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How do you feel when I tell you
that I'm a vegan?

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Indifferent?

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Reserved?

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A little awkward?

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Or maybe you think,
"Oh no, not another one!"

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(Laughter)

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My wish for today
is to free you from these feelings

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and help you become more curious,
more flexible and more caring.

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I don't always like to use the word vegan,

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because it can be a label
that divides people.

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In my mind, vegan stands for ethics,
compassion and freedom.

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It's not a diet, it's not an ideology,
and it's not an exclusive club.

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It's a lifestyle based
on the simple principle

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of "do no harm" and
"kindness to all living beings."

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I really love my vegan lifestyle,

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and that's why I'm here
to share my story with you.

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So I invite you
to join me on this journey

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because I firmly believe
we're all going that direction.

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We're growing up as a species

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and realising that using and killing
animals for human consumption

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no longer makes sense.

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However, change is not always easy.

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Especially when we have been
indoctrinated to believe

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that consuming animal products
is normal and healthy.

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For me it all started
on a late night in April 2013

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when I saw a picture
that showed a puppy on one side

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and a little pig on the other,

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and it said, "Why love one
but eat the other?"

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Because I was more of a cat lady,

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I mindlessly started looking for
a similar picture with a kitten.

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And during my search, I came across
all kinds of pictures and videos

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revealing the truth
about industrial animal farming.

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I will never forget that night.
I was in shock and horror.

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Why? Let's look at some sobering facts.

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Environmental scientists agree

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that animal farming
is not sustainable on any level;

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it's a big threat to our health
and our food security.

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The meat, milk and egg industry makes
inefficient use of planetary resources

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to say the least,

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causing rapid deforestation,
severe pollution, global warming

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and even species extinction.

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Animal farming is also
a very thirsty business.

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What if I told you that one steak
requires 900 gallons

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or 3,400 litres of water to produce?

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That is four years of drinking water
for the average person.

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In a time where people all over the world

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accept that animals should be treated
with kindness and compassion,

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the food industry works hard

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to hide what we as consumers
don't want to hear, see or do.

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Pigs, cows and chickens feel and suffer

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just like cats, dogs and humans.

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However, animal farms treat these animals

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like machines to produce
meat, milk and eggs.

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Judged by the amount
of suffering this causes,

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animal farming is arguably
one of the worst crimes in history.

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Did you know that more than
70 billion land animals are killed

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for human consumption alone
every single year?

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That is the equivalent of killing
the entire human population

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almost every single month.

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And it's also very important to realise
that leather, wool, fur and down

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are not just byproducts
of the meat industry.

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They are also cruel,
standalone industries,

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because the skin, hair and feathers
of an animal per pound

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are worth much more than the meat.

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Have you ever wondered
why leather isn't biodegradable

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despite just being dead skin?

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That's because animal skin is treated
with highly toxic chemicals.

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Traditional leather production
leaves behind a vast carbon footprint,

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brutal animal suffering
and disturbing human rights violations.

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No matter how we look at animal farming,

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even if products are labelled local,
organic or humane,

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it is not a pretty picture.

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After I discovered these
and many more disturbing facts,

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I decided that same night
I no longer wanted to contribute

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to such an inefficient,
unsustainable and cruel system.

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So the next morning,
I announced my decision

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to my analytical and meat-loving husband.

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As you can imagine,
this didn't turn out very well.

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The result was a heated discussion
followed by two days of silent war.

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Luckily, after my husband had done
his own research,

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he told me he was now equally convinced.

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And like me, he no longer
wanted to contribute

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to the abuse and killing
of innocent animals.

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Two weeks after my husband
and I turned vegan,

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my 75-year-old mother joined us.

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And now, six years later,

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I am happy to say
that she is healthier than ever.

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Today I am a very happy vegan.

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But it hasn't always been that way.

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After turning vegan, I desperately
wanted to be a perfect vegan.

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As a result, the beginning
of my vegan adventure

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turned out to be much more
challenging than I expected.

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I started to feel guilty.

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How could I have been so blind
for so many years?

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I felt shame and regret
for the choices I had made in the past.

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And on top of that,
I couldn't understand

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why people around me
didn't see what I saw.

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For months I felt lonely,
angry and helpless.

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I was in a very dark place.

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There were times when I felt

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as if I was carrying the weight
of all the suffering in the world.

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It was exhausting.

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Here I was, eating a healthy vegan diet,
and my energy level was lower than ever.

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And I knew feeling this way
wasn't helping anyone;

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it wasn't serving my purpose.

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So, luckily I realised after a while

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that I didn't have to
take this to the extreme.

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I also realised that the perfect vegan
may not even exist.

