WEBVTT

00:00:04.165 --> 00:00:06.340
So when I say the word "vegan" to you,

00:00:06.787 --> 00:00:08.213
what do you think of?

00:00:08.381 --> 00:00:11.542
I'm sure for many of you,
you think of "Oh, vegans.

00:00:11.654 --> 00:00:13.465
Why can't they just live and let live?

00:00:13.465 --> 00:00:16.029
I personally have no problem
with you being vegan,

00:00:16.029 --> 00:00:17.865
but can you not force your views

00:00:17.865 --> 00:00:20.964
and just respect my personal choice
to eat animal products?"

00:00:20.964 --> 00:00:22.890
For some of you, you might be thinking,

00:00:22.903 --> 00:00:26.314
"Ah, no, vegan. I could never be vegan.

00:00:26.314 --> 00:00:28.966
I love the taste of cheese
far too much for that."

00:00:28.966 --> 00:00:31.815
And some you might
just be confused and thinking,

00:00:31.815 --> 00:00:33.982
"But eating meat is the circle of life,

00:00:33.982 --> 00:00:37.015
and after all, other animals
eat other animals,

00:00:37.015 --> 00:00:39.331
so why can't I?"

00:00:39.331 --> 00:00:41.885
This is a selection of the things 
that I used to say

00:00:41.885 --> 00:00:44.562
when someone said the word vegan to me.

00:00:44.562 --> 00:00:46.930
But I also used to say 
that vegans were crazy

00:00:46.930 --> 00:00:49.530
and that no one should ever go vegan.

00:00:49.530 --> 00:00:51.031
But now I am vegan.

00:00:51.031 --> 00:00:53.514
And so, how on earth did that happen?

00:00:53.514 --> 00:00:55.213
It's a question I often ask myself,

00:00:55.213 --> 00:00:58.447
and so to try and understand
why it is that I'm now vegan,

00:00:58.447 --> 00:01:01.494
I want to go through all the main
arguments that I used to make

00:01:01.494 --> 00:01:04.274
and show you why I changed my mind.

00:01:04.274 --> 00:01:07.764
And so, the first one:
"It's personal choice."

00:01:07.764 --> 00:01:10.431
Can we morally justify not being vegan

00:01:10.431 --> 00:01:14.381
by saying it's our personal choice
to consume animal products?

00:01:14.381 --> 00:01:15.713
Well, interestingly, yes,

00:01:15.713 --> 00:01:18.801
it is our personal choice
to consume animal products

00:01:18.801 --> 00:01:22.464
in the same way that it is
our personal choice to abuse a dog

00:01:22.464 --> 00:01:24.182
or beat a cat.

00:01:24.182 --> 00:01:27.516
In essence, what I'm saying
is that every action that we make

00:01:27.516 --> 00:01:30.748
is a choice that we
personally choose to make.

00:01:30.748 --> 00:01:34.137
And so to imply that it's morally
justifiable to use animals

00:01:34.137 --> 00:01:35.880
because it's a personal choice

00:01:35.880 --> 00:01:38.813
would mean that every action
that we as humans can make

00:01:38.813 --> 00:01:40.781
must also be morally justifiable

00:01:40.781 --> 00:01:43.999
because every action is a personal choice.

00:01:44.264 --> 00:01:46.632
And so, is it morally justifiable

00:01:46.632 --> 00:01:49.853
to randomly assault a stranger
on the street?

00:01:49.853 --> 00:01:53.748
Is it morally justifiable
to go to a shelter, rescue a dog,

00:01:53.748 --> 00:01:56.346
bring them home
and then abuse them yourself?

00:01:56.748 --> 00:01:58.847
No. Of course it's not.

00:01:58.847 --> 00:02:00.813
Because those choices have a victim,

00:02:00.813 --> 00:02:02.579
someone who suffers negatively

00:02:02.579 --> 00:02:05.551
because of the personal choice
that we have made.

00:02:05.551 --> 00:02:06.749
And so consequently,

00:02:06.749 --> 00:02:12.114
the inclusion of a victim removes
any possibility for moral justification.

00:02:12.114 --> 00:02:15.848
And besides, one of the reasons
that I went vegan in the first place

00:02:15.848 --> 00:02:17.932
was for personal choice.

