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  • My perception of Vegans before I became vegan

  • was they were quite radical.

  • I pictured hippies with tie-dye shirts.

  • i love this stuff!

  • But it's rapidly becoming mainstream.

  • A lot of people still find it surprising

  • that you can be a champion boxer and be a vegan.

  • I love that I can challenge that.

  • i don't think there's many Muslim vegans around.

  • I haven't met one yet,

  • but I really want to change that.

  • Some people think it's pretty weird to be vegan,

  • They're like, is it annoying?

  • And I go, no, no. I want to be vegan.

  • I just think it's going to save the world.

  • Soon, everything might be gone,

  • like, I think it's from cow farts of something.

  • Hi I'm Amanda Brewer, I'm a stay at home mum.

  • My husband and I have three kids and three dogs

  • and we're all vegan.

  • This is my pantry -

  • and it's a traditional Australian looking pantry.

  • Even the Vegemite is vegan.

  • I thought that with having my children and breastfeeding,

  • animal products were something that I needed.

  • I came across information from very credible sources,

  • like the World Health Organisation,

  • that eating animal products and meat

  • was perhaps not the best way to go.

  • The initial challenges for me were,

  • so I can't eat chicken, so I can't eat cheese.

  • it wasn't until Amanda was asking me, watch this documentary Cowspiracy.

  • Animal agriculture - raising and killing animals for food

  • is really what's killing this planet.

  • So from then on, I was like, I can't do that anymore.

  • So two cups of cashews...

  • Ice cream was a bit hard to give up

  • until they made vegan ice cream.

  • I was like, yes!

  • We've got it in the fridge right now.

  • Guys, who wants to help me feed the dogs?

  • Me!

  • We feed our dogs human grade food,

  • and it's a very scientifically planned well-balanced diet.

  • - Can I eat it? - I don't think so!

  • We did the research into, is this cruel? Not giving our dogs meat.

  • I know that one of the oldest living dogs in the world

  • was on a vegan diet.

  • I think children instinctively love animals.

  • and so for her she's become this fierce crusader.

  • Someone had a ham sandwich at school,

  • and I was like, but that's an animal's life!

  • How would you feel if you were that pig?

  • And then the mums get really upset.

  • I've had to try and explain to her

  • not to ram it down people's throats,

  • because you've got to keep your preachiness in check.

  • Sometimes people don't want to sit next to me

  • because they think it's weird that I'm vegan.

  • Some people think I'm going to die when I'm 11.

  • But I'm like, I'm not going to die.

  • I might become the longest living person,

  • being vegan at this age.

  • There's definitely the misconception out there

  • that vegans are weak, they're not fit,

  • they can't build muscle mass.

  • I love surprising people.

  • I'm Claire Foreman,

  • I'm the WMC Australian bantam weight champion.

  • I've been vegan for about a year and a half now.

  • Since going vegan I won my Australian title.

  • I've won six straight fights.

  • I didn't think that would happen, going vegan, but it has.

  • I think there's so much dogma in the fitness industry

  • that you need excessive amounts of protein

  • and that protein has to come from animal sources.

  • Personally I have found that by eating more carbs

  • and more of a variety of foods

  • that I've been better able to build muscle.

  • My recovery time is really quick,

  • and recovery time from injuries as well.

  • A lot of people say it's because of the high antioxidants

  • in plants, and the high amount of micronutrients as well.

  • If I have to answer the 'what about protein' question one more time...

  • This gym has become a bit of a vegan hub.

  • Everyone gets ripped on coconut water.

  • Like they look up to the fighters,

  • so if you've got fighters there that

  • are performing well, and they're really strong and fit

  • and people are asking them, what do you eat,

  • people are quite inspired by that, I think.

  • We all tend to cook very good shit.

  • and feed it to all the meat-eaters, they're like what is it?

  • and you're like, it's plants mate.

  • How good is that?

  • What are you cooking, mum?

  • Are you going to add meat to it?

  • Of course I'm going to add meat to it.

  • I grew up eatiing a lot of meat, dairy and eggs,

  • and for dinner it was kebabs most nights.

  • It's a massive part of my culture.

  • my name's Abdullah, I'm 23 years old

  • and I came as a refugee from Afghanistan when I was eight years old.

  • We came here because we were scared for our lives because of the Taliban.

  • My dad used to be an artist in Afghanistan.

  • and they came and they smashed all his paintings

  • and they beat my mum up in front of me.

  • So I feel like having witnessed things like that

  • it's made me more compassionate as a person today.

  • I spoke to two Muslim girls yesterday

  • and they thought halal was humane.

  • How is it humane?

  • I think my parents didn't understand how

  • I could change the way I ate so dramatically.

  • I never expected to go from becoming a vegan

  • to becoming a vegan activist.

  • We head out every single weekend

  • we hold massive screens

  • showing the public what actually goes on in our agriculture industry.

  • The footage that we show on our TVs

  • is standard Australian practices

  • that's happening everywhere.

  • It's the majority of what's happening out there.

  • I don't think people consciously contribute towards the cruelty in animal agriculture.

  • Like most people don't actually know what's going on.

  • People use words like organic dairy

  • or happy farm - stuff like that.

  • But they don't actually realise that at the end of the day

  • all these animals are going to the same slaughterhouse.

  • Okay guys, come up to Cow Sanctuary.

  • You're going to meet 77 residents here.

  • I'm Anthony Wallscot

  • and I founded the Save A Cow sanctuaries. in 2010.

  • I rescue and save cows

  • from sale yards, from dairies.

  • Get bobby calves before they're hit on the head.

  • So Save A Cow is about providing sancturary

  • for the term of their natural life.

  • The greeting for cows is actually like this

  • and then you put your nose out.

  • I run public events.

  • When people come and see the personalities of the guys at the sanctuary,

  • they're conflicted

  • because that no longer can they deny that

  • Bunty Heart is not a machine.

  • He's a living being with feelings and emotions

  • and he communicates.

  • If humans spent time in a sanctuary like this,

  • they would realise how incredibly individual each resident is.

  • They themselves then become advocates

  • for their freedom in the future.

  • It's quite an intimate thing to be that close.

  • You know, they're wanting to connect as well.

  • There's also a brochure about the health consequences.

  • It's important not to turn people away.

  • So when we have discussions with them

  • we don't just attack them.

  • Think about it - it's no good, man.

  • No, I never had any idea it's happening like this.

  • Some people even go vegan straight on the spot.

  • and they tell us they're going to do vegan.

  • I'll give it a go - definitely.

  • It is a growing trend.

  • We're going to see more and more vegans in the future.

  • Absolutely.

  • It's good for the world, it's good for me,

  • it's good for the animals,

  • it's going to be good for everyone else,

  • so I think it would be better. A world of vegan people.

My perception of Vegans before I became vegan

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