaste/problem.html ; Henning Steinfeld et al., Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options (Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2006); World Wildlife Fund, “Impact of Habitat Loss on Species,” accessed February 26, 2016, http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/problems/habitat_loss_degradation/ ; Center for Biological Diversity, “How Eating Meat Hurts Wildlife and the Planet,” Take Extinction Off Your Plate, accessed February 26, 2016, http://www.takeextinctionoffyourplate.com/meat_and_wildlife.html ; Dr Richard Oppenlander, “Freshwater Depletion: Realities of Choice,” Comfortablyunaware (blog), accessed February 26, 2016, https://comfortablyunaware.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/freshwater-depletion-realities-of-choice/ ; Oppenlander, Food Choice and Sustainability ; C. Michael Hogan, “Causes of Extinction,” in The Encyclopedia of Earth , accessed February 26, 2016, http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/150962/ ; Brian Machovina, Kenneth J. Feeley, and William J. Ripple, “Biodiversity Conservation: The Key Is Reducing Meat Consumption,” Science of The Total Environment 536 (December 1, 2015): 419–31, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.022 ; Dr Richard Oppenlander, “Biodiversity and Food Choice: A Clarification,” Comfortably Unaware (blog), June 9, 2012, https://comfortablyunaware.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/biodiversity-and-food-choice-a-clarification/ .
• Arjen Hoekstra and Water Footprint Network, “Water Footprint Product Gallery,” Water Footprint Network, 2017, https://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/product-gallery/ ; Mekonnen and Hoekstra, “A Global Assessment of the Water Footprint of Farm Animal Products”; M. M. Mekonnen and A. Y. Hoekstra, “The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Farm Animals and Animal Products,” 2010, https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/the-green-blue-and-grey-water-footprint-of-animals-and-animal-pro .
• Mekonnen and Hoekstra, “The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Farm Animals and Animal Products”; Arjen Y Hoekstra, “Water for Animal Products: A Blind Spot in Water Policy,” Environmental Research Letters 9, no. 9 (September 1, 2014): 091003, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/9/091003 ; The Water Footprint Network, “Water Footprint Of Crop And Animal Products: A Comparison,” accessed March 13, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20160508002219/https://waterfootprint.org/en/water-footprint/product-water-footprint/water-footprint-crop-and-animal-products/ .
• Mekonnen and Hoekstra, “The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Farm Animals and Animal Products.”
• Mekonnen and Hoekstra; The Water Footprint Network, “Water Footprint Of Crop And Animal Products: A Comparison”; Hoekstra, “Water for Animal Products.”
• Mekonnen and Hoekstra, “The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Farm Animals and Animal Products”; Hoekstra, “Water for Animal Products”; The Water Footprint Network, “Water Footprint Of Crop And Animal Products: A Comparison.”
• For an updated an in–depth look at the diversion of food crops, please see “ Can Veganism Solve World Hunger “; “U.S. Could Feed 800 Million People with Grain That Livestock Eat, Cornell Ecologist Advises Animal Scientists,” Cornell Chronicle , August 7, 1997, http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-million-people-grain-livestock-eat .
• For an updated an in–depth look at the diversion of food crops, please see “ Can Veganism Solve World Hunger “; “U.S. Could Feed 800 Million People with Grain That Livestock Eat, Cornell Ecologist Advises Animal Scientists.”
• For an updated an in-depth look at the relationship of diet and world hunger, see “ Can Veganism Solve World Hunger “; United Nations World Food Programme, “Hunger Statistics,” accessed March 13, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20160307041628/https://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats ; “2015 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics by WHES,” accessed March 11, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20160304015534/http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm .
• M. M. Mekonnen and A. Y. Hoekstra, “The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Farm Animals and Animal Products,” 2010, https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/the-green-blue-and-grey-water-footprint-of-animals-and-animal-pro .
• Dr Richard Oppenlander, Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work (Minneapolis, MN: Langdon Street Press, 2013), https://www.google.com/books/edition/Food_Choice_and_Sustainability/nZYRAgAAQBAJ ; Johnny Seeds, “Direct Seeded Vegetable Crops,” n.d.; “Animal Industry Report Released by Iowa State Animal Science Department,” Iowa State University , February 16, 2012, https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/animal-industry-report-released-iowa-state-animal-science-department ; Iowa State University, “Journal Repository,” Animal Industry Report , accessed March 29, 2023, https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/journal/ad42728d-b712-4852-b654-b04d0188497f .
• John Robbins, Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth Second Edition , 25th Anniversary Edition edition (Tiburon, California : Novato, California: HJ Kramer/New World Library, 2012), https://www.google.com/books/edition/Diet_for_a_New_America/iHK3kKfcGngC ; Johnny Seeds, “Direct Seeded Vegetable Crops.”
• National Soybean Research Laboratory. “Benefits of Soy.” Accessed September 10, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20150818090612/http://nsrl.illinois.edu/content/benefits-soy.
• Janet Raloff, “AAAS: Climate-Friendly Dining … Meats,” Science News , February 15, 2009, https://web.archive.org/web/20160328183902/https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-public/aaas-climate-friendly-dining-%E2%80%A6-meats .