00:02:17.932 --> 00:02:22.766
The personal choice of the trillions of
animals who are killed every single year.

00:02:22.766 --> 00:02:24.516
Who have granted their choice?

00:02:24.516 --> 00:02:28.982
They would just like to live their life
without human inflicted exploitation.

00:02:28.982 --> 00:02:33.665
Remember, animals don't willfully walk
onto the kill floor of a slaughterhouse.

00:02:33.665 --> 00:02:36.432
They are forced there against their will.

00:02:36.432 --> 00:02:39.282
Any notion of choice 
has been removed for them,

00:02:39.282 --> 00:02:42.365
and so when we cite personal choice
as a justification,

00:02:42.365 --> 00:02:46.500
whose personal choice are we considering,
other than our own?

00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:51.201
And if it is a choice,
then why would we choose to be cruel?

00:02:51.201 --> 00:02:52.517
And so we might then think,

00:02:52.517 --> 00:02:56.729
"Yes, but the difference is
these animals are bred for that purpose,

00:02:56.729 --> 00:02:59.696
which is why your example
of abusing a dog is disingenuous

00:02:59.696 --> 00:03:02.248
because that's just needless suffering."

00:03:02.248 --> 00:03:03.508
To which I would say, yes,

00:03:03.508 --> 00:03:06.598
but most of us find dog fighting
to be morally abhorrent,

00:03:06.598 --> 00:03:11.507
yet many dogs used in fighting
are bred specifically for that purpose.

00:03:11.507 --> 00:03:13.247
Does it make it acceptable?

00:03:13.247 --> 00:03:14.768
So we might then say after that,

00:03:14.768 --> 00:03:17.677
"Yes, but dog fighting
is illegal in this country,

00:03:17.677 --> 00:03:20.464
but farms and slaughterhouses
are allowed under law;

00:03:20.464 --> 00:03:22.570
they are lawful practices."

00:03:22.570 --> 00:03:25.675
But does legality equal morality?

00:03:25.675 --> 00:03:28.965
Is something acceptable
just because the law says so?

00:03:28.965 --> 00:03:30.623
I mean, if that was true,

00:03:30.623 --> 00:03:34.564
then dog fighting would be moral
in the countries where it's legal.

00:03:34.564 --> 00:03:38.601
And if we apply that way of thinking,
let's take it to a human situation.

00:03:38.601 --> 00:03:42.308
Is female genital mutilation
a moral and acceptable practice

00:03:42.308 --> 00:03:44.762
in the countries
where it's legally condoned?

00:03:44.762 --> 00:03:47.297
And let's take this argument
and this line of thinking

00:03:47.297 --> 00:03:50.940
and apply it to the "culture
and tradition" excuse as well.

00:03:50.940 --> 00:03:54.813
Is it justifiable to kill dogs
during the Yulin dog meat festival

00:03:54.813 --> 00:03:57.779
because the festival is a cultural event?

00:03:57.779 --> 00:04:01.312
Is it justifiable to slaughter 
dolphins in Japan

00:04:01.312 --> 00:04:05.684
or pilot whales in the Faroe Islands
because those events are traditional?

00:04:05.684 --> 00:04:09.608
And again, using that example
of female genital mutilation,

00:04:09.608 --> 00:04:14.631
is it a moral practice simply
because it is cultural and traditional?

00:04:14.631 --> 00:04:18.264
Because the thing is if we try
to excuse using animals by saying,

00:04:18.264 --> 00:04:21.771
"Well, they form part of our culture
and can be used in our traditions,"

00:04:21.771 --> 00:04:23.265
we therefore have to make

00:04:23.265 --> 00:04:27.566
every cultural and traditional action
and practice morally justifiable

00:04:27.897 --> 00:04:31.847
simply because they are cultural
and traditional practices.

00:04:32.330 --> 00:04:34.531
And so we might get
to the point where we say,

00:04:34.531 --> 00:04:36.131
"Well, that's all fair enough,

00:04:36.131 --> 00:04:38.934
but the thing is we need to eat
animal products to survive;

00:04:38.934 --> 00:04:41.413
in fact, they are optimal to our diet."

00:04:41.413 --> 00:04:45.608
And so, the question becomes,
Are animal products a necessity?

