If you’ve been following this blog for some time, you’ll know that we take every opportunity to spotlight PETA promotions – many of which leave much to be desired in the ‘good taste’ department. But, now, the animal welfare group is trying something else for the holidays…
The original vegan ‘Turkey’ Roast: One way to go this Holiday season
if you want to honour PETA’s vegan pledge…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is infamous for its previous holiday season ad campaigns designed to shame or shock omnivores out of killing Turkeys. In the end, the controversy stirred up by their extreme antics did them more harm than good. But, this year, they’re taking what appears to be a kinder, gentler approach to raising awareness for their cause by mounting a challenge for meat-eaters.
A challenging idea
PETA wants folks to pledge not to eat Turkey this Thanksgiving or Yuletide and, instead, to go or vegan. The challenge is to serve a vegan Thanksgiving dinner or, at least, take a vegan dish to any family feast or community celebration the plan to attend. And they want those who participate to send them photos of those occasions, with the hashtag: #VeganThanksgiving. I don’t know if they are looking for proof that the participant made good on their pledge, or just to compile a photo album of all the good deeds they (PETA) generated over the holidays. Anyway… The upshot of the program is that PETA will donate one vegan meal to someone in need for every 100 pledges received.
“This Thanksgiving, PETA is giving thanks for every person who takes our persuasion pledge, preventing gentle birds from being slaughtered for the meal’s centerpiece and giving food to those who need help,” PETA President, Ingrid Newkirk, said in a statement. “Our pledge campaign will motivate kind people to put vegan roasts, meat-free stews, and veggie dishes on the holiday table – and that will benefit everyone, regardless of species.”
My take…
PETA tells us that more than 45 million Turkeys are raised and slaughtered each year to supply the U.S. Thanksgiving demand. Let’s do the math: Given an average Thanksgiving Dinner crowd of 5 diners multiplied by that figure gives a total of 225 million meals. What are the other 100 million Americans eating? Probably something more traditional to their own cultural heritages, whether Latino, Asian or whatever. And many of them will be honouring the vegan pledge, whether they know it or not. That’s just the way they roll…
I say, eat whatever you want on Thanksgiving, and at Christmas and New Year’s. And give PETA credit for dialing back its traditional, inflammatory holiday rhetoric.
Find out more about the PETA Thanksgiving vegan pledge at PETA.org.
~ Maggie J.