• John Roach, “Source of Half Earth’s Oxygen Gets Little Credit,” National Geographic News , June 7, 2004, https://web.archive.org/web/20160302050244/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0607_040607_phytoplankton.html ; Dr Jack Hall, “The Most Important Organism?,” Ecology Global Network, September 12, 2011, https://web.archive.org/web/20150305131359/http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/12/important-organism/ ; Diana Nelson, “Save the Plankton, Breathe Freely,” National Geographic Education , February 28, 2012, https://web.archive.org/web/20160406053709/http://education.nationalgeographic.org/activity/save-the-plankton-breathe-freely/ .
• Trisha B. Atwood et al., “Predators Help Protect Carbon Stocks in Blue Carbon Ecosystems,” Nature Climate Change 5, no. 12 (September 28, 2015): 1038–45, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2763 .
• Ransom A. Myers and Boris Worm, “Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities,” Nature 423, no. 6937 (May 15, 2003): 280–83, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01610 .
• Atwood et al., “Predators Help Protect Carbon Stocks in Blue Carbon Ecosystems”; Sarah Sedghi, “Shark Culling May Be Contributing to Climate Change,” ABC News , September 29, 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-29/sharks-and-other-predators-help-prevent-climate-change/6813042 .
• The “tonnes” referred to throughout this paper are metric tons. [tonne/metric ton = 1,000kg/ 2,204.6lbs; ton(UK) = 1,016kg/2,240lbs; ton(US) = 907.2kg/2,000lbs]
• Fen Montaigne, “The Global Fisheries Crises (Still Waters, The Global Fish Crisis),” National Geographic , April 2007, https://web.archive.org/web/20160312042537/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/04/global-fisheries-crisis/montaigne-text ; United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012,” 2012, http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2727e/i2727e01.pdf .
• The Last Fish: Our Exhausted Seas (English Dubbing of German Documentary “Der Letzte Fisch: Unsere Meere Am Scheideweg”)*, 2011, https://youtu.be/lQoVQRqQhlI with original German: https://youtu.be/_bzM_MSZNiE .
• Environmental Justice Foundation, “Squandering The Seas: How Shrimp Trawling Is Threatening Ecological Integrity and Food Security Around the World.,” 2003, https://web.archive.org/web/20140628204336/https://ejfoundation.org/sites/default/files/public/squandering_the_seas.pdf ; *The Last Fish: Our Exhausted Seas (English Dubbing of German Documentary “Der Letzte Fisch: Unsere Meere Am Scheideweg”)*.
• Dean Ornish, “Intensive Lifestyle Changes and Health Reform,” *The Lancet Oncology 10, no. 7 (July 2009): 638–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(09)70175-5 ; Michael Greger, M.D. and Gene Stone, How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease (Flatiron Books, 2015), https://www.google.com/books/edition/How_Not_to_Die/wzupCQAAQBAJ .
• D. Ornish et al., “Effects of Stress Management Training and Dietary Changes in Treating Ischemic Heart Disease,” JAMA 249, no. 1 (January 7, 1983): 54–59; Greger, M.D. and Stone, How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease .
• Kelly M. Adams, Martin Kohlmeier, and Steven H. Zeisel, “Nutrition Education in U.S. Medical Schools: Latest Update of a National Survey,” Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 85, no. 9 (September 2010): 1537–42, https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181eab71b ; Greger, M.D. and Stone, How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease .
• C. B. Esselstyn et al., “A Strategy to Arrest and Reverse Coronary Artery Disease: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study of a Single Physician’s Practice,” The Journal of Family Practice 41, no. 6 (December 1995): 560–68, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7500065 ; Caldwell B. Esselstyn et al., “A Way to Reverse CAD?,” The Journal of Family Practice 63, no. 7 (July 2014): 356–64, http://dresselstyn.com/JFP_06307_Article1.pdf ; Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., “Foreword: Changing the Treatment Paradigm for Coronary Artery Disease,” American Journal of Cardiology 82, no. 10 (November 26, 1998): 2–4, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9149(98)00714-0 ; C. B. Esselstyn, “In Cholesterol Lowering, Moderation Kills,” Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 67, no. 8 (August 2000): 560–64, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10946449 ; Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. and René G. Favaloro, “Introduction: More than Coronary Artery Disease,” American Journal of Cardiology 82, no. 10 (November 26, 1998): 5–9, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9149(98)00715-2 ; C. B. Esselstyn, “Resolving the Coronary Artery Disease Epidemic Through Plant-Based Nutrition,” Preventive Cardiology 4, no. 4 (2001): 171–77, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11832674 ; Caldwell Esselstyn and Mladen Golubic, “The Nutritional Reversal of Cardiovascular Disease – Fact or Fiction? Three Case Reports,” Experimental & Clinical Cardiology 20, no. 7 (2014), http://www.dresselstyn.com/Esselstyn_Three-case-reports_Exp-Clin-Cardiol-July-2014.pdf ; C. B. Esselstyn, “Updating a 12-Year Experience with Arrest and Reversal Therapy for Coronary Heart Disease (an Overdue Requiem for Palliative Cardiology),” The American Journal of Cardiology 84, no. 3 (August 1, 1999): 339–41, A8, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10496449 ; Greger, M.D. and Stone, How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease .
• Caldwell B. Esselstyn, “Is the Present Therapy for Coronary Artery Disease the Radical Mastectomy of the Twenty-First Century?,” The American Journal of Cardiology 106, no. 6 (September 2010): 902–4, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2010.05.016 ; C. B. Esselstyn, “Presidential Address: Beyond Surgery. American Association of Endocrine Surgeons,” Surgery 110, no. 6 (December 1991): 923–27, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1745979 | full transcript: http://www.dresselstyn.com/site/study06 /.

