0:00:07.233,0:00:10.065
How do you feel when I tell you[br]that I'm a vegan?

0:00:10.647,0:00:11.938
Indifferent?

0:00:12.365,0:00:13.675
Reserved?

0:00:13.930,0:00:15.730
A little awkward?

0:00:16.077,0:00:19.754
Or maybe you think,[br]"Oh no, not another one!"

0:00:19.754,0:00:21.077
(Laughter)

0:00:22.020,0:00:25.140
My wish for today[br]is to free you from these feelings

0:00:25.140,0:00:30.090
and help you become more curious,[br]more flexible and more caring.

0:00:31.220,0:00:33.850
I don't always like to use the word vegan,

0:00:33.850,0:00:36.690
because it can be a label[br]that divides people.

0:00:36.869,0:00:41.639
In my mind, vegan stands for ethics,[br]compassion and freedom.

0:00:42.004,0:00:46.860
It's not a diet, it's not an ideology,[br]and it's not an exclusive club.

0:00:46.860,0:00:50.099
It's a lifestyle based[br]on the simple principle

0:00:50.099,0:00:55.178
of "do no harm" and[br]"kindness to all living beings."

0:00:55.178,0:00:57.748
I really love my vegan lifestyle,

0:00:57.748,0:01:00.484
and that's why I'm here[br]to share my story with you.

0:01:00.484,0:01:04.024
So I invite you[br]to join me on this journey

0:01:04.024,0:01:08.617
because I firmly believe[br]we're all going that direction.

0:01:09.199,0:01:11.030
We're growing up as a species

0:01:11.030,0:01:15.212
and realising that using and killing[br]animals for human consumption

0:01:15.212,0:01:17.052
no longer makes sense.

0:01:17.052,0:01:21.052
However, change is not always easy.

0:01:21.250,0:01:24.241
Especially when we have been[br]indoctrinated to believe

0:01:24.241,0:01:27.711
that consuming animal products[br]is normal and healthy.

0:01:29.802,0:01:34.355
For me it all started[br]on a late night in April 2013

0:01:34.355,0:01:38.392
when I saw a picture[br]that showed a puppy on one side

0:01:38.392,0:01:39.875
and a little pig on the other,

0:01:39.875,0:01:45.135
and it said, "Why love one[br]but eat the other?"

0:01:46.625,0:01:48.995
Because I was more of a cat lady,

0:01:48.995,0:01:52.995
I mindlessly started looking for[br]a similar picture with a kitten.

0:01:52.995,0:01:58.605
And during my search, I came across[br]all kinds of pictures and videos

0:01:58.605,0:02:02.345
revealing the truth[br]about industrial animal farming.

0:02:02.605,0:02:06.779
I will never forget that night.[br]I was in shock and horror.

0:02:06.957,0:02:11.357
Why? Let's look at some sobering facts.

0:02:12.103,0:02:14.372
Environmental scientists agree

0:02:14.372,0:02:17.613
that animal farming[br]is not sustainable on any level;

0:02:17.613,0:02:22.323
it's a big threat to our health[br]and our food security.

0:02:22.576,0:02:27.397
The meat, milk and egg industry makes[br]inefficient use of planetary resources

0:02:27.397,0:02:28.691
to say the least,

0:02:28.691,0:02:33.781
causing rapid deforestation,[br]severe pollution, global warming

0:02:33.781,0:02:36.111
and even species extinction.

0:02:37.975,0:02:41.975
Animal farming is also[br]a very thirsty business.

0:02:42.900,0:02:48.543
What if I told you that one steak[br]requires 900 gallons

0:02:48.543,0:02:52.413
or 3,400 litres of water to produce?

0:02:52.413,0:02:56.483
That is four years of drinking water[br]for the average person.

0:02:59.361,0:03:01.648
In a time where people all over the world

0:03:01.648,0:03:05.529
accept that animals should be treated[br]with kindness and compassion,

0:03:05.529,0:03:07.217
the food industry works hard

0:03:07.217,0:03:13.203
to hide what we as consumers[br]don't want to hear, see or do.

0:03:15.596,0:03:19.723
Pigs, cows and chickens feel and suffer

0:03:19.723,0:03:22.326
just like cats, dogs and humans.

0:03:22.326,0:03:25.426
However, animal farms treat these animals

0:03:25.426,0:03:28.436
like machines to produce[br]meat, milk and eggs.

0:03:29.365,0:03:32.315
Judged by the amount[br]of suffering this causes,

0:03:32.315,0:03:37.445
animal farming is arguably[br]one of the worst crimes in history.

