Leslie talks about being vegan. She kindly provided a transcript for people who don’t understand American Sign Language (ASL). Here’s what she wrote:

“Hey, my name’s Leslie, and I want to discuss why I’m a vegetarian, and what life is like being a vegan. Well, first I want to discuss reasons why I’m a vegan–there’s three. Number one, most importantly, is what? My health. In my family, a lot of people had cancer, or a heart attack, or high blood pressure. That’s a lot of nasty illnesses I don’t want to have. A lot of sicknesses like those are genetic, so that’s why I became a vegan, and try to eat health food that won’t make me sick like the rest of the people in my family. Number two is I love animals, except for dogs, but all other animals are fine. Also, I can’t look at a plate of meat without dwelling upon where it came from. I can’t stare at a platter of chicken without seeing a live chicken. Third, I do it for the environment. A lot of land is needed for raising animals. For every pound of meat, you need 10 pounds of plants grown for the animals to eat. That’s a lot. That’s ten times more land for raising animals than for growing plants.

“So then what do I eat? A lot of people think vegans eat disgusting food. Not true. We eat good food. I love cooking and I cook for about an hour every day. Yeah, that’s quite a bit, but I enjoy it. I eat many vegetables, obviously, and fruit, and I cook whole wheat bread, and I often eat beans and soy products. I love tea and soy milk. The first time I tried soy milk (makes sign for “vomit”). My other brother is a vegetarian (was a vegan then), and when I was little, I used to put real milk in his soy milk. I feel really remorseful about that now.

“Anyways, I bring my lunch to school every day since the lunch room food is horrendous and unhealthy. It’s hard getting up early in the morning and cooking my lunch, but ehh…I have to adapt because America isn’t vegan.

“Lastly, I want to discuss the bad things about being a vegan. For example, I get made fun of a lot. I don’t think it’s funny, but when all my friends are adults, I’ll be the one making fun of them. Now, I’m just the chick that eats strange food.
Even my teachers make fun of me. A few days ago, I was sitting in Biology class, and the class was passing around a dead fetal pig cut in half. Yuck; I know. When it was my turn to look at the pig, I said, “No thank you,” and my teacher heard, and he said, “If that were bacon in the fridge, you’d be eating it.”
“No,” I replied, “I’m a vegan.” So then the teacher shows me the pig and says, “Wilbur”, like the pig in the movie, and now he makes a lot of salad jokes. Okay, well now I will stop boring you watching this. Thanks for watching. Later.”

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