Ed Winters

Winters turned vegetarian in May 2014 after coming across a news article{{cite news |title=Hundreds of chickens killed in M62 lorry crash |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27405467 |access-date=28 May 2024 |work=BBC News |date=14 May 2014}} about a chicken truck crashing near Manchester. Upon reading that many of the birds had died, he reflected on their suffering and desire to live without pain. He then became vegan in 2015{{cite web |last1=Bronnert |first1=Rachel |title='Veganism is about challenging our normality': In conversation with Ed Winters |url=https://epigram.org.uk/veganism-is-about-challenging-our-normality-i/ |website=Epigram |access-date=28 May 2024 |language=en |date=12 March 2024}} after watching the documentary Earthlings.{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBL6TxaF5p0 |date=6 November 2018 |title=Are Militant Vegans Going Too Far? This Morning |medium=YouTube |access-date=13 October 2019 |time=0:12 |publisher=This Morning}}

Winters started his YouTube channel in 2016, alongside co-founding the animal rights group Surge.{{Citation

| last = Chappet

| first = Marie-Claire

| author-link =

| title = The 50 most empowering Nu-Gen activists you need to know about right now

| newspaper = Glamour Magazine

| pages =

| date = 27 February 2020

| url = https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/best-activists-2020

| archive-url =

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| access-date = 3 April 2020}}

His Earthling Ed channel brought him to fame with videos of him having friendly talks about veganism with non-vegan passerbys.

He has co-lectured about animal rights activism as a Media and Design Fellow at Harvard University.{{cite web |last1=Brennan |first1=Maeve |last2=Parker |first2=Adelaide |title=Meet Earthling Ed, That Vegan Educator {{!}} Magazine {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/10/20/earthling-ed/ |website=www.thecrimson.com |access-date=28 May 2024 |date=20 October 2022}}{{cite web |access-date=2025-02-04 |title="This Is Vegan Propaganda" – Das neue Buch von Earthling Ed – Lesetipp |url=https://soundsvegan.com/2021/09/earthling-ed-this-is-vegan-propaganda/ |date=2021-09-24 |website=Sounds Vegan |language=de}}

Winters has given speeches in one-third of U.K. universities in 2018 and 2019{{Cite web|url=https://metiza.com/wellness/earthling-ed-vegan/|title=Earthling Ed Will Make You Vegan in 30 Minutes or Less|date=18 September 2018|website=Metiza|language=en-US|access-date=20 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420030005/https://metiza.com/wellness/earthling-ed-vegan/|archive-date=2019-04-20}} and across college campuses in America.{{Cite web|url=https://cornellsun.com/2019/04/09/inaugural-dairy-alternative-day-features-vegan-activist-earthling-ed-and-dairy-free-food/|title=Inaugural 'Dairy Alternative Day' Features Vegan Activist Earthling Ed and Dairy-Free Food|date=9 April 2019|website=The Cornell Daily Sun|language=en-US|access-date=20 April 2019}} Winters has appeared on live television such as on This Morning{{Cite web |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/phillip-schofield-shocks-morning-fans-13542042 |title=Phil's 'sausage' remark during militant vegan debate shocks This Morning fans |last=Hill|first=Rose |date=6 November 2018 |website=mirror |access-date=20 April 2019}} debating the ethical and environmental arguments for veganism. In September 2018 he opened an non-profit vegan restaurant in London called Unity Diner.{{cite web |title=Earthling Ed's Unity Diner moves to a bigger Spitalfields site |url=https://www.hot-dinners.com/201910098920/Gastroblog/Latest-news/unity-diner-earthling-ed-wentworth-street-spitalfields |website=Hot Dinners |access-date=28 May 2024 |language=en-gb |date=9 October 2019}}{{Cite web|url= https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/26/londons-11-yummiest-vegan-comfort-foods-10988022/ |title= London's 11 yummiest vegan comfort foods |date=26 October 2019|website=Metro|language=en-GB|access-date=30 March 2020}} In 2021, Winters co-founded another vegan restaurant, the No Catch Co., in Brighton.{{cite web |title=The No Catch Co: "Our Mission is to Take On the Fish and Chip Shop Industry" - vegconomist - the vegan business magazine |url=https://vegconomist.com/interviews/the-no-catch-co-takes-on-fish-and-chips/ |website=vegconomist.com |date=2 December 2021 |access-date=4 February 2025}}

