welcome everyone my name is Bailey Khan
and I’m a junior here at Lakeside by a
show of hands how many of you would
consider yourself an animal lover all
right now by another show of hands how
many of you have a dog or cat at home
that could convince you to do just about
anything okay most of you have a pet at
home that you adore so during this next
ten minutes I challenge you to believe
that every single animal on this planet
deserves to be happy and healthy and
free not just the furry friends that
live with us all right so I have
something to get out of the way
I’m a vegan this means that I do not eat
animals or animal byproducts such as
dairy eggs or honey
I also abstain from purchasing items
that have been tested on animals or
items that have been made from animals
such as leather wool or silk now before
you zone out for the next ten minutes I
just want to let you know I’m not here
to shove my lifestyle down your throat
I’m not going to try to convince you to
stop showering and move to a hippie
commune I’m just here with the hope of
spreading my beliefs and informing you
all of where your animal products truly
come from all right so here’s where
everything started
about two years ago I was scrolling
through YouTube and I stumbled upon a
video titled if slaughterhouses had
glass walls by Paul McCartney I remember
sitting on my bed as a 15 year old girl
watching this video with tears streaming
down my face and the most awful feeling
in the pit of my stomach as I watched
cows being beaten with clubs and pigs
being castrated while they were wide
awake I heard the cries of these animals
and I knew I needed to make a change so
now the way that I look at what I
purchase and consume is that if I were
not willing to treat an animal the way
that they were treated in order to
produce the product I would not pay
someone else to do it for me animals are
sentient beings this means that they can
feel emotions ranging from joy to pain
grief and even post-traumatic stress
disorder
they are also extremely intelligent in
fact a pig has an intelligence level of
a three-year-old child and by the turn
of time a chick turns two weeks old they
can walk navigate using the Sun and
count to five these are concepts that
human children don’t learn until the
age of about one year old scientists
have lifted the veil we see that these
animals can think and feel but still to
this day 56 billion farm animals are
killed we see these animals as dollars
meals and numbers and we’re treating
them awfully now I’m about to give you a
glimpse into the life of a chicken and a
cow but please note that I’m not
referring to all farm situations this is
only based on research that I’ve done on
how your large typical factory farm is
run so when you pass by the cage free
and free-range eggs at the grocery store
you probably picture a big sunny lush
field with plenty of room for the
chickens to move around in you probably
assume you’re off the hook morally when
you pick up the carton of free-range
eggs instead of picking up the generic
brand but the only regulation that the
United States Department of Agriculture
has put on the labeling of a carton of
eggs is free-range is that the producer
must demonstrate to the agency that the
poultry has been allowed access to the
outside this could be for as little as
an hour a day and for the other 23 hours
the chicks under such cruelty as soon as
they hatched the male chicks are
discarded because they’re seen as
useless to the egg industry then the
female chicks have their beaks cut down
to knobs and they are immediately fed
food with ridiculous amounts of hormone
to make their little bodies grow up fast
at rates faster than they can handle
now here’s a life of a cow on a dairy
farm as soon as she is old enough she is
forcefully impregnated she is then kept
in a cage with the square footage of
about a twin size bed throughout her
pregnancy she gives birth to her young
alone and then has her precious young
calf taken away from her which causes
immense emotional suffering she is then
pumped up to a milk machine and pumped
full of hormones that make her produce
milk too much milk in fact in 1970 the
average dairy cow produced 990 700
pounds of milk today the average dairy
cow produces 19,000 pounds of milk this
is not healthy for the cows or for us
now I understand that what I’ve just
presented you with may be affecting
each and every one of you in a different
way and my guess is that if I could read
everyone’s mind in the audience some of
you would be thinking wow there goes
those great Sunday morning omelets those
poor animals while some of you are just
thinking well that’s just the way it
goes if you haven’t been moved by this
here are the reasons why animal
agriculture is awful for our environment
according to The Huffington Post it
takes a staggering 1847 pounds of
gallons of water to produce one single
pound of beef if we were to produce that
substitute that pound of beef with a set
pound of tofu we would be saving 1545
gallons of water per pound aside from
water usage so much land is dedicated to
animal farming according to the United
Nations all animal agriculture
contributes to global warming more than
all of our cars planes and trucks
combined 40% more in fact 30% of Earth’s
landmasses dedicated animal agriculture
in 260 billion farming million acres of
u.s. forests have been cleared and able