00:04:45.608 --> 00:04:47.767
Now, the American Dietetic Association,

00:04:47.767 --> 00:04:51.481
which is the largest body of
diet and nutrition professionals in the US

00:04:51.481 --> 00:04:55.348
and is formed of over
a 100,000 certified practitioners,

00:04:55.348 --> 00:04:57.230
has categorically stated

00:04:57.230 --> 00:05:01.349
that a vegan diet is healthy, safe
and nutritionally adequate

00:05:01.349 --> 00:05:07.165
for all stages of life, including
pregnancy, lactation and infancy.

00:05:07.165 --> 00:05:10.471
This is also supported
by the British Dietetic Association

00:05:10.471 --> 00:05:12.559
as well as the NHS.

00:05:12.893 --> 00:05:17.264
Furthermore, there is extensive
and conclusive research and evidence

00:05:17.264 --> 00:05:19.532
that links our consumption
of animal products

00:05:19.532 --> 00:05:22.297
to some of our leading
diseases and illnesses,

00:05:22.297 --> 00:05:24.973
including heart disease,
certain forms of cancer,

00:05:24.973 --> 00:05:27.650
type 2 diabetes, strokes.

00:05:27.650 --> 00:05:30.314
The issue of thriving on a vegan diet

00:05:30.314 --> 00:05:33.914
is not a contentious one
within the scientific community,

00:05:33.914 --> 00:05:38.863
and therefore, consuming animal products
will be deemed an unnecessary action.

00:05:39.768 --> 00:05:41.990
And so let's progress
the argument and say,

00:05:41.990 --> 00:05:44.709
"Yes, but you're denying us of our nature!

00:05:44.709 --> 00:05:48.037
After all we are omnivores.
Have you seen our canine teeth?

00:05:48.037 --> 00:05:49.686
And we've always eaten meat.

00:05:49.686 --> 00:05:54.081
If your ancestors didn't eat meat,
you wouldn't even be alive today."

00:05:54.081 --> 00:05:58.148
And so, to being with, many herbivorous
animals do have canine teeth.

00:05:58.148 --> 00:06:00.731
Take the saber-toothed deer as an example,

00:06:00.731 --> 00:06:05.566
which means that canines
don't necessarily equate to meat eating.

00:06:05.566 --> 00:06:07.596
Furthermore, there's many people out there

00:06:07.596 --> 00:06:10.481
that believe that biologically
and physiologically speaking,

00:06:10.481 --> 00:06:13.751
our bodies are more closely aligned
to that of herbivorous animals

00:06:13.751 --> 00:06:16.132
rather than omnivorous animals.

00:06:16.132 --> 00:06:19.049
They point to the fact
that our intestines are on average

00:06:19.049 --> 00:06:22.566
around three times longer
than that of the average omnivore;

00:06:22.566 --> 00:06:26.021
the fact that our jaws,
they grind side to side when we chew,

00:06:26.021 --> 00:06:28.002
like the jaws of herbivorous animals;

00:06:28.002 --> 00:06:30.674
and the fact that the
hydrochloric acid in our stomach

00:06:30.674 --> 00:06:35.646
is comparatively weaker
to carnivores but also omnivores as well.

00:06:36.249 --> 00:06:38.715
But personally,
I find that entirely irrelevant.

00:06:38.715 --> 00:06:42.133
I don't think it really matters
if we're herbivores or omnivores.

00:06:42.133 --> 00:06:44.798
I mean, just because
we can physically do something

00:06:44.798 --> 00:06:47.934
doesn't mean that we are
morally justified to do so.

00:06:47.934 --> 00:06:52.293
And because we don't have to eat meat,
that means we can survive of plants.

00:06:52.293 --> 00:06:55.348
So biologically speaking, 
it makes no difference,

00:06:55.348 --> 00:06:57.497
because we don't have to do it;

00:06:57.497 --> 00:06:59.864
and therefore,
in the absence of necessity,

00:06:59.864 --> 00:07:03.397
there is the absence
of justification as well.

00:07:03.397 --> 00:07:06.966
And so, I also think
it's a little bit logically dishonest,

00:07:06.966 --> 00:07:08.332
a bit disingenuous,

00:07:08.332 --> 00:07:10.151
that we claim that we're somehow built

00:07:10.151 --> 00:07:12.315
to be intrinsically designed
to kill animals,

00:07:12.315 --> 00:07:16.565
yet so many of us would
never want to kill the animal ourself.

