Thirty years ago, a pig named "Babe" trotted into my life—and my heart. He helped me see pigs not as ingredients, but as individuals. They love. They grieve. They dream. Their hearts beat with the same quiet tenderness we feel in a dog’s gaze or a cat’s purr. They are someone, not something.

"Babe" inspired me to go vegan, which felt like the very least I could do.

Every single pig deserves the chance to frolic, to feel the sun on their back and to live in peace. Yet most pigs alive today do not get the chance. In the U.S. alone, nearly 128 million pigs are killed for food every year. It’s hard to wrap my head around the sheer number of pigs killed, especially knowing how they are treated while they are alive.

On today’s farms, workers hack off pigs’ tails, clip their teeth and cut off their testicles—all without pain relief. Mother pigs spend most of their lives packed into crates so small they can’t even turn around. And farmers take their babies far too soon. Then, when workers cram pigs onto transport trucks to slaughter, many die from exposure before even reaching the slaughterhouse.

For those pigs who survive the harrowing journey, more suffering awaits them in the slaughterhouse. The air vibrates with fear. They smell blood. They hear screams. And they know.

In the end, many pigs are still conscious when assembly line workers slit their throats or dump them into scalding water tanks. This isn’t the exception—it’s the rule. Suffering is inherent to the system, fueled by speed and profit.

Allow me to paraphrase a quote from the movie "Babe": “Ideas that tickle, and nag, and refuse to go away should never be ignored.” Please, do not ignore that voice inside that tells you that bringing pigs into this world just to abuse them, kill them and eat them is wrong. Horrifically wrong.

I was not the only person to reach that conclusion. Over the years, countless compassionate folks told me, “I went vegan after watching 'Babe.'” Or, “That movie made me stop eating pigs.” Isn’t it magnificent when humans stop and take a stand for what’s right? I did it in the nineties when I went vegan—and you can too, today.

As we mark the 30th anniversary of the film "Babe" this August, let’s remember that pigs are friends, not food. And let’s stop exploiting all animals for food. There are millions of animals suffering on farms right now who desperately need us to see them, to hear them and to save them. Each vegan saves over 200 animals every year. So please, go vegan.

That’ll do.

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James Cromwell is an Oscar-nominated actor, star of Succession and the Fox crime drama Murder in a Small Town and an honorary director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

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