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These days, there are plenty of public health
crises to worry about. But one in particular

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has been piling up (literally) at at an alarming
rate:

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our planet has a poop problem.

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With global poo production approaching five billion
tons of feces being dropped on our earth every

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year, and the vast majority of that load going
completely untreated by any sanitation system,

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this is one public health crisis we should
all give a crap about.

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While I may be laying the bathroom language
on thicker than farmland fertilized with literal

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fecal fountains—we'll get to it—the health
risks of farmed animal waste is no laughing matter.

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In this video you'll learn how the
extreme excrement production of farmed animals

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directly affects your health, goes largely
unregulated, and how you're actually paying

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for the privilege of being poisoned. From
waste seeping into our groundwater and shutting

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down entire cities, to fecal particles in
the air inducing respiratory illnesses,

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to zoonotic disease outbreaks running rampant.

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Sit back and prepare yourself
—cause I'm about to drop a massive load...

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of knowledge.

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(That may have been too far...)

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Hi, it's Emily from BiteSizeVegan.org, where
you can find free resources, eCourses, kids'

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content, and a Guided Search to help you find
just what you need, even if you don't know

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what to ask! Speaking of eCourses, this video
has one of its very own, so you can test how

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well you absorb my fecal facts after watching!
Just click the "take the eCourse now" button

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at BiteSizeVegan.org/TooMuchPoo, where you'll
also find even more in-depth info and the

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full dump of sources for this video.

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(I'm sorry...)

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Now, before we dive into the impact of animal
waste on public health, let's learn just how

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much poop farmed animals make. Scientists
estimate that by 2030, the planet will be

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producing nearly five billion tons of feces.
(That's billion, with a B) Not only is our

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overall poop production increasing at an alarming
rate of 114.6 billion additional pounds a

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year (52 billion kg), but so is the ratio
of animal to human excrement. Farmed animals

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produce anywhere from five to twenty times
the amount of feces as humans, and over 130

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times the amount of total waste, meaning the
vast majority goes entirely untreated and

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largely unregulated. To make matters worse,
animal waste is 100 times more concentrated

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than raw human sewage and more than 500 times
more concentrated than treated human sewage.

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A single dairy farm with 2,500 cows produces
the same amount of waste as a city of 411,000 people.

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A single pig produces roughly 1.5
tons of manure every year. With regards to

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chickens, in a perfect illustration of the
absolute absurdity of our sewage situation,

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a report by Food and Water watch found that
the average egg-laying operation in the United States

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produces ten Olympic swimming pools’ worth of manure every year.

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In my home state of Iowa alone, laying hens top off 
almost two Olympic pools of poo every single day.

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I hope you brought your bathing suit.

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Speaking of swimming pools of poo, this liquid
animal waste is stored in vast open ponds

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called lagoons. These lakes of waste contain
a toxic mixture of excrement, growth hormones,

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antibiotics, chemicals, animal blood, silage
leachate, heavy metals, antibiotic residues,

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and even animal carcasses. When lagoons reach
their limits, some farms literally launch

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the liquid straight up into the air in glorious
fecal fountains that put Las Vegas to shame,

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and showers local residents with aerosolized toxins.

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There is simply too much waste produced to
be effectively used as fertilizer. The liquid

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slurry that is applied to fields is more than
the land can absorb, resulting in toxic runoff.

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Leaking lagoon walls, overflow from storms,
and improper drainage results in contamination

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of both groundwater and surface water. 
It's obvious our current waste management practices

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are not effective. Our planet simply cannot
keep up with the ever-increasing output.

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If all of this is starting to sound grim,
strap in, cause I’m about to guide you through

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what our woeful waste management means for
your health. The health risks from animal

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waste range in severity from headaches ... to
death. Associated conditions include, but

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are not limited to: respiratory illnesses—including
increased rates of childhood asthma; gastrointestinal

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illnesses; stomach and esophageal cancers;
neuropsychiatric abnormalities, such as impaired

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balance or memory; blue baby syndrome possibly
leading to infant death; birth defects and

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miscarriages; immune suppression; mental health
problems, like anxiety, depression, and PTSD;

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and death.

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While the brunt of these conditions are born
by farm workers and surrounding communities,

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the impact of animal agriculture upon our
global health and environment is at a crisis point.

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The fallout from animal waste reaches
far beyond the farms, polluting our air and

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poisoning our water.

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Aside from the obvious overpowering odor issue,
air emissions from waste in lagoons and fertilized

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fields include: ammonia, nitrous oxide, hydrogen
sulfide, methane, and particulate matter.

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These harmful gasses come with a range of
health risks, and not just to the respiratory system

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Breathing in these toxic fumes is
also linked to cardiovascular ailments, central

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nervous system issues, immune suppression,
and—once again—premature death.

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Additionally, as children take in 20-50% more air 
than adults, they are most severely affected.

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Now you may be thinking "I don't live downwind
from one of these facilities, so I'm in the clear, right?"

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Sorry to burst your poo-protected
bubble, but if there's one thing we all need

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and share, it's our planet's water.

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Animal agriculture is the "leading contributor
of pollutants to lakes, rivers, and reservoirs."

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Farmed animal waste contaminates groundwater—which
much of the world's population relies on for

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drinking water—with viruses, bacteria, and nitrates. 
Nitrate poisoning can have devastating

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consequences for fetuses and infants, causing
birth defects, blue baby syndrome, and even

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death. It's also linked to stomach and esophageal
cancers. Groundwater is much harder to monitor

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than surface water, and contamination risks linger long 
after a farm has closed and drained its lagoons.