00:07:16.565 --> 00:07:19.697
And so, if we wouldn't want 
to kill the animal ourself,

00:07:19.697 --> 00:07:23.810
why is it acceptable to pay
for someone else to do it on our behalf?

00:07:23.810 --> 00:07:25.497
I've always found it interesting

00:07:25.497 --> 00:07:28.615
when I try and show someone
slaughterhouse footage and they say,

00:07:28.615 --> 00:07:31.735
"Don't show me that!
That's going to put me off my food."

00:07:31.735 --> 00:07:33.151
Then I say, Well, why?

00:07:33.151 --> 00:07:36.555
Why would seeing the process of
how animal products arrive on your plate

00:07:36.555 --> 00:07:37.913
put you off consuming them?

00:07:37.913 --> 00:07:40.416
That seems to make 
little to no sense to me.

00:07:40.416 --> 00:07:42.366
And also, why is it that we get upset

00:07:42.366 --> 00:07:45.365
when we see footage of animals
being killed in gas chambers

00:07:45.365 --> 00:07:47.266
or animals struggling to survive

00:07:47.266 --> 00:07:48.931
as they desperately try to flee

00:07:48.931 --> 00:07:52.162
from the kill floor
they're being forced onto?

00:07:52.162 --> 00:07:55.166
Let's take that idea of ancestors
and run with that for a moment

00:07:55.166 --> 00:07:58.328
because our ancestors 
used to do lots of horrible things.

00:07:58.328 --> 00:08:00.782
They would rape. They would murder.

00:08:00.782 --> 00:08:03.565
Are those actions
automatically justified in society

00:08:03.565 --> 00:08:06.465
simply because our ancestors
used to commit them?

00:08:06.465 --> 00:08:07.531
And besides,

00:08:07.531 --> 00:08:11.882
why would we ever base our morality
on the actions of a primitive society

00:08:11.882 --> 00:08:14.881
where modern day notions
of right or wrong didn't exist

00:08:14.881 --> 00:08:16.398
and in the absence of choice

00:08:16.398 --> 00:08:20.266
consuming animals
was a necessity for their survival?

00:08:20.266 --> 00:08:21.650
Let's take that argument.

00:08:21.650 --> 00:08:22.935
Because it's also pertinent

00:08:22.935 --> 00:08:26.816
when we look at the "animals
eat other animals" excuse as well.

00:08:26.816 --> 00:08:29.514
Just because a lion kills
and eats a gazelle

00:08:29.514 --> 00:08:32.915
doesn't mean we're justified
to go to a supermarket and buy a steak.

00:08:33.274 --> 00:08:34.951
Lions are obligate carnivores,

00:08:34.951 --> 00:08:37.613

which means they need
to eat meat to survive.

00:08:37.613 --> 00:08:40.681
As we've already established: we don't.

00:08:40.681 --> 00:08:41.779
And like before,

00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:45.467

why would we ever base our morality
on the actions of wild animals,

00:08:45.467 --> 00:08:47.324

who are consistently documented

00:08:47.324 --> 00:08:51.765
as doing things that we would never
deem acceptable within our own country

00:08:51.765 --> 00:08:55.339
or, indeed, within our own
society in general?

00:08:55.339 --> 00:08:57.269
So the argument continued even further.

00:08:57.269 --> 00:09:00.165
So let's run with the idea
of necessity and survival

00:09:00.165 --> 00:09:04.065
because I'm pretty sure that if a vegan
was stranded on a desert island

00:09:04.529 --> 00:09:07.014
and the only thing
they had to eat was an animal,

00:09:07.014 --> 00:09:09.048
they would definitely do it.

00:09:09.048 --> 00:09:10.898
And so, the reality is

00:09:10.898 --> 00:09:14.346
no one knows how they'll react
in an extreme survival situation.

00:09:14.346 --> 00:09:16.263
That's really the point of the argument:

00:09:16.263 --> 00:09:18.233
to make vegans seem hypocritical

00:09:18.233 --> 00:09:21.983

if they say they might eat the animal
if they absolutely had to to survive.

00:09:21.983 --> 00:09:25.566
But there's been documented cases
of humans cannibalising to survive.