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31 Comments

May 10, 2016 at 9:55 am

A cogent, powerful speech. Thank you.

May 27, 2016 at 3:48 am

Very, very good job.(I hope I’m excused from watching the 3 minute video since I’ve been vegan for a couple years. I just couldn’t bear it.)

June 15, 2016 at 1:51 pm

Soon! someday i will find the time in my busy life to translate this whole speech in Spanish, prepare myself to present a speech like yours and go back to Peru and Latin America to share the vegan message THIS clear and THIS factual.

lots of vegan love Emily! :D

September 18, 2016 at 4:57 pm

I stopped eating all animal products exept for organic eggs and fish. But after seeing this its hard for me to even eat those 2 things. I said before that you dont focus on human suffering. But its also good to point out how animals are treated. I cried when i saw how the animals were abused and tortured. Im a christian, the Bible says that you shouldnt treat your animal with cruelty. Im disgusted by the state of the world were in. Its a culture of death so thick that pervades this society, only Christ’s coming can change it! We are rotten and sick people for doing the things we do to all creation! tomorrowsworld

January 9, 2017 at 5:51 pm

Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this video! You said everything so perfectly, with just the right amount of blame that won’t make meat eaters angry, but instead, maybe start considering what the true extreme choice here is. I will definitely be sharing this on my Facebook, instagram, blog, family and friends, etc. I’m so proud to be vegan and you are a true role model. Thank you!!

January 9, 2017 at 11:52 pm

Thank you so much Valerie! So honored to hear that this speech was effective for you :) I do feel that it’s probably the best “generalized” speech of mine, meaning one you can send to almost anyone. Anyways! I so appreciate your feedback. All the best to you!

April 5, 2023 at 3:31 pm

I agree with what Mark S. wrote above. I wouldn’t change anything with regard to your speech. And the same thing goes for your video. Sadly, people who aren’t vegan (yet) need to hear your words. You’re speaking the truth. And of course, sometimes the truth hurts. I’m already familiar with what happens to animals used for food, entertainment, etc. and even I am hurting for the animals. The video is extremely difficult to watch — but as you said, you can not watch and just listen.

I especially like that you make the point that people should extend the love and compassion they show toward certain creatures (I’m trying to reference the part when you talk about Finding Nemo, et. al., but can’t remember it all — sorry!), toward all animals, including those used for the purposes I stated above. It’s that “disconnect” that so many people don’t get. And the disconnect often is unintentional. It was for me, until I learned the facts. This education is so important and you present it so well.

It’s obvious to me that you spent a lot of time on writing your speech, doing your research — so you could use *facts”, and making the video. I know you’re not looking for compliments but way to go, Emily! Fantastic job.

Thank you so much for doing this — for the animals, our planet, and more.

April 5, 2023 at 3:57 pm

Randy, thank you so much for your profoundly kind words about my speech. I am honored to hear that you find it to be effective in conveying the realities of what we do to non-human animals. And yes, the part with loving animals while eating other animals is this section . I am so appreciative of you taking the time to share your feedback with me. And honored that the work I put into this seems to be of some worth. Many thanks!

April 5, 2023 at 5:31 pm

Hi again, Emily, Thank you so much for your kind reply. And thank you for the link to what I was *trying* to reference! Yes, that’s it — “this most glaring dissonance—this duality of our professed values and our daily actions”. I’m so glad you presented this in your speech so very well. In my opinion, this really gets to the core of what veganism is all about. If I were in your audience, listening to your talk — *that* is what would get my attention and help me to think about, most of all. The rest of your speech is wonderful, of course. It’s just that the concept of understanding the “dissonance” or the “disconnect” with regard to animals is what I feel could be the best catalyst for the kind of change we’re hoping for. I’m not sure whether that came out “on paper” as I had intended, but the feeling is there in my head and in my heart.

April 5, 2023 at 5:50 pm

I agree that it is a powerful point of emphasis! I actually discuss this in this section of a speech I gave to vegan activists .

April 7, 2023 at 8:58 pm

This speech was powerful and you touched on all the important reasons to change to a vegan whole plant based diet. My only wish is that everyone could hear this speech. Thank you for speaking out for those who can’t. Beautifully done, Emily!

April 8, 2023 at 9:49 am

Thank you so very much, Judi! I’m honored to hear that you found the speech to be effective. Thank you for taking the time to comment and share this with me.

February 3, 2018 at 12:24 am

Hi! Thank you so much for this powerful speech, and all the other fantastic educational work you’ve done. How have I only just discovered you??? Thank you for your time and keep up the awesome work!

