James Cameron Promotes Veganism In An Award Acceptance Speech

Director and environmentalist James Cameron, of Avatar and Titanic successes, used his award acceptance speech at National Geographic's 125th anniversary gala to extol veganism, and to urge the audience to try a vegan diet.

Cameron, who was being celebrated by National Geographic as "Explorer of the Year" following a successful solo dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the Pacific Ocean, has been vegan since October 2012.

In his speech, Cameron challenged his audience to consider making the switch to veganism, citing his own success on the diet. "I felt like I was waking up from a long sleepwalk," he said on becoming vegan. "I believe we are all sleepwalking off a cliff if we don't do this.

He and his wife, Suzy Amis, also vegan, are also in the process of converting their 2,500-acre New Zealand plot of land, formerly a dairy farm, into an organic vegan farm.

"By changing what you eat," Cameron said at the gala, "you will change the entire contract between the human species and the natural world."