00:09:25.566 --> 00:09:27.364
There was a plane crash in the Andes,

00:09:27.364 --> 00:09:29.899

and the survivors of the plane crash lived

00:09:29.899 --> 00:09:33.565
because they cannibalised on the flesh
of the dead passengers.

00:09:33.565 --> 00:09:39.113
And so, cannibalism, in effect,
became a justifiable act in that moment.

00:09:39.113 --> 00:09:42.998
Does it mean that cannibalism
is a justifiable act in everyday society?

00:09:42.998 --> 00:09:46.086
Likewise, just because a vegan
might consume an animal

00:09:46.086 --> 00:09:48.127
if they absolutely had to to survive

00:09:48.127 --> 00:09:50.136
doesn't mean that
consuming animal products

00:09:50.136 --> 00:09:54.458
is a morally justifiable act
in everyday society.

00:09:54.849 --> 00:09:57.211
And so the argument presses further,

00:09:57.211 --> 00:10:00.848
and we say, "Yes, but consuming animals
is part of the food chain.

00:10:00.848 --> 00:10:02.385
I mean, it's the circle of life:

00:10:02.385 --> 00:10:04.448
everyone who is born must one day die,

00:10:04.448 --> 00:10:05.830
that's a natural process,

00:10:05.830 --> 00:10:09.798
that's symbiotic and harmonious to nature
and the world that we live in.

00:10:09.798 --> 00:10:11.899
And our food chains
are incredibly important.

00:10:11.899 --> 00:10:17.745
They symbolise part of the natural order
and help maintain and form ecosystems.

00:10:17.745 --> 00:10:19.266
Fundamentally they are there

00:10:19.266 --> 00:10:22.749
to ensure that population sizes
of animals are kept consistent

00:10:22.749 --> 00:10:26.665
and to ensure that the natural ecology
is just well balanced."

00:10:27.033 --> 00:10:30.780
But what we do to animals
when we selectively breed them,

00:10:30.780 --> 00:10:32.731
when we genetically modify them,

00:10:32.731 --> 00:10:36.261
when we artificially inseminate
and forcibly impregnate them,

00:10:36.261 --> 00:10:38.231

when we take their babies away from them,

00:10:38.231 --> 00:10:39.431
when we mutilate them,

00:10:39.431 --> 00:10:42.965
when we exploit them for what they
naturally produce for their own species,

00:10:42.965 --> 00:10:45.850
when we load them into trucks,
take them to a slaughterhouse

00:10:45.850 --> 00:10:49.269
where we hang them upside down,
cut their throat and bleed them to death

00:10:49.269 --> 00:10:52.347
has nothing to do with a natural order,

00:10:52.347 --> 00:10:53.480
and most importantly,

00:10:53.480 --> 00:10:58.681

it fits none of the criteria required
to be labeled as a food chain.

00:10:58.681 --> 00:11:02.315
You see, the food chain that we cite
is a human construct

00:11:02.315 --> 00:11:03.846
created very conveniently

00:11:03.846 --> 00:11:08.465
to try and justify
what is an entirely unnecessary act.

00:11:08.465 --> 00:11:10.765
It ignores the complexity,

00:11:10.765 --> 00:11:14.581
an interdependent web of life
that form our natural ecosystems.

00:11:14.581 --> 00:11:18.064
It is an appeal to nature fallacy
that overlooks our ability

00:11:18.064 --> 00:11:22.697
to make moral decisions
as beings who possess moral agency.

00:11:22.697 --> 00:11:23.653
In essence,

00:11:23.653 --> 00:11:27.599

the food chain argument draws upon
the idea of "might makes right,"

00:11:27.891 --> 00:11:29.934
the belief that
because you have the ability

00:11:29.934 --> 00:11:32.315
to physically exploit someone else,

00:11:32.315 --> 00:11:36.114
you're somehow 
justified to do so as well.

00:11:36.114 --> 00:11:37.726
And the circle of life,

00:11:38.093 --> 00:11:42.068
all that refers to is two moments
of our existence that are certain:

00:11:42.068 --> 00:11:43.415
our birth and our death.

00:11:43.415 --> 00:11:46.498
Everyone who's born must one day
come full circle and die.

00:11:46.498 --> 00:11:50.964
But what happens between those areas
of certainty is variable

00:11:50.964 --> 00:11:53.980
and has nothing to do
with preordained circle of life.