January 9, 2022 at 5:43 pm

I was only Vegan 8 years and departed after being put in a nursing home that would not give me vegan food. I fear my health is dictating that I should return to this most compassionate of lifestyles not only for the animals this time, but for myself too..

April 5, 2023 at 12:32 pm

Well done! Worth the countless hours you spent on it. Can’t think of a single word I’d change.

One note, when I watch the video the 3 minute clip that starts at 21 minutes is blurred out. I can hear the audio but all I see is extremely blurred video. Not that I really want to see it again. I can tell from the audio I’ve seen many of the clips in some of you earlier videos.

April 5, 2023 at 12:37 pm

Mark, Thank you so much for your feedback! RE: the blurring, you can see the uncensored footage still on this post . You’ll also see there the explanation for why I had to blur the footage in the original YouTube video. I hope that’s helpful! It was a hard decision to make. I hope the way I’ve gone about it has struck a decent balance.

UPDATE: I have now added a “banner” below the video embed at the top of the post to hopefully make it clear to anyone at the top about the play the video. The text links to the footage embedded within the post. I hope this helps orient people more! I really appreciate your feedback on this experience!

April 5, 2023 at 2:24 pm

My experience as well. It would have been helpful if the blurring explanation was more obvious and part of the clip’s introduction as I was confused, wondering whether the problem was on my end.

April 5, 2023 at 2:49 pm

I totally understand and wish I was able to do that. The only way I was able to un-age-restrict the existing video was to use the (very limited) YouTube editor. It allows you to make very, very limited changes to already-published YouTube videos. I was able to blur and get the age-restriction lifted. However, there is no way for me to actually edit the video to add an explanation within the video itself. I did add a “card” that comes out of the upper right of the video right at the moment the footage starts. I also added notes to the description, first comment (only on YouTube, obviously), and then on this post, within the body of the article. I do apologize that this is not an ideal situation. But of the limited options available to me, it was the best I could find.

April 5, 2023 at 2:58 pm

Dear Emily, It was very helpful to learn how you put together speeches and articles. It is a good entry point for those new to veganism. I only had books to rely on, but your informative articles speak plainly and directly to people.

It is definitely a one source place to learn and find all the information needed. People now have a place not only to learn but to share with other like-minded people. It is tough for those new to veganism not to have anyone to share and exchange information with. Now thanks to you we do.

April 5, 2023 at 3:03 pm

Sally, thank you so much for always taking the time to grace me with a thoughtful comment. Really brightens my day. I’m glad that you enjoyed learning more about the “behind-the-scenes” of making these educational resources. I’m honored by your framing of my work. I do so hope that it serves as a growing library of resources that are approachable, accessible and effective. Many thanks always!

April 6, 2023 at 6:00 am

Hi Emily.I remember sharing this speech years ago when you first made it.This is one of the best speeches I have seen on the “brushed under the carpet”subject.

Very good work Emily,you are one of the reasons i went the compassionate route all those years ago.

Thank you,you are a blessing to this planet.

April 6, 2023 at 5:38 pm

Thank you so very much, Paul! That means a great deal to me. I hope this speech can continue to reach people. I’m so incredibly honored to have had any role in your journey. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

April 7, 2023 at 5:37 am

You are most welcome Emily.

April 7, 2023 at 2:39 am

Thank you for your great effort for making the most comprehensive, essential, and depth work on veganism and animal advocacy.

April 7, 2023 at 8:57 am

Thank you, Chris! That means so much to me. I do hope this speech can continue to reach people.

April 9, 2023 at 9:42 pm

Finally watched the behind the scenes video and part of this one, and skimmed the transcript. Sorry for the delay.

This speech is so powerful, so well thought out, written, organized, and so well presented. (Where was it delivered?) It is easily on par with Gary Yourofsky’s “best speech ever” and deserves the same exposure and accolades. I shared it on FB (the only social media platform I’m on).

Each one of the sub-sections of the transcript is a world in itself to explore and learn about. You have probably done a video on each of those sub-sections.

Sometimes the truth is difficult to hear, especially when we have been deliberately lied and believed lies those lies our whole life. I hope everyone will watch this speech and that they do so with an open mind and heart, and change their behavior to match values that, as you point out, they already hold.

Thank you so so much, Emily.

April 11, 2023 at 8:32 am

Thank you so much for the feedback, David, and for sharing the speech! It was delivered in Worcester, Massachusetts. I’m honored to hear how effective it’s come across for you and do so hope it remains a solid “entry point” to veganism.

April 13, 2023 at 9:25 pm

Absolutely brilliant powerful inspiring. Thank you. I’m sharing the link WIDELY! Vegan for over 34 years, this is one of the BEST presentations I’ve seen. It made me so PROUD to be vegan for the animals.

April 14, 2023 at 7:45 am

Veda, I cannot express how much it means to me to hear that you found my presentation to be so effective. And thank you SO much for sharing it! I can only do so much to get the resources I create “out there” to the public. Sharing it with others is SUCH a service, and I greatly appreciate it. I just want everyone to have access to the truth—I believe everyone deserves to know the true impact of their choices and have the opportunity to align their actions with their values. Many thanks!

