“Three times a day, when you choose your meal, you get to vote for the kind of world you want to live in, what kind of values you stand for.”

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter has shifted to a plant-based diet after learning about the rampant abuse in intensive animal farming.

The Turkish big man, who also recorded a new public service announcement with pro-animal rights group Chooseveg.com and Mercy for Animals, said his perspective towards eating animal foods changed after “educating himself on the industrial food systems of the world,” at Disney’s NBA campus.

‘Standing up’

“Today, I’m standing up against abuse not just of workers but of animals and our environment,” the athlete said in the video.

“Every day, most of us enjoy our food without ever thinking about where it came from, how it got there, or who may have suffered or died to get it there. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about those things, and I’m asking you to do the same.

“ I started to learn about our broken food system and the factory farms where thousands and thousands of animals are forced to live in cramped conditions — they can’t turn around or spread their wings. They are forced to live in their own filth, pumped full of antibiotics and hormones.

“It is a cruel life full of suffering that only ends with their deaths.”

Meat myths

The NBA player also added that he has been inspired to overhaul his diet after observing fellow pro athletes who are vegans, like New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton and the Williams sisters.

“[Many] trainers say if you don’t eat meat you’re not going to get faster, you’re not going to get stronger, or heal faster,” he said.

“But everything was just so wrong, I learned after all the studying I did, and there’s been so much inspiration out there.”

More mindful choices

Although Kanter is not completely vegan, he revealed, he has been making more mindful choices and is reaping the benefits of his new diet. “I feel great. My body recovers faster, I feel stronger. It has been such a positive change for me personally and for the impact I am making,” he said.

In the video, he concluded saying: “Three times a day, when you choose your meal, you get to vote for the kind of world you want to live in, what kind of values you stand for.”

• Read: Iowa star athlete Alaric Jackson says veganism is a better lifestyle to follow ‘football-wise’

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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