to grow food for the farm animals to
consume now we’ve only been provided
with one planet Earth we don’t have
extra planets to spare and we need to
start taking care of our planet right
now cutting animal agriculture out of
the picture would benefit there is land
water and air and multiple ways now
here’s my spiel for all of you
biologists if I were to put an apple and
a bunny rabbit in a crib with a young
child the child would not eat the bunny
and play with the Apple we don’t pass a
living cow and think wow that looks
yummy this is because we as humans lack
the instinct that drives carnivores to
kill and devour their prey
we are quite possibly anatomically
herbivorous our teeth are not designed
like other carnivores this means that in
the wild we would eat mostly plant
matter and very small amounts of meat
matter but in today’s society this is
completely flip-flopped in the other
direction cut eating too much meat dairy
and eggs causes numerous health
but health problems more than 70 years
ago casein which is the main protein
found in cow’s milk was shown in studies
to substantially increase high
cholesterol and early heart disease so
how many of you got to try those
cinnamon rolls this morning they were
good weren’t they those were actually
vegan and as you can see you don’t have
to give up your favorite foods to change
your lifestyle now let’s take a look at
human history when the brave being stood
up for rights causes such as rights for
the LGBT community women’s suffrage and
the abolition of slavery they were all
called crazy
we don’t always welcome change with open
arms it can make us uncomfortable and it
can produce controversy and groups of
friends that controversy would not often
occur being vegan is not always easy I
have received countless questions about
where I get my B vitamins and protein
from if you decide to leave this
auditorium and change your lifestyle as
I did you’ll be shaping our futures our
children’s futures and their children’s
futures for the better I have hope that
one day our children will have beautiful
forests to walk in fresh water and free
wildlife to witness but if we keep going
down this path that may not be a
possibility I want them to be free of
pain and disease and I want them to
treat all beings with nothing but love
and kindness I have hope that one day we
will be looking back on these atrocities
is something to be ashamed of thank you
so much for spending your Saturday
morning with us it has been my pleasure
and an honor to speak with you all today
I urge you to take this information and
let it away the beautiful activists in
each and every one of you thank you
[Applause]
and I’m a junior here at Lakeside by a
show of hands how many of you would
consider yourself an animal lover all
right now by another show of hands how
many of you have a dog or cat at home
that could convince you to do just about
anything okay most of you have a pet at
home that you adore so during this next
ten minutes I challenge you to believe
that every single animal on this planet
deserves to be happy and healthy and
free not just the furry friends that
live with us all right so I have
something to get out of the way
I’m a vegan this means that I do not eat
animals or animal byproducts such as
dairy eggs or honey
I also abstain from purchasing items
that have been tested on animals or
items that have been made from animals
such as leather wool or silk now before
you zone out for the next ten minutes I
just want to let you know I’m not here
to shove my lifestyle down your throat
I’m not going to try to convince you to
stop showering and move to a hippie
commune I’m just here with the hope of
spreading my beliefs and informing you
all of where your animal products truly
come from all right so here’s where
everything started
about two years ago I was scrolling
through YouTube and I stumbled upon a
video titled if slaughterhouses had
glass walls by Paul McCartney I remember
sitting on my bed as a 15 year old girl
watching this video with tears streaming
down my face and the most awful feeling
in the pit of my stomach as I watched
cows being beaten with clubs and pigs
being castrated while they were wide
awake I heard the cries of these animals
and I knew I needed to make a change so
now the way that I look at what I
purchase and consume is that if I were
not willing to treat an animal the way
that they were treated in order to
produce the product I would not pay
someone else to do it for me animals are
sentient beings this means that they can
feel emotions ranging from joy to pain
grief and even post-traumatic stress
disorder
they are also extremely intelligent in
fact a pig has an intelligence level of
a three-year-old child and by the turn
of time a chick turns two weeks old they
can walk navigate using the Sun and
count to five these are concepts that
human children don’t learn until the
age of about one year old scientists
have lifted the veil we see that these
animals can think and feel but still to
this day 56 billion farm animals are
killed we see these animals as dollars
meals and numbers and we’re treating
them awfully now I’m about to give you a
glimpse into the life of a chicken and a
cow but please note that I’m not
referring to all farm situations this is
only based on research that I’ve done on
how your large typical factory farm is