0:03:40.296,0:03:44.579
Did you know that more than[br]70 billion land animals are killed

0:03:44.579,0:03:48.579
for human consumption alone[br]every single year?

0:03:48.947,0:03:53.057
That is the equivalent of killing[br]the entire human population

0:03:53.057,0:03:56.507
almost every single month.

0:03:59.676,0:04:05.446
And it's also very important to realise[br]that leather, wool, fur and down

0:04:05.446,0:04:07.836
are not just byproducts[br]of the meat industry.

0:04:07.836,0:04:10.957
They are also cruel,[br]standalone industries,

0:04:10.957,0:04:14.737
because the skin, hair and feathers[br]of an animal per pound

0:04:14.737,0:04:17.327
are worth much more than the meat.

0:04:18.096,0:04:21.556
Have you ever wondered[br]why leather isn't biodegradable

0:04:21.556,0:04:23.856
despite just being dead skin?

0:04:25.043,0:04:29.713
That's because animal skin is treated[br]with highly toxic chemicals.

0:04:30.401,0:04:34.511
Traditional leather production[br]leaves behind a vast carbon footprint,

0:04:34.511,0:04:38.811
brutal animal suffering[br]and disturbing human rights violations.

0:04:42.146,0:04:44.896
No matter how we look at animal farming,

0:04:44.896,0:04:50.416
even if products are labelled local,[br]organic or humane,

0:04:50.416,0:04:52.724
it is not a pretty picture.

0:04:56.244,0:04:59.504
After I discovered these[br]and many more disturbing facts,

0:04:59.504,0:05:03.262
I decided that same night[br]I no longer wanted to contribute

0:05:03.262,0:05:06.852
to such an inefficient,[br]unsustainable and cruel system.

0:05:06.958,0:05:10.996
So the next morning,[br]I announced my decision

0:05:10.996,0:05:13.896
to my analytical and meat-loving husband.

0:05:14.196,0:05:17.327
As you can imagine,[br]this didn't turn out very well.

0:05:17.327,0:05:22.157
The result was a heated discussion[br]followed by two days of silent war.

0:05:24.059,0:05:27.399
Luckily, after my husband had done[br]his own research,

0:05:27.399,0:05:30.390
he told me he was now equally convinced.

0:05:30.390,0:05:33.210
And like me, he no longer[br]wanted to contribute

0:05:33.210,0:05:36.420
to the abuse and killing[br]of innocent animals.

0:05:37.376,0:05:41.196
Two weeks after my husband[br]and I turned vegan,

0:05:41.196,0:05:43.956
my 75-year-old mother joined us.

0:05:44.025,0:05:46.164
And now, six years later,

0:05:46.164,0:05:50.235
I am happy to say[br]that she is healthier than ever.

0:05:53.095,0:05:56.435
Today I am a very happy vegan.

0:05:56.619,0:05:58.969
But it hasn't always been that way.

0:06:00.184,0:06:04.844
After turning vegan, I desperately[br]wanted to be a perfect vegan.

0:06:05.354,0:06:08.554
As a result, the beginning[br]of my vegan adventure

0:06:08.554,0:06:12.114
turned out to be much more[br]challenging than I expected.

0:06:12.588,0:06:15.158
I started to feel guilty.

0:06:15.716,0:06:20.356
How could I have been so blind[br]for so many years?

0:06:20.476,0:06:24.596
I felt shame and regret[br]for the choices I had made in the past.

0:06:26.411,0:06:29.510
And on top of that,[br]I couldn't understand

0:06:29.510,0:06:32.840
why people around me[br]didn't see what I saw.

0:06:33.010,0:06:36.780
For months I felt lonely,[br]angry and helpless.

0:06:37.010,0:06:39.180
I was in a very dark place.

0:06:40.142,0:06:41.892
There were times when I felt

0:06:41.892,0:06:45.802
as if I was carrying the weight[br]of all the suffering in the world.

0:06:45.992,0:06:47.682
It was exhausting.

0:06:48.562,0:06:54.832
Here I was, eating a healthy vegan diet,[br]and my energy level was lower than ever.

0:06:54.832,0:06:57.762
And I knew feeling this way[br]wasn't helping anyone;

0:06:57.762,0:07:00.182
it wasn't serving my purpose.

0:07:01.546,0:07:05.518
So, luckily I realised after a while

0:07:05.518,0:07:08.266
that I didn't have to[br]take this to the extreme.

0:07:08.610,0:07:14.410
I also realised that the perfect vegan[br]may not even exist.