January 13, 2024 at 6:55 am

Well done. When I watched it the footage in the middle was blurred.

January 15, 2024 at 8:16 am

Thank you so much, John. I unfortunately had to blur the footage in order for YouTube to un-age-restrict the video. You can watch the uncensored footage at this point in the article . (There is also an explanation for the blurring within the accordion)

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Why I'm a weekday vegetarian

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Veganism Persuasive Speech!!!

Guys! I am so unbelievably ecstatic right now!! This post may be long but it's worth it!

I am in a Public Speaking class in my local community college and for our last speech we had to make an 7-9 minute speech (I went a bit over on purpose because I already had a good grade and I wanted to get my point across) persuading our audience to do something. Well naturally, being the animal lover that I am, I spent an ungodly amount of hours preparing a speech as moving and accurate as possible, using unbiased non-vegan sources for credibility and chose pictures of what goes on in the animal industry.

I started with the intro of a picture of The Matrix's famous red pill vs. blue pill. Blissful ignorance vs harsh reality.

To make a long story short I had a room full of teary-eyed mortified peers (including the stereotypical manly bacon-lover men) and a teary-eyed teacher. I even heard a gasp when I enlightened them to the environmental costs and the amount of grain used to sustain the animal industry as well.

At the end of class, my teacher came up to me specifically and said "Sarah. You need to go into public speaking." I laughed nervously. She then snapped all determindly "No! I mean you NEED to go into public speaking! In the 16 years of teaching public speaking that is the single most well-done and moving persuasive speech I have ever heard anyone give!" And we both almost cried.

And my vegetarian friend in that class is going to try to go vegan now. She was asking me all about it after class. :')

I am just so moved that I made a difference today. I hope the other classmates go home and what they saw sticks to their mind.

You can stop reading now, but if you have any suggestions for places I could try to give a powerpoint speech, I'd like to get into activism.. Maybe set up a screen and projector in a park if I have enough laptop battery or something.

But if you want to hear my conclusion I'm proud of it! n.n (I said it almost half angrily I was so passionate and serious)

In conclusion, I am asking you to consider compassion over convenience. Being vegan isn't something we so because it's FUN to limit what we can eat or purchase or because it's FUN to have bacon-lovers laugh in our faces. We do it because we CARE about animals, sentient beings! Because we need to stand up for the ones who can't speak for themselves! All life is precious and the videos I have seen and the noises these animals are capable of making was enough to convince me that until these things stop, we are living in a dystopia! Please, don't turn a blind eye, and fight for a better world for these beings not because it is easy, but because it is the RIGHT thing to do! I ask you...

*shifts to slide of the red pill in Neo's hand and a picture of a filth-covered piglet sticking his snout through dirty metal bars*

Take. The. Red. Pill.

Likes (153)

Comments (35).

Did you record it! I want to send it too friends!

I'm going to soon n.n

This makes me want to take speech again just so I can do this

I was thinking about how I could just take speech courses in the future to give my speech over and over again >:3

That is great! Gratulations!

I am quite envious :sweat_smile: I will have to hold a speech in January, but I hate speeking infront of an audiance and am so inconvenient with it.

I'm better at convincing with my writing :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

I appreciate that you really want to go on with it! Veganism needs people who can catch their audiance and show them the real thing.

Do you know what kind of speech you're giving? If you need any tips I'd be happy to help n.n

Love this!!!!! I almost cried reading it haha I've been so emotionally passionate about spreading the word & spreading the love. When people reach out and ask me questions it makes me so happy! Being curious is better than being ignorant, even if it takes time to learn and understand and make the committment. It took me a long time to get it.. finally clicked for me and haven't looked back. My sister made the decision at the same time and then my bf joined me a month later, my roommates and friends all try harder and my best friend is mostly vegetatian now as well. So everyone goes at their own pace but I think sharing the facts and coming from a place of love and not anger / hate for people who have not realized this lifestyle is revolutionary for not only animals but our plant and ourselves. My local coffee shop allows people to host pop up events. I hosted a spoken word event once and it was so much fun and people were shocked at what I had to say. At the time I wasn't vegan but was challenging a lot of other things going on in the world. After that I had people reaching out to me asking to collaborate and wanting to attend another event! Just get your foot in the door with 1 thing and there will be plenty of opportunities that come from that. Also, have you considered further studying communication studies? I minored in it in college and learned soooooo much. It also gave me the platform to discuss/ share important topics and opinions with not just my classmates but my campus (we had to do public performances). TAKE A RHETORICAL THEORY CLASS!!!! IT WILL CHANGE YOU LIFE!! My rhet theory professor was actually vegan and a huge reason why I finally made the switch. That class will give you the tools to be an effective speaker (hopefully you have a great teacher). Have any more questions please reach out :)

Wow, amazing! I don't know you but I feel so proud that a fellow vegan took this kind of opportunity to spread the message and make a difference. Great work! How very inspiring!

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54 Veganism Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best veganism topic ideas & essay examples, ⭐ good research topics about veganism, ❓ veganism research questions.