Winters was also one of the guests at the 2018 Montreal Vegan Festival.{{cite news

| last = Maret

| first = Elsa

| title = 2018 Montreal Vegan Festival: What to Expect

| newspaper = Montreal Times

| location = Montreal, Canada

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = MTLTimes.ca

| date = 1 September 2018

| url = https://mtltimes.ca/Montreal/entertainment/festivals/2018-montreal-vegan-festival-what-to-expect/

| access-date = 3 April 2020}}

In early 2019 he gave two TEDx talks.{{Citation

| last =

| first =

| author-link =

| last2 =

| first2 =

| title = Earthling Ed Gives TEDx Talk On Veganism In Sweden

| newspaper = VeganLife Magazine

| pages =

| date = 29 January 2019

| url = https://www.veganlifemag.com/earthling-ed-gives-tedx-talk-on-veganism-in-sweden/

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200329172108/https://www.veganlifemag.com/earthling-ed-gives-tedx-talk-on-veganism-in-sweden/

| archive-date = 2020-03-29

| access-date = 29 March 2020}}{{dead link |date=August 2024}}

In March 2019, Winters, along with 200 other activists of the animal rights campaign group Meat the Victims, stormed a pig farm in Laughterton, Lincolnshire and videotaped the happenings, which received national coverage.{{cite news

| last = Duggan

| first = Joe

| title = VEGAN FURY: Farmer accuses militant mob of killing piglets after STORMING her farm

| newspaper = Express

| location =

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = Express.co.uk

| date = 6 March 2019

| url = https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1096644/vegans-farmer-mob-lincolnshire-storm-farm-lincolnshire

| access-date = 3 April 2020}}

In 2019, he toured the United States and gave vegan lectures at Cornell, Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Yale, and Rutgers Universities.{{cite news

| last = Lu

| first = Grace

| title = Speaker Asks: Why Do We Love Dogs, Eat Cows, and Wear Sheep?

| newspaper = The Cornell Daily Sun

| location =

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = Cornellsun.com

| date = 11 April 2019

| url = https://cornellsun.com/2019/04/11/speaker-asks-why-do-we-love-dogs-eat-cows-and-wear-sheep/

| access-date = 5 April 2020}} In his talk at the Cornell University on "The Ethics of Pet Ownership", he argued that the concept of having animals as pets is unnatural because viewing animals as "pets" and ourselves as "owners" instills a sense of property and devalues the lives of the pet animals.{{cite news

| last = Campbell

| first = Maeve

| title = Animals – Can you eat one and cuddle the other? The owners spoiling their pets

| newspaper = Euro News

| location =

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = Euronews.com

| date = 21 January 2020

| url = https://www.euronews.com/living/2020/01/21/animals-can-you-eat-one-and-cuddle-the-other-the-owners-spoiling-their-pets

| access-date = 4 April 2020}}

After Priestlands School in Lymington, Hampshire presented its students with piglets to teach them how to "fatten up pigs for slaughter", and dismissed concerns, Winters launched a campaign which reached 37,000 signatures within days of its launch.{{cite news

| last = Richards

| first = Alexandra

| title = School faces backlash after students raise pigs to send to slaughter

| newspaper = Evening Standard

| location =

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = Standard.co.uk

| date = 22 January 2018

| url = https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/school-faces-backlash-after-students-raise-pigs-to-send-to-slaughter-a3746791.html

| access-date = 4 April 2020}}{{cite news

|title=Vegan parent complains about Lymington school's pigs

|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-42782437

|access-date=26 February 2025

|work=BBC News

|date=23 January 2018}}

In March 2020, Winters posted an image on his Instagram account stating that "COVID-19 started because we eat animals" and "would not exist if the world was vegan".{{cite web

| url = https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/03/18/coronavirus-fact-check-covid-19-caused-eating-animals/5073094002/

| title = Fact check: Is COVID-19 caused by human consumption of animals?

