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Ask Megan

While I was discussing my activism advocating a vegan lifestyle with a family member, he brought up concerns about PETA’s tactics, especially relating to children. How can I most effectively respond in situations like this?

PETA believes that parents need to be concerned about the kinds of messages—and foods—that their kids are exposed to. Many PETA supporters are parents ourselves, and it is with our children’s best interests at heart that we show other parents the ugly side of meat-eating. Keep the following in mind the next time you’re talking to a peeved parent:

  • By the age of 7, many children who follow the typical meat- and milk-heavy Western diet are already developing fatty deposits in their coronary arteries, which can eventually lead to heart attacks.
  • The Environmental Protection Agency reports that dioxins accumulate in animal fats and that 95 percent of human dioxin exposure comes from our food supply. The agency advises that we "increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, and grain products" in order to guard against excessive dioxin levels.
  • The National Academy of Sciences states that "the most direct way to reduce dietary exposure to dioxins is to reduce consumption of animal fat."

    Many children are inherently compassionate toward animals, but most of them know nothing about how animals suffer in the meat industry. Most of the more than 10 billion animals who are raised for food each year in the United States live in factory farms, where, to maximize profits, producers try to raise the greatest number of animals in the least space possible. Extremely crowded in small cages or stalls, many animals never see the sun, breathe fresh air, or feel grass beneath their feet.

    Lifelong eating habits are formed during childhood, and we shouldn’t tolerate the meat and dairy industries’ peddling their products to our children any more than we tolerate cigarette companies’ encouraging children to smoke. Instead, we should start kids on the road to a healthy, humane lifestyle by teaching them to make smart eating choices that will serve them throughout their lives.


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