run so when you pass by the cage free
and free-range eggs at the grocery store
you probably picture a big sunny lush
field with plenty of room for the
chickens to move around in you probably
assume you’re off the hook morally when
you pick up the carton of free-range
eggs instead of picking up the generic
brand but the only regulation that the
United States Department of Agriculture
has put on the labeling of a carton of
eggs is free-range is that the producer
must demonstrate to the agency that the
poultry has been allowed access to the
outside this could be for as little as
an hour a day and for the other 23 hours
the chicks under such cruelty as soon as
they hatched the male chicks are
discarded because they’re seen as
useless to the egg industry then the
female chicks have their beaks cut down
to knobs and they are immediately fed
food with ridiculous amounts of hormone
to make their little bodies grow up fast
at rates faster than they can handle
now here’s a life of a cow on a dairy
farm as soon as she is old enough she is
forcefully impregnated she is then kept
in a cage with the square footage of
about a twin size bed throughout her
pregnancy she gives birth to her young
alone and then has her precious young
calf taken away from her which causes
immense emotional suffering she is then
pumped up to a milk machine and pumped
full of hormones that make her produce
milk too much milk in fact in 1970 the
average dairy cow produced 990 700
pounds of milk today the average dairy
cow produces 19,000 pounds of milk this
is not healthy for the cows or for us
now I understand that what I’ve just
presented you with may be affecting
each and every one of you in a different
way and my guess is that if I could read
everyone’s mind in the audience some of
you would be thinking wow there goes
those great Sunday morning omelets those
poor animals while some of you are just
thinking well that’s just the way it
goes if you haven’t been moved by this
here are the reasons why animal
agriculture is awful for our environment
according to The Huffington Post it
takes a staggering 1847 pounds of
gallons of water to produce one single
pound of beef if we were to produce that
substitute that pound of beef with a set
pound of tofu we would be saving 1545
gallons of water per pound aside from
water usage so much land is dedicated to
animal farming according to the United
Nations all animal agriculture
contributes to global warming more than
all of our cars planes and trucks
combined 40% more in fact 30% of Earth’s
landmasses dedicated animal agriculture
in 260 billion farming million acres of
u.s. forests have been cleared and able
to grow food for the farm animals to
consume now we’ve only been provided
with one planet Earth we don’t have
extra planets to spare and we need to
start taking care of our planet right
now cutting animal agriculture out of
the picture would benefit there is land
water and air and multiple ways now
here’s my spiel for all of you
biologists if I were to put an apple and
a bunny rabbit in a crib with a young
child the child would not eat the bunny
and play with the Apple we don’t pass a
living cow and think wow that looks
yummy this is because we as humans lack
the instinct that drives carnivores to
kill and devour their prey
we are quite possibly anatomically
herbivorous our teeth are not designed
like other carnivores this means that in
the wild we would eat mostly plant
matter and very small amounts of meat
matter but in today’s society this is
completely flip-flopped in the other
direction cut eating too much meat dairy
and eggs causes numerous health
but health problems more than 70 years
ago casein which is the main protein
found in cow’s milk was shown in studies
to substantially increase high
cholesterol and early heart disease so
how many of you got to try those
cinnamon rolls this morning they were
good weren’t they those were actually
vegan and as you can see you don’t have
to give up your favorite foods to change
your lifestyle now let’s take a look at
human history when the brave being stood
up for rights causes such as rights for
the LGBT community women’s suffrage and
the abolition of slavery they were all
called crazy
we don’t always welcome change with open
arms it can make us uncomfortable and it
can produce controversy and groups of
friends that controversy would not often
occur being vegan is not always easy I
have received countless questions about
where I get my B vitamins and protein
from if you decide to leave this
auditorium and change your lifestyle as
I did you’ll be shaping our futures our
children’s futures and their children’s
futures for the better I have hope that
one day our children will have beautiful
forests to walk in fresh water and free
wildlife to witness but if we keep going
down this path that may not be a
possibility I want them to be free of
pain and disease and I want them to
treat all beings with nothing but love
and kindness I have hope that one day we
will be looking back on these atrocities
is something to be ashamed of thank you
so much for spending your Saturday
morning with us it has been my pleasure
and an honor to speak with you all today
I urge you to take this information and
let it away the beautiful activists in
each and every one of you thank you
[Applause]
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