| last = Brown

| first = Matthew

| date = 18 March 2020

| website = USA Today

| publisher = USA Today

| access-date = 27 March 2020

| quote = }}

The post was discussed by PolitiFact{{Cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/18/instagram-posts/vegan-instagram-accounts-spread-misinformation-abo|title=Vegan Instagram accounts spread misinformation about COVID-19|website=PolitiFact|access-date=27 March 2020}} and USA Today and was censored by Facebook as "partly false". The Guardian published an article by Laura Spinney on 28 March 2020 titled "Is factory farming to blame for coronavirus?" which mentioned the censorship of Winter's post and concluded, "But the claims are also partly true. Though the links they draw are too simplistic, the evidence is now strong that the way meat is produced – and not just in China – contributed to Covid-19."{{cite news

| last = Spinney

| first = Laura

| title = Is factory farming to blame for coronavirus?

| newspaper = The Guardian

| location =

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = TheGuardian.com

| date = 28 March 2020

| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/is-factory-farming-to-blame-for-coronavirus

| access-date = 31 March 2020}} Spinney also recalled a scientific controversy on whether domesticated horses may have played a larger role than poultry as intermediate hosts for poultry flu at some point in human history, as suggested by Worobey.{{cite journal |first1=Michael|last1=Worobey |first2=Guan-Zhu|last2=Han |first3=Andrew|last3=Rambaut |title=A synchronized global sweep of the internal genes of modern avian influenza virus |journal=Nature |date=2014-04-16 |volume=508 |issue=7495 |pages=254–257 |pmid=24531761 |pmc=4098125 |doi=10.1038/nature13016|bibcode=2014Natur.508..254W }}

Winters wrote and co-produced the 2022 animated short film Milk, which focused on the dairy industry. The film was the 2023 People's Voice Winner in the Video—Animation category at the 2023 Webby Awards.{{cite web |title=NEW Webby Gallery + Index |url=https://winners.webbyawards.com/2023/video/general-video/animation/240309/milk |website=NEW Webby Gallery + Index |access-date=29 May 2024 |language=en}}

In 2016, Surge co-founded The Official Animal Rights March,{{Cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2017/09/02/thousands-of-vegan-activists-march-through-london-to-end-animal-cruelty-6898373/|title=Thousands of vegan activists march through London to end animal cruelty|date=2 September 2017|website=Metro|language=en-US|access-date=20 April 2019}} which grew from 2,500 participants in London in 2016 to 10,000 in 2017.{{cite news

| last = Simpson

| first = Fiona

| title = Thousands of vegans stage animal rights march in central London

| newspaper = Evening Standard

| location = London

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = Standard.co.uk

| date = 2 September 2017

| url = https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/thousands-of-vegans-stage-animal-rights-march-in-central-london-a3625626.html

| access-date = 30 March 2020}} The events also took place in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Bucharest{{cite news

| last = Woolfe

| first = Sam

| title = Crowds have gathered around the world in defence of animals

| newspaper = The Canary

| location = London

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = TheCanary.co

| date = 4 September 2017

| url = https://www.thecanary.co/discovery/2017/09/04/crowds-gathered-around-world-defence-animals/

| access-date = 3 April 2020}} in what the activists described as "a consolidated global effort to make the vegan voice heard." In 2019, the number of activists rose to tens of thousands, who marched in 42 cities around the world, including Cologne and Berlin in Germany. In Cologne, around 1,000 activists conducted the event, marching {{convert|6|km|mi}}{{cite news

