Speech- Chelsea Southworth

Our world is in disrepair. All around us people suffer from diseases, from not having enough to eat or having too much to eat. The planet that supports us is being abused by the very beings that rely on it for life. Our fellow animals, who are conscious, feeling individuals, are tortured just to bring us a fleeting pleasure. How could we hope to remedy this? How could we better the lives of animals, improve our own health, and nurture the health of the environment? There is a single solution for all of these problems: choosing a plant-based diet.

Think of an animal companion you have known. It could be your fluffy kitten, your best friend’s hamster, or the family dog that has passed away. Hold an image of that animal in your mind. Now imagine her stuffed into a cage barely large enough for her to turn around – with five other animals. Picture him, a baby, chained alone in a tiny box, his skinny legs unable to bear his own weight for the few short months he is allowed to live. Hear her cries as her baby is dragged away from her, and hear cries filled with even more pain as she is beaten with electric prods, stumbling up the kill ramp in agony, only to be alive and fully-feeling as her throat is cut and she sees her own blood flowing out of her neck onto the dirty floor. Who could begin to dream of these horrors falling upon the pets they love so dearly? Yet how many of us turn a blind eye when it is a pig instead of a dog, a chicken instead of a kitten? What is the difference between these creatures, other than our society’s view that one is to be coddled and cared for, while the other is abused, tortured and ultimately killed for our pleasure? As noted ethicist Philip Wollen said, “In their capacity to feel pain and suffering, a pig is a dog is a bear is a boy.” Living a life truly free of moral ambiguity starts with eating a plant-based diet, free from the cruelty that is inherent with any factory-farm produced animal product.

                Even if taking a colossal step on the moral high road doesn’t strike you as important, there is one thing that we all care about: ourselves. Eating a plant-based diet is one of the best things you can do for your body. Repeated studies by numerous scientists and medical journals, such as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, continually prove one core fact: eating a plant-based diet is simply the healthiest way you can eat. When compared to diets that include animal products, plant-based diets always come out on top; those who follow this way of eating have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, a reduced risk for Type-2 diabetes, a leaner body mass with an average of 30 fewer pounds on their body, and, most strikingly, an overall lower risk for cancer. In fact, eating a plant based diet can actually reverse many of the illnesses and diseases that plague us today. Take the story of Ruth Heidrich, for example: diagnosed with breast cancer in her 40s, this woman reversed her disease with a plant-based diet and now, in her 70s, has run over 60 marathons and won over 900 medals in races around the world – all while being on a plant-based diet. Anthony Yen resolved the cardiovascular disease that a quintuple bypass surgery could not, San’Dera Nation reversed her diabetes and hypertension…the list goes on and on. There is no evidence solid enough to denounce the miraculous health benefits that a plant-based diet provides; the common questions of “where do you get your protein?” and “what about Calcium?” are easily remedied by choosing any of the plethora of plants that are high in these and other nutrients, such as beans, kale, and almonds. Like anything in life, it comes down to making smart choices.

                But maybe, as a teenager, your health doesn’t concern you as much as something else: your future. Our future as human beings ultimately depends on the way we treat our planet, the one home we have in this universe. Who would intentionally choose to cut down rainforests, poison our water systems, and release noxious fumes into the air we breathe? Everyone who consumes animal products. Research has shown that around the world, over 2.4 billion tons of CO2 is released into the atmosphere as life-giving, ancient forests are cut down to make grazing land for beef cattle. Chemicals and hormones from the factory farms’ lagoons of waste and mountains of manure seep into the ground, poisoning precious water and soil. Factory farming alone counts for 37% of global methane emissions, according to the EPA. Even when you step down from the global scale, the numbers are still astounding; it takes over 2,400 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef – you would save more water by not eating a pound of beef than by not showering for an entire month. To put that in prospective, it takes only 180 gallons of water to make a pound of wheat. It just makes sense to choose a plant-based diet, when doing so will impact the environment in such a positive way.

                Yet many, and you might be among them, still doubt the validity of a plant-based diet. I’m only one person, they cry. How could one person change this? Yes, you are one person, but when hundreds, thousands, millions join you, that one voice grows so strong and persistent that it has to be heard. The other complaint is one of convenience; I love animal products, they protest, and it would be too hard to change. I’ll come out and say it: I loved animal products too. There was a time where bacon made my mouth water and no food was complete unless it was dripping with cheese – but now, both of those things make my stomach turn. I still love food, but I know now that there is food even more delicious out there that doesn’t come at the price of animals, my health, or the environment. Creamy avocado carbonara, pad thai, and no bake double chocolate torte – yum.  Yes, switching to a plant-based diet does come with work, but so do all things worth doing. And really, the transition is less work than Sergent’s class.

                The facts are in and the results are undeniable: a plant-based diet is compassionate towards animals, smart for your body, and responsible towards the environment.  What’s more, the few issues one could raise against it are shaky at best – dietary needs are easily maintainable through the healthy choices one must make regardless of diet, an actual difference will be made, the food is just as delicious, and it’s not nearly as hard as it seems. We all can make this choice and, in doing so, make a better world. Thank you.