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Why we shouldn’t all be vegan

Visiting Research Fellow in Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire

Professor of Food Science and Biotechnology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Disclosure statement

Martin Cohen has no formal conflicts of interests although in a wider sense he is a long-time campaigner on ecological issues and the author of a recent book advancing philosophical and sociological arguments for a more ethical and holistic approach to food.

Frédéric Leroy receives research funding from various foundations and councils, incuding the Research Foundation Flanders and his University's Research Council. He is affiliated pro-bono with both the Belgian Association of Meat Science and Technology, a non-funded academic organisation grouping various Belgian scientists, and the scientific committee of the Institute Danone Belgium.

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After decades in which the number of people choosing to cut out meat from their diet has steadily increased, 2019 is set to be the year the world changes the way that it eats. Or at least, that’s the ambitious aim of a major campaign under the umbrella of an organisation simply called EAT . The core message is to discourage meat and dairy, seen as part of an “over-consumption of protein” – and specifically to target consumption of beef.

The push comes at a time when consumer behaviour already seems to be shifting. In the three years following 2014, according to research firm GlobalData, there was a six-fold increase in people identifying as vegans in the US, a huge rise – albeit from a very low base. It’s a similar story in the UK, where the number of vegans has increased by 350%, compared to a decade ago, at least according to research commissioned by the Vegan Society.

And across Asia, many governments are promoting plant-based diets. New government dietary guidelines in China, for example, call on the nation’s 1.3 billion people to reduce their meat consumption by 50% . Flexitarianism, a mostly plant-based diet with the occasional inclusion of meat, is also on the rise .

‘Conquering the world’

Big food companies have noticed the shift and have jumped onto the vegan wagon, the most prominent ones tightly associated with EAT through its FReSH program . Unilever, for instance, is a very vocal partner. Recently, the multinational announced it was acquiring a meat-substitute company called “The Vegetarian Butcher”. It described the acquisition as part of a strategy to expand “into plant-based foods that are healthier and have a lower environmental impact”. Currently, Unilever sells just under 700 products under the “V-label” in Europe.

“The Vegetarian Butcher” was conceived in 2007 by farmer Jaap Kortweg, chef Paul Brom and marketer Niko Koffeman, a Dutch Seventh-Day Adventist who is vegetarian for religious and ideological reasons. Koffeman is also at the origin of the Partij voor de Dieren , a political party advocating for animal rights in The Netherlands. Like EAT, the Vegetarian Butcher seeks to “ conquer the world ”. Its mission is “to make plant-based ‘meat’ the standard” – and the alliance with Unilever paves the way.

The dietary shift would require a remarkable turn around in consumer habits. Of course, there is much that both can and should be done to improve the way that we eat, both in terms of consumer health and environmental impact. And yes, a key plank of the strategy will be shifting consumers away from beef. But the extreme vision of some of the campaign’s backers is somewhat startling. Former UN official Christiana Figueres, for example, thinks that anyone who wants a steak should be banished. “How about restaurants in ten to 15 years start treating carnivores the same way that smokers are treated?”, Figueres suggested during a recent conference. “If they want to eat meat, they can do it outside the restaurant.”

This statement is typical of what social scientists call “ bootlegger and Baptist ” coalitions, in which groups with very different ideas – and values – seek to rally under a common banner. And this is what worries us. The campaign to “conquer the world” can be rather simplistic and one-sided, and we think this has some dangerous implications.

A skewed view?

EAT, for example, describes itself as a science-based global platform for food system transformation . It has partnered with Oxford and Harvard universities, as well as with the medical journal The Lancet. But we have concerns that some of the science behind the campaign and the policy is partial and misleading.

It is long on things that we all know are bad, such as some excesses of factory farming and rainforest clearing to raise beef cattle. But it is mostly silent on such things as the nutritional assets of animal products, especially for children in rural African settings, and the sustainability benefits of livestock in areas as diverse as sub-Saharan Africa to traditional European upland valleys. And, if vegetarian diets show that traditional markers for heart disease, such as “total cholesterol”, are usually improved, this is not the case for the more predictive (and thus valuable) markers such as the triglyceride/HDL (or “good” cholesterol) ratio, which even tend to deteriorate .

More importantly, most nutritional “evidence” originates from epidemiology, which is not able to show causation but only statistical correlations. Not only are the associations weak , the research is generally confounded by lifestyle and other dietary factors . Not to mention that part of the epidemiological data, such as the PURE study , show that the consumption of meat and dairy can be associated with less – rather than more – chronic disease.

Not so simple

In any case, even if plant-based diets can in theory provide the nutrients people need, as long as they are supplemented with critical micronutrients (such as vitamin B12 and certain long-chain fatty acids), that is not to say that in practice shifting people towards them will not result in a great many people following poorly balanced diets and suffering ill health in consequence. And when a vegan diet fails, for instance due to poor supplementation, it may result in serious physical and cognitive impairment and failure to thrive .

The approach seems particularly risky during pregnancy and for the very young , as also documented by a long list of clinical case reports in medical literature. Animal products are exceptionally nutrient-dense dietary sources – removing them from the diet compromises metabolic robustness. Without sufficient insight in the complexities of nutrition and human metabolism, it is easy to overlook important issues as the proportion of nutrients that can be absorbed from the diet, nutrient interactions and protein quality.