| last = Winter

| first = Chase

| title = Vegans march in Germany to 'give animals a voice'

| newspaper = DW

| location = Cologne

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = DW.com

| date = 17 August 2019

| url = https://www.dw.com/en/vegans-march-in-germany-to-give-animals-a-voice/a-50065823

| access-date = 31 March 2020}} and conducting 'die-ins' and fake blood protests.{{cite news

| last = Winter

| first = Chase

| title = 'Die-ins' and fake blood at animal rights protests

| newspaper = DW

| location = Cologne

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = DW.com

| date = 17 August 2019

| url = https://www.dw.com/en/die-ins-and-fake-blood-at-animal-rights-protests/g-50065811

| access-date = 31 March 2020}} In London, around 12,000 activists participated in the march, up from 10,000 in 2017 and 2018.{{cite news

| last = Hockaday

| first = James

| title = Record 12,000 vegan activists take part in London Animal Rights March

| newspaper = Metro

| location = London

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = Metro.co.uk

| date = 18 August 2019

| url = https://metro.co.uk/2019/08/18/record-12000-vegan-activists-take-part-london-animal-rights-march-10591790/

| access-date = 31 March 2020}}

Under Winter's co-directorship, Surge conducted anti-fur demonstrations at the London catwalk events attracting more than 250 people in September 2017, a rise from 120 the previous catwalk season and 25 in September 2016.{{cite news

| last = Cartner-Morley

| first = Jess

| title = Anti-fur protests set to fly as activists target London fashion week

| newspaper = The Guardian

| location =

| pages =

| language =

| date = 16 February 2018

| url = https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/feb/16/london-fashion-week-fur-set-fly-animal-rights-activists-protests

| access-date = 29 March 2020}} The protest included petitions and a video with Lucy Watson calling on the BFC to ban fur.{{cite news

| last = Hendriksz

| first = Vivian

| title = Anti-fur protesters take London Fashion Week by storm

| newspaper = Fashion United

| location = London

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = Fashionunited.uk

| date = 19 September 2017

| url = https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/anti-fur-protesters-take-london-fashion-week-by-storm/2017091925941

| access-date = 31 March 2020}} In 2017, Winters gathered anti-fur campaigners for protests including animal rights activists covering in fake blood, wearing costume, and bearing signs outside of 180 Strand.{{cite news

| last = Cook

| first = Grace

| title = Making Sense of the Anti-Fur Protests at London Fashion Week

| newspaper = Business of Fashion

| location = London

| pages =

| language =

| date = 19 September 2017

| url = https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/reflecting-on-the-anti-fur-protests-at-london-fashion-week

| access-date = 3 April 2020}} Winters and fellow activists called upon the British Fashion Council (BFC) to ban all fur from London Fashion Week. The London Fashion Week eventually went fur-free in 2018.{{cite news

| last = Conlon

| first = Scarlett

| title = London fashion week vows to be fur-free

| newspaper = The Guardian

| location = London

| pages =

| language =

| date = 7 September 2018

| url = https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/sep/07/london-fashion-week-vows-to-be-fur-free

| access-date = 29 March 2020}}{{cite news

| last =

| first =

| title = London Fashion Week to go fur-free for the first time

| newspaper = BBC News

| location = London

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = BBC

| date = 7 September 2018

| url = https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-45446028

| access-date = 29 March 2020}}

Surge brought to light cruelties in United Kingdom's dairy farms after taking footage of them, which according to Winters "shows not only a flagrant violation of the safety of these animals, but points to the wider systemic issues found throughout the whole dairy industry."{{cite news

| last = King

| first = David

| title = Undercover footage of violence at dairy farm prompts RSPCA investigation

| newspaper = The Guardian

| location =

| pages =

| language =

| date = 26 February 2019

| url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/26/undercover-footage-of-violence-at-dairy-farm-prompts-rspca-investigation