00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:55.832
If we run with that argument,

00:11:55.832 --> 00:11:58.650
we'd be morally excused
to harm anyone at any time

00:11:58.650 --> 00:12:01.049

in any manner that we so please.

00:12:01.049 --> 00:12:03.748
We'd be morally excused
to murder an animal or, indeed,

00:12:03.748 --> 00:12:07.397
murder a human as well, 
running with that logic.

00:12:07.397 --> 00:12:09.812
And so let's move this on
to a more practical note,

00:12:09.812 --> 00:12:14.993
because if the world went vegan, well,
what would we do with all the animals?

00:12:15.128 --> 00:12:17.793
We can't just release billions
of animals into the wild,

00:12:17.793 --> 00:12:20.226
that'd be devastating
for the natural ecology -

00:12:20.226 --> 00:12:22.099
and of course it would.

00:12:22.099 --> 00:12:23.537
But what we have to understand

00:12:23.537 --> 00:12:26.850
is that animal agriculture runs
on a system of supply and demand,

00:12:26.850 --> 00:12:28.833

meaning that when we buy a product,

00:12:28.833 --> 00:12:31.715
we demand that product be supplied.

00:12:31.715 --> 00:12:35.249
Now, farmers will only breed animals 
into existence if they can sell.

00:12:35.249 --> 00:12:37.889
They're not going to breed them
if they can't sell them,

00:12:37.889 --> 00:12:40.940
because that's just not
economically viable in the slightest.

00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:43.881
And so the shift to veganism 
would of course be very gradual.

00:12:43.881 --> 00:12:46.448
And so as the number of vegans increases,

00:12:46.448 --> 00:12:50.449
the number of animals being bred into
existence would decrease proportionally.

00:12:50.449 --> 00:12:52.730
And if - and of course it is an if -

00:12:52.730 --> 00:12:54.899
but if we ever get that vegan world,

00:12:54.899 --> 00:12:56.558
that vegan world would be a world

00:12:56.558 --> 00:12:59.915

where farmers are simply not breeding
animals into existence anymore.

00:12:59.915 --> 00:13:02.999
And as such, we will never be
faced with the dilemma

00:13:02.999 --> 00:13:06.415
of having to either release
billions of animals into the wild

00:13:06.415 --> 00:13:10.798
or take them to a slaughterhouse
so we simply discard their bodies.

00:13:11.797 --> 00:13:15.159

"But OK, OK, alright.

00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:17.500

I see what you're doing,
I see where you're going,

00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:18.755
but this is the problem.

00:13:18.755 --> 00:13:20.257
You see, vegans are hypocrites.

00:13:20.257 --> 00:13:23.935
Haven't you heard that small animals
sometimes die in the production of crops,

00:13:23.935 --> 00:13:27.131
and therefore, you can't even
be a 100% vegan?"

00:13:27.131 --> 00:13:28.500
Now, it's true.

00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:31.898
Animals like caterpillars and worms 
do die in the production of crops,

00:13:31.898 --> 00:13:35.948
and we also can't guarantee
that small mammals like mice and rats

00:13:35.948 --> 00:13:38.369
don't sometimes get killed as well.

00:13:38.369 --> 00:13:42.215
But the difference is that notion
of intention and certainty.

00:13:42.215 --> 00:13:45.449
You see, when we buy an animal product,
we're intentionally paying

00:13:45.449 --> 00:13:48.584

for someone to cause the suffering
and death of an animal.

00:13:48.584 --> 00:13:50.031
That is a certainty.

00:13:50.031 --> 00:13:52.448
When we buy a plant product, we're not.

00:13:52.448 --> 00:13:54.064
And so think about it this way:

00:13:54.064 --> 00:13:58.065

if you're driving down the road
and you accidentally run over a dog,

00:13:58.065 --> 00:14:00.148
morally, that is not the same

00:14:00.148 --> 00:14:03.814
as if you were driving down the road, 
saw a dog, actively pursued them

00:14:03.814 --> 00:14:05.870
until you run them over.

00:14:05.870 --> 00:14:08.549
But the philosophy and ideology
behind the argument

00:14:08.549 --> 00:14:11.110
that it's morally justifiable
to buy animal products

00:14:11.110 --> 00:14:13.831
because sometimes small animals
die in crop production

00:14:13.831 --> 00:14:16.842
adheres to the idea that morally speaking,

00:14:16.842 --> 00:14:22.167
accidentally hitting the dog is the same
as intentionally hitting the dog.