The same debate needs to be had when it comes to consideration of the environmental question. Too fast or radical a shift towards “plant-based” diets risks losing realistic and achievable goals, such as increasing the benefits of natural grazing and embracing farming techniques that reduce the wasteful feeding of crops to animals, lower climate impact and enhance biodoversity.

A shift towards a radically plant-based planetary diet loses the many benefits of livestock – including its deployment on land that is not suitable for crop production, its contribution to livelihoods, and the many other benefits that animals provide. It mistakenly assumes that land use can be swiftly altered and ignores the potential of farming techniques that may even have mitigating effects .

Sustainable, ecological and harmonious animal production really should be part of the solution of the “world food problem”, considered from both the nutritional and environmental scenarios. The Earth is an extraordinarily complex ecosystem – any one-size-fits-all solution risks wreaking havoc with it.

More articles about vegetarianism and veganism , written by academic experts:

Vegan diet: how your body changes from day one

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Persuasive speech on veganism. help.

fellow vegans, For my speech class at school we are doing persuasive speeches, and I of course chose to speak about why people should be vegetarian (not vegan because I know people in the class probably won't even consider veganism :( better to ease them in with vegetarianism.) Any general advice? good quotes? and how would you summarize the reasons in a sentence or two for the "claim"? I really think I could be able to reach some of them so it is important that I do this right! Thanks!  :)

I would follow a general 3-point framework of environmental reasons, health reasons, and animal rights reasons. 

I put the animal rights part last on purpose because I feel, for whatever reason, people are less likely to be receptive to animal rights arguments.  You can decide the order based on what you think the mindsets of your audience are.  Health and environment are less altruistic reasons than animal rights, so I think that's why people might be more receptive to them.

That's just how I would organize it.  I'd be happy to help you find resources for each particular topic if you are not sure what to say. 

Good luck!  Let us know how it goes!

what kmk said, plus talk about how we could help with world hunger if we stopped eating meat. i don't know the numbers, but if you take the grain fed to livestock, you could feed a ton of people. good luck with your speech!

Oooh, good idea!  So a fourth reason would be humanitarian/human rights reasons.  That would be a very strong argument. 

I gave  a speech on the subject for my AP language class in high school. If there is a segment for questions, make sure you're anticipating the smartass questions, and you have civil answers for them.

another point is much better eat helthty and not have seek  in the year. than eat regular food and have cold, fever every season and you need to visit the doctor and buy medicines and is more expencive for use. I try to explain I'm from Puerto Rico is dificult to me write in english. I give vegetarian class in puerto rico and thats part of my point I have 18 person that not are ve getarian and somes in trsnsition. i hope that can help. :)

Does your public library have either Diet for a New America or The China Study?  You could get good info in those.

ohoh! i forgot to say talk about how it's cheaper! since money stuff is an issue these days ("in these uncertain times" according to pretty much all of the commercials on tv haha), hitting on a point like that could interest people. the best thing to do is have main points that everyone can relate to. not everyone cares about animal rights like kmk said, but a lot of people care about the environment, more people care about health, and i think everyone is concerned about money. also,  instead of vegetarian, maybe talk about plant-based diets. the word vegetarian makes a lot of people think of peta and automatically think it's crazy :\

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Persuasive speech on vegetarian as the way of life – best student’s health sample essay, dr. wilson mn.

• March 17, 2022

This article provides a student’s sample essay on the topic; Persuasive Speech On Vegetarian As The Way Of Life

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Persuasive Speech On Vegetarian As The Way Of Life Essay

Imagine yourself being frequently bombarded by questions by family, friends, and even stranger about Do you eat chicken? Do you drink milk? Do you eat fish? What about eggs? Why are you just eating vegetables instead of the delicious tendering meat?

These are questions that I heard often, and I must admit that sometimes I do get tired of answering them. The short answer is I am a vegetarian because I care. I care about preventing the suffering of innocent creatures. I care about preventing world hunger. I care about the air we breathe in, and the water that flows in rivers or streams. And I also do care about my own health. I truly honestly believe that the most important thing I, as an individual, can do for any one of these things that I care about is to only consume vegetarian food.

I am a vegetarian since I was born into this humble world due to my family and religious matters, therefore I have not tried any other means of food other than vegetables. Well, I have to face the fact that I’m a vegetarian. As time passes by I soon realize that the health benefits of vegetarianism are massive.

Based on my research, I have learned that the majority of audiences are not keen to turn their meat diet into the vegetarian diet but when the audience encounters any major sickness they will automatically insist on changing into a vegetarian diet. However, this is not the major concern that I wanted people to conceal. I personally wanted people to understand the true benefits of vegetarianism in long term instead of using vegetarianism as a scapegoat while having an illness. For that reason today my speech is to persuade you to change your diet into a vegetarian diet. The three benefits of a vegetarian are Health, Endurance, and Avoid Toxic Food Containments.

