Updated April 30, 2019. Ed Winters – aka animal rights activist and vegan social media star Earthling Ed – conducted his first TEDx talk at Lund University in Sweden. But it’s not his last.
“I’m incredibly honoured that today I was given the opportunity to deliver a TEDx talk on veganism at Lund University in Sweden,” Winters revealed on his Instagram.
“I’ve learnt [sic] so much from watching other TEDx talks in the past and I really hope that my talk will be able to inspire others in the same way that other people’s talks have inspired me,” he continued.
Compassion and Activism
In another recent TEDx talk at Bath University, Winters tackles “every argument” against veganism. From ethics to health and climate change, Winters deftly busts myths about the meat, eggs, and dairy, and makes a hard-to-ignore case for going vegan.
Winters – who runs the vegan campaigning organization Surge – isn’t the first vegan activist the nonprofit has invited to speak. Last June, musician and activist Moby gave his first ever TEDx talk at Venice Beach, and in May 2017, 13-year-old vegan Genesis Butler gave an inspiring speech at California State University. Like Moby and Winters, Butler encouraged people to make the connection between caring for animals, environmentalism, and the food that we eat.
Although the speech is his first with TEDx, Winters – who produced the vegan documentary “Land of Hope and Glory”, an “exposé” of UK farming, through Surge – has conducted several talks in his career as an activist.
Last month, the activist visited Google’s New York City offices to speak about veganism. The search engine platform offers a number of vegan options in its office kitchen for staff meals.
Google frequently hosts inspirational speaker presentations for its employees.
In 2018, he spoke to thousands of students at universities across the UK, encouraging them to take a 22-day vegan challenge for the ethical and environmental benefits. He spoke of his own journey to a vegan diet, discussing how he used to love bacon before he associated it with the death of pigs.
“There isn’t a single living being alive on this planet today that is not affected by our consumption of animal products,” he told students.
He went on to ask, “Are our taste buds not only worth more than the life of an animal but worth more than our own existence, worth more than the life of this planet? In essence, [are they worth more] than the life of every living being on this planet?”
Watch the full talk below.