00:14:22.167 --> 00:14:23.915
"And so what about plants?

00:14:23.915 --> 00:14:25.517
Because plants are alive as well.

00:14:25.517 --> 00:14:29.768
So why don't we consider plants
within our circle of moral compassion?"

00:14:29.768 --> 00:14:32.432
And so, plants are of course alive.

00:14:32.432 --> 00:14:34.131
But they're not conscious.

00:14:34.131 --> 00:14:37.268
They don't have a brain,
central nervous system or pain receptors,

00:14:37.268 --> 00:14:41.464
but also more importantly,
it can take up to to 16kg of plants

00:14:41.464 --> 00:14:43.932
to produce 1kg of animal flesh,

00:14:43.932 --> 00:14:45.978

which means that vastly
more plants are used

00:14:45.978 --> 00:14:49.016
in the production of a non-vegan diet
than a vegan diet.

00:14:49.016 --> 00:14:51.268
So, if we care about plants,

00:14:51.268 --> 00:14:55.075
logically and morally,
we're still obliged to be vegan.

00:14:55.075 --> 00:14:57.800
And this also ties in nicely
with what we were just saying

00:14:57.800 --> 00:14:59.978
about animals being killed
in crop production.

00:14:59.978 --> 00:15:02.799
Because if more crops are used
in a non-vegan diet,

00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:06.365
that means if we care about small animals
being killed in crop production,

00:15:06.365 --> 00:15:11.162
we're again logically and morally 
obliged to still be vegan.

00:15:11.532 --> 00:15:13.469
"But what about soy farming?

00:15:13.469 --> 00:15:17.097
Because soy farming is devastating
for the environment, is it not?"

00:15:17.097 --> 00:15:19.765
Soy farming is terrible 
for the environment.

00:15:19.765 --> 00:15:23.732
But that's only because 70 to 85%
of all the soy that is grown

00:15:23.732 --> 00:15:25.483
is fed to livestock animals.

00:15:25.483 --> 00:15:31.464
In fact, it's predicted that as little
as 6% could be used for human consumption.

00:15:31.464 --> 00:15:33.864
And that's not even
about vegans eating tofu.

00:15:33.864 --> 00:15:37.564
Because soya is ubiquitous 
among nearly everyone's diet.

00:15:37.564 --> 00:15:42.469
It's found in breads and cereals, sauces, 
chocolates and so much more as well.

00:15:42.469 --> 00:15:43.797
So then we say,

00:15:43.797 --> 00:15:48.048

"But do we have to be vegan?
I mean, vegetarian? I get it.

00:15:48.048 --> 00:15:50.797

But animals don't die
in the production of dairy and eggs,

00:15:50.797 --> 00:15:53.766

so surely being vegetarian is enough?"

00:15:53.766 --> 00:15:56.331
Simply put - no, it's not.

00:15:56.331 --> 00:16:00.380
In the egg industry, male chicks are
useless because they won't produce eggs.

00:16:00.380 --> 00:16:04.381
They also won't grow to be the same size
as the chickens that we kill for meat,

00:16:04.381 --> 00:16:06.601
which means that as soon as they are born,

00:16:06.601 --> 00:16:10.182

they're thrown into a giant
macerator, minced up alive,

00:16:10.182 --> 00:16:13.848

or they're thrown into a gas chamber
and gassed to death.

00:16:13.848 --> 00:16:15.612
All egg laying hens as well

00:16:15.612 --> 00:16:19.516

will be sent to a slaughterhouse
after around 72 weeks of life,

00:16:19.516 --> 00:16:22.880
when their bodies are fully depleted
from being overly exploited

00:16:22.880 --> 00:16:25.822

and they're no longer
profitable to the farmer.

00:16:25.822 --> 00:16:27.166
In the dairy industry,

00:16:27.166 --> 00:16:30.135

dairy cows will only produce milk
to feed their children.

00:16:30.135 --> 00:16:32.126
They are mammals, just as we are.

