Evanna Lynch on Being Vegan

Last week, Evanna Lynch accepted a Burke Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Discourse Through the Arts in Dublin. At the ceremony, Evanna gave a speech on being vegan, catching the attention of many foodies around the world, even VegNews.

Evanna talked of the reasons why she is vegan, siting facts on the environment and animal treatment to back her speech. She addressed the different moral perspectives of the diet, those commonly heard and others not as well discussed. University Time reported:

In her speech, Lynch presented an argument for going vegan. She began her talk by explaining the environmental reasons for veganism. She cited animal agriculture as being the primary contributor to “greenhouse gas emissions, world hunger, deforestation, species extinction,” as well as others. She believes this is an issue “you cannot afford not to address” due to the adverse effects of over consuming meat and animal products. She then went on to explain the reasons she went vegan.

She explained that the environment is not the reason she made the decision to cut meat and animal products from her diet. Instead, simply put, she believes that “killing and eating animals is a betrayal of our own core humanity” and that “killing an innocent goes against our nature”. From this point, her argument looked at history, evolution and the reasons consuming meat and animal products continue to be the norm in our society. Finally, she urged the audience to “check [that their] practices align with [their] principles”.

At the end of her speech, she half-jokingly mentioned that her father warned her that she would probably be heckled and booed when speaking on this topic. This was not the case, as the crowd listened cautiously and subsequently asked insightful questions during the Q&A session.

Evanna addressed the crowd, ready to be booed and mocked for her views on food, but found that her speech opened up a polite discussion and well-mannered Q&A. Fans asked about her food journey, where her turning point was, if she had any tips for healthy eating and more.

During the Q&A the conversation made an abrupt transition to the unavoidable topic of her role in Harry Potter, and her thoughts on the new Harry Potter projects.

Lynch was also questioned regarding the newest addition to the Harry Potterfranchise, the stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The session finished with Lynch answering one final question about the positive impact Lovegood has on fans and readers in terms of being proud of who they are and accepting themselves. She ended the session by saying: “That lovely message of ‘I’m weird but I’m ok’, you know. I’m happy to spread that, and I’m glad she’s such an advocate.”

For more, the original article may be read here.