0:07:15.615,0:07:17.735
We simply do the best we can

0:07:17.935,0:07:21.725
with the information we have[br]and the options before us.

0:07:22.442,0:07:25.427
So I decided to take the pressure off,

0:07:25.648,0:07:28.412
and I came up with three[br]simple principles.

0:07:28.661,0:07:30.341
One: be curious.

0:07:30.623,0:07:32.283
Two: be flexible.

0:07:32.539,0:07:34.622
And three: be caring.

0:07:35.206,0:07:40.086
And after adapting these principles,[br]a whole new world opened up for me.

0:07:41.122,0:07:43.832
So first, be curious.

0:07:44.062,0:07:48.062
I had a lot of fun discovering[br]amazing new vegan products.

0:07:48.156,0:07:53.586
And I was also enjoying experimenting[br]with all kinds of vegan recipes.

0:07:53.960,0:07:57.960
So much that I began developing[br]my own vegan cakes

0:07:57.960,0:08:01.860
and started selling them[br]to vegan and non-vegan restaurants.

0:08:02.165,0:08:04.630
And I was also very excited to learn more

0:08:04.630,0:08:07.580
about all the health benefits[br]of a vegan lifestyle.

0:08:08.120,0:08:14.050
However, no matter how exciting[br]all these new discoveries were,

0:08:14.050,0:08:17.155
I was often still faced[br]with mixed feelings

0:08:17.155,0:08:19.150
when veganising my life.

0:08:19.577,0:08:24.312
And this led me to principle[br]number two: be flexible.

0:08:26.468,0:08:32.388
Even though my idea of leather[br]had shifted from luxury to barbaric

0:08:32.698,0:08:36.698
and the slightest smell of leather[br]made me feel horrible,

0:08:37.747,0:08:42.927
my biggest challenge was[br]letting go of leather shoes and handbags.

0:08:44.257,0:08:46.591
So being flexible,

0:08:46.591,0:08:48.730
I decided to no longer worry

0:08:48.730,0:08:51.736
about the non-vegan items[br]already in my closet,

0:08:51.736,0:08:55.327
and instead focus on[br]what I could do moving forward.

0:08:56.231,0:08:58.501
And third, be caring.

0:08:58.847,0:09:00.577
After I really understood

0:09:00.577,0:09:05.384
what kind of impact my every day choices[br]have on myself and the world,

0:09:05.384,0:09:07.274
I began filtering everything,

0:09:07.274,0:09:13.444
every thought, every word, every action[br]through my lens of do no harm.

0:09:14.091,0:09:15.541
And as a result,

0:09:15.541,0:09:19.910
I became even more compassionate[br]and definitely more peaceful.

0:09:20.741,0:09:23.291
This reminds me of Ghandi's quote:

0:09:23.291,0:09:27.258
"Happiness is when what you think,[br]what you say and what you do

0:09:27.466,0:09:29.046
are in harmony."

0:09:34.215,0:09:39.095
Today being vegan has become a way of life[br]that reaches far beyond what I consume.

0:09:39.415,0:09:41.985
My vegan lifestyle makes me feel great.

0:09:41.985,0:09:45.395
And it's truly supportive[br]of my goals and dreams.

0:09:45.395,0:09:49.965
I have become much healthier,[br]and I found more balance and more clarity.

0:09:50.205,0:09:54.105
This lifestyle has become[br]effortless for me.

0:09:55.044,0:09:58.105
Even more, it makes me feel complete,

0:09:58.105,0:09:59.732
because I now believe

0:09:59.732,0:10:04.782
that I'm contributing to something[br]that is far bigger than myself.

0:10:06.543,0:10:09.663
Being vegan has literally[br]transformed my entire life:

0:10:09.663,0:10:12.393
my body, my mind and my soul.

0:10:14.253,0:10:17.263
So why am I sharing my story with you?

0:10:17.263,0:10:20.253
I want to inspire you[br]to join me on the vegan path,

0:10:20.253,0:10:21.743
without pressure or fear,

0:10:21.743,0:10:24.283
and to experience how it makes you feel.

0:10:27.490,0:10:31.882
The good news is that we are seeing[br]a growing interest in the vegan movement.

0:10:32.090,0:10:38.110
Everyone, from top doctors to celebrities[br]like Leonardo DiCaprio and Beyoncé,

0:10:38.294,0:10:41.138
companies like Tesla and Google,

0:10:41.405,0:10:44.945
famous chefs like Jamie Oliver[br]and Wolfgang Puck,

0:10:45.748,0:10:50.689
and world class athletes[br]like Serena and Venus Williams,

0:10:51.278,0:10:54.958
and wealthy investors like Bill Gates[br]and Richard Branson

0:10:54.958,0:10:57.458
are supporting the vegan movement.

