Billie Eilish Speaks Out Against “Horrendous” Animal Agriculture
“The most important thing you can do is changing what’s on your plate”, the singer said in a recent interview about the climate crisis, and urged her fans to eat more plant-based foods to help animals and the planet.
Credit: Billie Eilish
Grammy award-winning artist and activist Billie Eilish has spoken out against the “horrendous” animal agriculture industry and has asked fans to eat more plant-based foods to help tackle the climate crisis.
The singer made the comments ahead of her music performance at the Power Our Planet event, which took place in Paris last month. The event, organized by advocacy organization Global Citizen, aims to unite activists and artists to help rally global leaders to take action against the climate crisis, and in particular calls for vulnerable countries to be given a better financial foundation to invest in clean energy and ways to withstand natural disasters.
During a backstage interview with media personality Berla Mundi, Eilish was asked “if there’s any message, one particular message, that anybody needs to know about climate change, what would it be?”.
Eilish replied that, for her, “the most important thing you can do is changing what’s on your plate and what you’re eating”. She added that “trying to end animal agriculture, and eating a more plant-based diet is really, really important.”
Explaining her answer, Eilish described animal agriculture as “absolutely horrendous” for the environment, for the world, and for animals.
In agreement, interviewer Mundi responded “very good call”, and added that eating more plant-based foods is better health-wise, too.
Eilish’s Ongoing Activism
The 21-year-old is known for using her platform to promote causes and charities that she supports. And having been vegan for over seven years, she regularly posts about the suffering of animals and the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle to her over 100 million Instagram followers.
In 2021, Eilish brought her activism to the Met Gala, by encouraging Oscar de la Renta to ban fur from their collections. The fur ban was a condition set by Eilish, with her team telling the major fashion house that she doesn’t work with brands in the fur business.
The singer has also launched several collaborations with Nike, including a eco-friendly vegan sneaker and athleisure range, as well as a vegan version of the brand’s Air Force Ones sneakers.
Eilish promoting her Nike collaboration. Credit: Nike
And she has lent her support to various political bills, including the Healthy Future Students and Earth Act which seeks to help school districts overcome barriers to serving healthy, climate-friendly plant-based meals.
Eating for the Climate
Eilish’s plea for people to consume more plant-based food comes as a growing number of scientific studies and climate experts say that animal products, particularly beef and dairy, are having a huge negative impact on the climate.
A global shift towards a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change, according to the United Nations, and research from the University of Oxford shows that going vegan is the “single biggest way” to reduce your impact on the planet.
Research like this is leading wildlife experts and climate change campaigners - from Greta Thunberg to David Attenborough - to urge us all to reconsider our habits and diets to help lessen the impact of climate change.
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The footage was reportedly recorded at Marshall BioResources in North Rose, New York, where up to 22,000 dogs - mostly beagles - are being bred for animal experimentation.