| access-date = 29 March 2020}}{{cite news

| last = Dalton

| first = Jane

| title = Cows sexually abused, hit and punched at company owned by NFU deputy president, footage shows

| newspaper = Independent

| location =

| pages =

| language =

| publisher = Independent.co.uk

| date = 29 November 2019

| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cow-sexual-abuse-violence-dairy-farm-punch-kick-hit-essex-nfu-a9215306.html

| access-date = 29 March 2020}} In 2017 he also produced the documentary Land of Hope and Glory (2017), considered to be a UK equivalent of the US Earthlings documentary.{{Cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2017/12/19/think-british-meat-humane-american-deluded-7171226/|title=If you think that British meat is more humane than American, you're deluded|date=19 December 2017|website=Metro|language=en-US|access-date=20 April 2019}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=A0wg3wW-v5yaIh8x&v=dvtVkNofcq8&feature=youtu.be |title=Land of Hope and Glory (UK 'Earthlings' Documentary) |date=2017-08-01 |last=Earthling Ed |access-date=2025-02-04 |via=YouTube}} Land of Hope and Glory contained undercover footage of violence to animals at a RSPCA Assured farm, to which the RSPCA responded.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rspcaassured.org.uk/land-of-hope-and-glory-film/|title=Land of Hope and Glory film|website=www.rspcaassured.org.uk|language=en|access-date=20 April 2019}}

• "This Is Vegan Propaganda: (And Other Lies the Meat Industry Tells You)"{{Cite web |title=This is Vegan Propaganda (And Other Lies the Meat industry Tells You) |url=https://earthlinged.org/thisisveganpropaganda |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=Ed Winters |language=en-GB}}{{cite web |last1=Foreman |first1=Polly |title=Earthling Ed Announces New Book 'How To Argue With A Meat-Eater' |url=https://plantbasednews.org/culture/books/earthling-ed-new-book/ |website=Plant Based News |access-date=3 May 2024 |date=11 October 2023}} (2022) {{ISBN|978-1785044243}}{{Cite book |last=Winters |first=Ed |title=This Is Vegan Propaganda: (And Other Lies the Meat Industry Tells You) |publisher=Penguin Random House UK |date=April 4, 2023 |isbn=9781785044243 |publication-date=April 4, 2023}}
• "How to Argue With a Meat Eater (And Win Every Time)"{{Cite web |title=How to Argue with a Meat Eater (And Win Every Time) {{!}} The new book from best-selling author Ed Winters. |url=https://www.howtoarguewithameateater.com/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=How to Argue with a Meat Eater (And Win Every time) |language=en-GB}} (2023) {{ISBN|978-1785044489}}{{Cite book |last=Winters |first=Ed |title=How to Argue With a Meat Eater (And Win Every Time) |publisher=Ebury Publishing |date=December 28, 2023 |isbn=9781529907001 |publication-date=December 28, 2023}} in contribution to the spread of veganism and its ethical basis.

This is Vegan Propaganda was reviewed as being a "digressive but well-researched introduction to veganism" by Freddie Hayward of the New Statesman.{{cite web |last1=Hayward |first1=Freddie |title=Why are vegans so reviled? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2022/02/why-are-vegans-so-reviled |website=New Statesman |access-date=25 July 2024 |date=9 February 2022}}

In 2025, both books appeared in the suggested reading for Veganuary published by Hertfordshire Council.{{cite news |first1=Abigail|last1=Buchanan |access-date=2025-02-04 |title=The farmers taking a stand against vegan-pushing councils |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/22/the-farmers-taking-a-stand-against-vegan-pushing-councils/ |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=2025-01-22 |issn=0307-1235 |via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}

{{reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{Official website|https://earthlinged.org}}
• {{URL|https://www.surgeactivism.org/|Surge Activism official website}}

{{Animal rights|state=uncollapsed|advocates}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winters, Ed}}

Category:English animal rights activists

Category:English documentary filmmakers

Category:English restaurateurs

Category:English veganism activists

Category:Living people