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By eating animal products, such as meat and eggs, both of these foods are the main dietary sources of cholesterol and the head source of saturated fat which is the main cause of heart disease. By not consuming these foods it will dramatically reduce the risk of heart attack by 90 % (Joan Lang, 2006). The fiber in vegetarian diets removes unnecessary cholesterol and other cancer-causing agents. A 1990 Study verified by Dr. William Castelli from University Hospital in Linkoping, Sweden that vegetarians overall are 20% less prone to die from a heart attack than meat-eaters.

A low-fat vegetarian diet, combined with exercise, it does help to reduce blood pressure and control or remove diabetes. Having a vegetarian diet can also benefit asthmatics patients. According to a 1985 year-long study which is conducted by the University Hospital in Linkoping, Sweden, over 90% of asthma patients had less severe and frequent attacks while having a vegetarian diet, and it can also reduce their need for medication (Dr. John McDougall, 2004).

Over 20 years of research at Loma Linda University in California shows that men who eat meat are prone to be three times more to suffer from prostate cancer than vegetarians. According to a study made by Dr. Takeshi Hirayama of the National Cancer Research Institute of Tokyo, vegetarianism reduces the risk of breast cancer in women by 35% (Dr. Takeshi Hirayama, 2005).

Animal products are basically high in fats and always lack fiber. This is why vegetarians avoid animal fat, the eating which will link to cancer, and vegetables are rich with fiber and vitamins that help prevent cancer. According to the University of Hawaii, on average, vegetarians ate about twice as much fiber as meat-eaters. Thus vegetarians are expected to suffer much less from constipation than meat-eaters.

Almost everyone in this world needs more energy; however few people make the association between exhaustion and eating meat. The majority of people mistakenly believe that eating meat is crucial that will lead to good strength and health. Eating meat is significantly reduces a person’s energy and contributes towards generally poor health.

Based on scientific studies, shows that a vegetarian diet will improve in a person’s endurance and energy. Dr. Yale Professor Irving Fisher conducted a test by comparing the stamina and strength of meat-eating athletes to vegetarian athletes and inactive vegetarians. The results of the test are the meat-eaters had far less endurance than even the inactive vegetarians. Another research found out that athletes who change their diet to vegetarianism gradually improve their endurance about three times as much as to those who ate meat.

A vegetarian diet is the perfect source of nutrients for the human body, basically, a common vegetarian diet is based on vegetables, fruits, and whole grains (Dr. T. Colin Campbell, 2002) which are low in fat, a good source of fiber, and rich in vitamins and minerals which will enhance our body energy. The main factor of a balanced vegetarian diet is carbohydrates, which are the perfect foundation for maximum endurance and energy.

The majority of people do not realize that meat products contain poison and toxins. For example, there was a bacterial outbreak traced back to a Michigan Meat Processing Plant that killed nine people and sixty other people were sickened. Millions of people become sick after eating meat that is contaminated throughout the years. There are a few contaminants I would like to share which is Mad Cow Disease. This disease is caused by “cow cannibalism” (John Robbins, 2006). This is usually done by feeding dead diseased animal parts to other animals from the same species. It will cause memory loss, loss of body control, and lastly death.

Secondly, parasites which are available throughout eighty-five percent of all pig-related products even in many species of carnivores and omnivores. A parasite is a kind of worm that lives in the human digestive system. Such as tapeworms that are contracted from eating meat. These parasites stay attached in the intestine by stealing nutrients from our digested food thus causing malnutrition.

Meat products contain the most sources of pesticides in the human diet. Almost ninety-five to ninety-nine percent of toxic chemical residues in the American diet comes from meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs (Roberta Larson Duyff, 2006). Pesticides contain numerous kinds of toxins that can cause cancer, birth defects, abortions, and even death.

In a nutshell, please eat vegetables and be healthy, the evidence is overwhelming. Eating meat is bad for your health, environment, and everyone. On the contrary, the vegetarian diet is delicious and nutritious which is the perfect source of energy for the human body. By choosing a vegetarian diet, you can have perfect health, and the happiness of living at peace with your family, friends, and the little ones in the animal kingdom.

Related FAQs

1. Is Vegetarianism a healthier way of life?

“It can be one of the healthiest ways to eat, because we know plant foods are loaded with nutrients to protect our health.” According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease.

2. Why is vegetarian important for health?

Many studies agree that a vegetarian diet can offer a range of health benefits. Studies show that a vegan or vegetarian diet may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and various types of cancer. A non-meat diet may also reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, which includes obesity and type 2 diabetes.

3. How do vegetarians stay healthy?

To get the most out of a vegetarian diet, choose a variety of healthy plant-based foods, such as whole fruits and vegetables, legumes and nuts, and whole grains. At the same time, cut back on less healthy choices, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juices and refined grains.

4. Why vegetarians are better than non vegetarians?

A non-vegetarian diet includes chicken, meat, eggs and fish. A non-vegetarian diet also has several health benefits because this type of food is rich in protein and vitamin B. Non-vegetarian food strengthens our muscles and helps them grow faster. It also helps to maintain body stamina and hemoglobin.

5. Do vegetarians live longer?

A team of researchers at Loma Linda University in the United States has shown vegetarian men live for an average of 10 years longer than non-vegetarian men — 83 years compared to 73 years. For women, being vegetarian added an extra 6 years to their lives, helping them reach 85 years on average.

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