In the following video, Julia Ganswind interviews Earthsave Canada co-founder and long-time vegan Karl H. Losken at the Taste of Health Show Vancouver 2009. The festival took place on Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 2009 Vancouver Conference Centre, 999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC, Canada. The conversation starts with a quick overview of the founding of Earthsave Canada, moves onto veganism, and then finishes with talk on the health and ethical issues around the use of dairy cows:
I find Karl H. Loskens comments on dairy interesting. It was by researching the health issues around dairy consumption one evening back in August 2006 that I was exposed to the ethical problems that surround dairy production and animal use altogether. This created the “cognitive dissonance” that helped reset my perception. I was essentially vegan the next day — I couldn’t even finish the half-pint of yogurt I had in the fridge. Each time I tried a very clear image of how consuming the yogurt, something I had previously did without thought, contributed to extreme needless suffering and death — for no other reason than to satisfy my palate. To paraphrase Gray L. Francione (or is this a direct quote?), there’s more suffering in a glass of milk then there is in a steak.
By going vegan, not only did I reduce the needless suffering and death caused by the animal use required to satisfy my previous demand for dairy products, I also quickly realized some obvious health benefits. I had been suffering from a terrible dandruff problem ever since reaching puberty. It was barely controllable, uncomfortable, and embarrassing — but within a month of going vegan I no longer suffered from any dandruff whatsoever and my acne and complexion in general improved. Milk does the body good? Yah right….
P.S. – Julia Ganswind makes a line of vegan inspired belts, wallets, purses, etc., which you can currently purchase in store at Karmavore (The Vegan Shop), located in the Greater Vancouver Region of beautiful British Columbia, Canada. I wear one of Julia’s creations almost everyday — you can see a photo of my vegan belt on Facebook or a photo of my vegan belt on Flickr.