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We simply do the best we can

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with the information we have
and the options before us.

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So I decided to take the pressure off,

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and I came up with three
simple principles.

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One: be curious.

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Two: be flexible.

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And three: be caring.

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And after adapting these principles,
a whole new world opened up for me.

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So first, be curious.

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I had a lot of fun discovering
amazing new vegan products.

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And I was also enjoying experimenting
with all kinds of vegan recipes.

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So much that I began developing
my own vegan cakes

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and started selling them
to vegan and non-vegan restaurants.

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And I was also very excited to learn more

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about all the health benefits
of a vegan lifestyle.

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However, no matter how exciting
all these new discoveries were,

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I was often still faced
with mixed feelings

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when veganising my life.

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And this led me to principle
number two: be flexible.

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Even though my idea of leather
had shifted from luxury to barbaric

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and the slightest smell of leather
made me feel horrible,

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my biggest challenge was
letting go of leather shoes and handbags.

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So being flexible,

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I decided to no longer worry

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about the non-vegan items
already in my closet,

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and instead focus on
what I could do moving forward.

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And third, be caring.

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After I really understood

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what kind of impact my every day choices
have on myself and the world,

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I began filtering everything,

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every thought, every word, every action
through my lens of do no harm.

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And as a result,

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I became even more compassionate
and definitely more peaceful.

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This reminds me of Ghandi's quote:

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"Happiness is when what you think,
what you say and what you do

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are in harmony."

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Today being vegan has become a way of life
that reaches far beyond what I consume.

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My vegan lifestyle makes me feel great.

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And it's truly supportive
of my goals and dreams.

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I have become much healthier,
and I found more balance and more clarity.

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This lifestyle has become
effortless for me.

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Even more, it makes me feel complete,

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because I now believe

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that I'm contributing to something
that is far bigger than myself.

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Being vegan has literally
transformed my entire life:

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my body, my mind and my soul.

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So why am I sharing my story with you?

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I want to inspire you
to join me on the vegan path,

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without pressure or fear,

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and to experience how it makes you feel.

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The good news is that we are seeing
a growing interest in the vegan movement.

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Everyone, from top doctors to celebrities
like Leonardo DiCaprio and Beyoncé,

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companies like Tesla and Google,

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famous chefs like Jamie Oliver
and Wolfgang Puck,

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and world class athletes
like Serena and Venus Williams,

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and wealthy investors like Bill Gates
and Richard Branson

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are supporting the vegan movement.

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Thanks to the power of the Internet,

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the world is becoming
more and more transparent.

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And this makes it so much harder to ignore
what goes into a steak or a leather sofa.

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And food and meat scandals
get featured in the news at a scary rate.

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As Paul McCartney rightly observed,

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"If slaughterhouses had glass walls,
we would all be vegetarian."

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According to The Economist,

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25% of Americans ages 25 to 34

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identify as vegetarian or vegan.

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And a growing number of people over 55

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are turning vegan for health
and animal-welfare reasons.

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As a result, major corporations
are looking into vegan alternatives

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because they know
which way the market is heading.

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A lot is changing in the world today;
old systems are crumbling.

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We are seeing a paradigm shift
in what we perceive as normal.

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And to facilitate this shift,

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we need new technologies
and innovative entrepreneurship.

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And we also need
to change our daily habits.

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Now, my heart's desire
is to accelerate this shift.

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But this isn't about me or you.

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It's about being
the most effective we can be

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at making a difference in the world.

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I discovered that progress
is more important than perfection.

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Because each of us can only do so much,
but together we can do a lot.

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With our example,

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we can influence others to take action
and create a huge ripple effect.

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I want you to understand and to realise

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that as consumers,
we have a very powerful voice.

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By being aware of marketing practices

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and consciously choosing
where our money goes,

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we have a big impact on our own health
and the health of our planet.

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With every purchase,

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we can support soulful, ethical
and passionate entrepreneurs

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offering cruelty-free products,

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and this is becoming easier each day

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as high quality vegan products
are entering the market at a rapid speed.

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Our wallet is the key to significantly
reduce human and animal suffering.

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I believe that one choice at a time,

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veganism will grow
from a tiny minority to mainstream.

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It will become the new normal.

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All we need is to reach a tipping point.

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And every choice and every action,
big or small, does make a difference.

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A healthier and kinder future
begins in this moment.

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And I have faith

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that you will not be afraid
to do what feels right.

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So I invite you to join me

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and start this journey in a way
that fits into your current lifestyle.

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Do your research. Have fun.

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Experience how it makes you feel.

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And remember to be curious,
flexible and caring,

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peaceful in the knowing
that the future will be vegan.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)