0:10:58.675,0:11:01.165
Thanks to the power of the Internet,

0:11:01.165,0:11:04.505
the world is becoming[br]more and more transparent.

0:11:04.505,0:11:10.515
And this makes it so much harder to ignore[br]what goes into a steak or a leather sofa.

0:11:11.787,0:11:16.957
And food and meat scandals[br]get featured in the news at a scary rate.

0:11:17.250,0:11:19.770
As Paul McCartney rightly observed,

0:11:19.770,0:11:24.719
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls,[br]we would all be vegetarian."

0:11:27.702,0:11:29.652
According to The Economist,

0:11:29.652,0:11:33.614
25% of Americans ages 25 to 34

0:11:33.614,0:11:36.264
identify as vegetarian or vegan.

0:11:36.264,0:11:39.628
And a growing number of people over 55

0:11:39.628,0:11:43.388
are turning vegan for health[br]and animal-welfare reasons.

0:11:43.580,0:11:48.214
As a result, major corporations[br]are looking into vegan alternatives

0:11:48.214,0:11:51.244
because they know[br]which way the market is heading.

0:11:52.214,0:11:56.434
A lot is changing in the world today;[br]old systems are crumbling.

0:11:56.434,0:11:59.994
We are seeing a paradigm shift[br]in what we perceive as normal.

0:12:00.423,0:12:02.493
And to facilitate this shift,

0:12:02.493,0:12:06.463
we need new technologies[br]and innovative entrepreneurship.

0:12:06.693,0:12:11.533
And we also need[br]to change our daily habits.

0:12:12.677,0:12:16.459
Now, my heart's desire[br]is to accelerate this shift.

0:12:16.459,0:12:19.239
But this isn't about me or you.

0:12:19.239,0:12:22.026
It's about being[br]the most effective we can be

0:12:22.026,0:12:24.216
at making a difference in the world.

0:12:26.201,0:12:31.054
I discovered that progress[br]is more important than perfection.

0:12:31.135,0:12:37.123
Because each of us can only do so much,[br]but together we can do a lot.

0:12:37.438,0:12:38.645
With our example,

0:12:38.645,0:12:43.865
we can influence others to take action[br]and create a huge ripple effect.

0:12:45.707,0:12:48.517
I want you to understand and to realise

0:12:48.517,0:12:52.587
that as consumers,[br]we have a very powerful voice.

0:12:53.463,0:12:56.433
By being aware of marketing practices

0:12:56.433,0:12:59.323
and consciously choosing[br]where our money goes,

0:12:59.323,0:13:04.743
we have a big impact on our own health[br]and the health of our planet.

0:13:04.888,0:13:06.158
With every purchase,

0:13:06.158,0:13:10.168
we can support soulful, ethical[br]and passionate entrepreneurs

0:13:10.168,0:13:12.059
offering cruelty-free products,

0:13:12.059,0:13:14.279
and this is becoming easier each day

0:13:14.279,0:13:18.919
as high quality vegan products[br]are entering the market at a rapid speed.

0:13:21.037,0:13:27.937
Our wallet is the key to significantly[br]reduce human and animal suffering.

0:13:30.423,0:13:34.103
I believe that one choice at a time,

0:13:34.103,0:13:38.414
veganism will grow[br]from a tiny minority to mainstream.

0:13:38.414,0:13:41.104
It will become the new normal.

0:13:41.104,0:13:43.654
All we need is to reach a tipping point.

0:13:44.615,0:13:50.675
And every choice and every action,[br]big or small, does make a difference.

0:13:52.343,0:13:55.973
A healthier and kinder future[br]begins in this moment.

0:13:56.611,0:13:58.020
And I have faith

0:13:58.020,0:14:00.800
that you will not be afraid[br]to do what feels right.

0:14:00.800,0:14:02.545
So I invite you to join me

0:14:02.545,0:14:06.545
and start this journey in a way[br]that fits into your current lifestyle.

0:14:07.213,0:14:10.086
Do your research. Have fun.

0:14:10.241,0:14:12.803
Experience how it makes you feel.

0:14:13.546,0:14:17.936
And remember to be curious,[br]flexible and caring,

0:14:18.276,0:14:22.590
peaceful in the knowing[br]that the future will be vegan.

0:14:23.451,0:14:24.921
Thank you.

0:14:24.921,0:14:26.861
(Applause)