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One of the most significant consequences of
animal waste in our waterways is the creation

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of dead zones and toxic algae blooms. These
areas are starved for oxygen, killing off

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plant and animal life while providing a perfect
breeding ground for bacteria and neurotoxins.

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While the resulting rich green water may look
lovely, it poses serious risks to public health.

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In 2014, Lake Erie made national headlines
when the annual algae bloom poisoned the drinking

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water of close to half a million people in
and around Toledo, Ohio, causing a three-day

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shutdown of the area’s water system. A fisherman
who'd been out on Lake Erie was hospitalized

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after contact with the algae attacked his
immune system, covering him in hives and shutting

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down his body's ability to sweat. In 2017,
Florida declared a state of emergency when

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a toxic algae bloom spread to the beaches
—although, let's be honest...

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Florida, as a whole, is a state of emergency. 
(I can say that cause I grew up there)

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Now, if you're outside of the United States
and thinking, "well, we always knew the US

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was full of it," just take a sobering step down from your
perceived poo-problem-free position.

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In China, where animal protein production has risen 
almost five-fold within three decades,

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more than half of all lakes are polluted from animal waste.

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Even Ireland—often idealized for its rolling
green fields of happily grazing cows—

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is facing a water pollution crisis, largely due
to their dairy industry. In the last four

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decades, Ireland's "number of pristine rivers
has fallen from 575...to an all-time low of just 20."

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You can learn much more about how even 
the ideal animal agriculture is a total sh...sh...

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show in my speech "The Best We Have
to Offer," delivered in Dublin, Ireland.

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So, while the United States is the only country
I’m aware of that literally created an official

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competition for dealing with its crap, no
matter what country you call home, farmed

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animals are everywhere, and every one of them poops.

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If you're not convinced that we're really
up the proverbial creek without a paddle,

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animal waste contamination leads to the spread
of zoonotic diseases and foodborne illnesses.

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Zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses, are infectious diseases 
that can spread from non-human animals to humans.

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These include, but are not limited to: pathogenic E. Coli, listeria,

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salmonella, cryptosporidium parvum, giardia
lamblia, leptospira, campylobacter, and brucella.

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Zoonotic diseases can be transmitted through
water and food contaminated with animal waste.

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While you often hear about E. Coli outbreaks
in lettuce and other produce, don't blame

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the vegetables—it's the feces at fault.
The pathogens in animal poo have been responsible

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for untold human epidemics around the world,
resulting in hospitalizations and deaths.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, "scientists estimate that

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more than 6 out of every 10 known infectious
diseases in people can be spread from animals,

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and 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious
diseases in people come from animals."

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You may be wondering, if all of this sh...stuff
is so dangerous, where the heck are the regulations?

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While many countries do have regulations for
air and water pollution, enforcement for farms

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is generally somewhere between ineffective
and completely absent. Despite being illegal

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in these countries, dumping waste directly into waterways 
is unfortunately commonplace around the world.

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In the United States, farmers are largely
exempt from most environmental laws.

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In the United Kingdom, a 2017 report from The Bureau
of Investigative Journalism found 3,700 incidents

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of farm-related pollution in a six-year period,
424 of which were deemed "serious pollution

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incidents" directly linked to dairy, poultry and pig farms.

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And now we come to perhaps the most absurdly
offensive aspect of this global poo problem:

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You are paying farmers to poison you.

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Despite continual devastation of the environment,

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direct threats to public health, and outright
violations, farms continue to receive millions

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of taxpayer-funded subsidies.

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Let's take a look at some examples, shall we? 
Remember the annual algae bloom of Lake

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Erie that poisoned Toledo's drinking water?
An extensive report by the Sierra Club Michigan

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Chapter found that the Western Lake Erie Watershed
area alone received $17 million in subsidies

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over a seven-year period, while producing
630 million gallons of waste annually.

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In the most extreme example of tax-funded
pollution, the report highlighted Hartland

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Farms of Lenawee County, Michigan. That single
farm, "received more than $1.5 million in

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federal funding between 1995 and 2014 while
in repeated violation of its permit. In fact,

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it has been under a court order since 2003,
yet has continued to receive hundreds of thousands

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of dollars in Environmental Quality Incentives
Program and other subsidies in that time."

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Similarly, in the United Kingdom, The Bureau
of Investigative Journalism found that "farms

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linked to serious pollution incidents or poor
environmental management...received millions

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of pounds in government subsidies... In some
cases offenders received substantial payments

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- in one instance more than £1m - over the
two year period." Even repeat offenders continue

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to receive substantial subsidies.

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If this massive dump of defecation data has
you distressed, you may be wondering how we

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can possibly dig ourselves out of it. The only real solution
is a planetary shift away from eating animals.

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We simply cannot effectively manage
the ever-increasing amount of waste farmed

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animals produce. This isn't about pushing
veganism—it's a matter of our collective

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survival. It's a matter of our planet's future.
Of our children's future. This is a global

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public health crisis that will only continue
to get worse unless we stop eating animals.

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I hope this video has been helpful. 
Please share it far and wide with the fury of the

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fecal fountains themselves—really just launch
it out there to shower the world with...

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knowledge.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on our crap
conundrum in the comments. And don't forget

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to take the free eCourse! To stay in the loop
about new Bite Size Vegan content and updates,

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please subscribe, and sign up for the newsletter
or follow the Telegram channel for the most

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reliable notifications.

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Now go live vegan, and I'll see you soon.