00:16:32.126 --> 00:16:36.297
And so this means that farmers forcibly
impregnate dairy cows year after year

00:16:36.297 --> 00:16:39.131
to ensure a continuous cycle
and production of milk

00:16:39.131 --> 00:16:42.405
is there for him to sell, or her to sell.

00:16:42.405 --> 00:16:44.864
When the dairy cow gives birth,

00:16:44.864 --> 00:16:47.164
the baby will be
taken away from the mother,

00:16:47.164 --> 00:16:50.330
normally within 24 hours of birth.

00:16:50.330 --> 00:16:53.640
Male dairy calves are useless
to the dairy industry.

00:16:53.640 --> 00:16:58.098
And so this means that approximately
95,000 male dairy calves are killed

00:16:58.098 --> 00:17:01.798
shortly after birth in this country alone,

00:17:01.798 --> 00:17:04.382
normally by being shot in the head.

00:17:04.382 --> 00:17:06.595
This is because they won't produce milk.

00:17:06.595 --> 00:17:10.231
And it's sometimes not profitable enough
to be sold on for beef.

00:17:10.231 --> 00:17:13.423
The female cows will be raised,
and they too will join the herd,

00:17:13.423 --> 00:17:16.097
where they'll be forcibly 
impregnated year after year

00:17:16.097 --> 00:17:20.415
and all dairy cows are sent
to the slaughterhouse as well.

00:17:20.615 --> 00:17:25.650
Which means that dairy and eggs
are pretty much the same as meat.

00:17:25.650 --> 00:17:29.651
But potentially even worse
because the animals suffer for longer,

00:17:29.651 --> 00:17:32.848
and yet they still are killed
in the same way.

00:17:32.848 --> 00:17:34.963
And so let's talk about humane slaughter.

00:17:34.963 --> 00:17:36.494
This is something we often hear

00:17:36.494 --> 00:17:39.893
when we talk about the killing
of animals in slaughterhouses.

00:17:39.893 --> 00:17:43.814
Now, the word "humane" means having
or showing compassion or benevolence,

00:17:43.814 --> 00:17:47.113
which means that humane slaughter 
is of course an oxymoron

00:17:47.113 --> 00:17:52.048
because you can never compassionately
or benevolently take the life of an animal

00:17:52.048 --> 00:17:56.544
who does not wish to die
and who does not have to die.

00:17:56.821 --> 00:18:00.281
And so that brings us on
to our final excuse:

00:18:00.281 --> 00:18:02.048
taste.

00:18:02.048 --> 00:18:05.164
And so I want to leave you 
with a couple of questions.

00:18:05.164 --> 00:18:09.089
What has higher value:
taste or life?

00:18:09.463 --> 00:18:14.904
Do we require more than sensory pleasure
alone to morally justify an action?

00:18:14.904 --> 00:18:19.149
Remember that a meal to us
lasts only a matter of minutes,

00:18:19.149 --> 00:18:23.074
but that meal has cost
an animal their entire life.

00:18:23.074 --> 00:18:26.982
We take their life
for a moment that is fleeting,

00:18:26.982 --> 00:18:32.051
a meal that we forget about
almost as soon as we have consumed it.

00:18:32.948 --> 00:18:35.481
I used to think that vegans
force their views.

00:18:35.481 --> 00:18:37.031
I said this regularly.

00:18:37.031 --> 00:18:41.131
But one day I realised
that nothing can ever be as forceful

00:18:41.131 --> 00:18:44.297
as taking the life of someone
who does not wish to die,

00:18:44.297 --> 00:18:48.713
taking the life of an animal
who does not wish to die.

00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.697
And so in the end,
that's why I became vegan.

00:18:51.697 --> 00:18:55.882
Because when put into perspective,
my arguments held no veracity,

00:18:55.882 --> 00:18:58.381
no credibility, no validity.

00:18:58.381 --> 00:19:01.498
Fundamentally, I called myself
an animal lover,

00:19:01.498 --> 00:19:05.368
yet I paid for animals to suffer
and die on my behalf.

00:19:05.814 --> 00:19:08.030
Through all of the excuses I used to make,

00:19:08.030 --> 00:19:11.431
I realised that my values
contradicted my actions,

00:19:11.431 --> 00:19:15.226
and deep down, I could 
find no real justification.

00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:17.458
Thank you so much for listening.


00:19:17.458 --> 00:19:20.156
(Applause)