Written by PETA
When Food Network chef Giada De Laurentiis asked her viewers what they'd like her to cook, they overwhelmingly requested more vegetarian meals. In fact, De Laurentiis predicts vegetarian meals will be the hot trend in 2012, and in preparation, she's been testing a variety of mouthwatering vegetarian concoctions. She says in a Food Network video that when her mother went vegetarian, "I sort of made it my mission to start coming up with dishes that wouldn't make you miss the meat." In the video, De Laurentiis shares her recipes for delectable dishes, including a zesty vegan curry bean dip:
To help get her creative juices flowing for developing more vegetarian delights, PETA sent De Laurentiis a copy of The Conscious Cook by vegan chef Tal Ronnen, who has cooked for the likes of Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres. The book is a wealth of information about delicious, versatile, and protein-rich faux meats that can be the basis for healthy plant-based meals.
To get a jump start on 2012's vegetarian food craze, pick up your own copy of Chef Tal's book, or browse the free vegetarian recipes on PETA's "Living" page right now!
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
This whale of a tale is true: Dolphin activist Hayden Panettiere traveled to the White House to thank President Obama for asking Iceland to ban hunting whales and exporting their meat. Fellow ocean-animal advocates Richard Branson and basketball legend Yao Ming are calling for a ban on shark-fin soup in China, where 95 percent of the cruel fare is served.
Yao Ming isn't the only athlete taking action for animals. After being vegetarian for four years, Toronto Maple Leaf Mike Zigomanis has gone vegan as part of his effort to become healthier, stronger, and a better player.
Congratulations to glowing vegan mom Emily Deschanel, who gave birth last week to her first child, son Henry Hornsby. A rockin' congrats also goes out to the inimitable Joan Jett for her well-deserved Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination. She loves rock and roll … as well as chickens, cows, seals, pigs, elephants, and rabbits.
Another award we couldn't help but crack a smile about—furry Kim Kardashian was voted the most annoying celebrity. Maybe kind sis Khloe can teach her how to be more popular.
Speaking of popular—Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Maher, and other celebs helped make PETA's White House spay-and-neuter petition one of the first to reach 5,000 signatures and go to the president for review by tweeting about the dog and cat homelessness crisis. You can join Ellen, Bill, and many others in sending a strong message about the importance of spaying and neutering by signing the petition too.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Fighters, schmighters―after Jake Shields' recent tweet, the people he'll really need to shield himself from are all the clamoring vegan girls. And they're probably in pretty good shape, too, if they've been fueling up on the healthy fare that Ellen DeGeneres shares on her website's "Go Vegan With Ellen" page. Hope they leave room for Anne Hathaway's luscious vegan treats.
Alicia Silverstone is raising a little vegan Bear, of course. Maybe she has some words of wisdom for cruelty-free mom-to-be Emily Deschanel?
And PETA has words of wisdom for Diane Kruger, about her photo shoot in which she was draped in coyote. Hasn't she heard it's better to go naked than wear fur? Furry Alexander McQueen may have passed on, like so many of the animals he killed for clothes, but at least he did make a kind decision in his will. Where was his compassion when he was alive?
Well, it's very obvious where Bree Olson's compassion is―you can't miss it. And Olivia Wilde and Emma Stone are going to have cruelty-free written all over their faces.
When they aren't starring on screen or on stage, many of the nominees in this year's Teen Choice Awards are starring in ads for PETA! There are heaps of hotties with hearts of gold and vegetarians vying for votes this year, so we hope that you'll encourage the animal-friendly teens in your life to cast their vote for compassion in every category. Here are our picks:
Adele Choice Music: Female Artist
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan, DirectorChoice Movie: Drama
Justin Bieber Choice Music: Male ArtistChoice TV: Villain, CSIChoice Male Hottie Choice Twit (for Twitter presence)Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon: Male
Russell Brand, Arthur Choice Movie Actor: Comedy
Ellen DeGeneresChoice Twit (for Twitter presence)Choice Comedian
Emily Deschanel, BonesChoice TV Actress: Drama
Lady Gaga Choice Music: Female Artist
Anne Hathaway, RioChoice Animated Movie: Voice
Eva Mendes, The Other Guys Choice Movie Actress: Comedy
Mila Kunis Choice Female Hottie
Jane Lynch, Glee Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star
Renee Olstead, The Secret Life of the American Teenager Choice TV Show: Drama
Jared Padalecki, Supernatural Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Grace Park, Hawaii Five-O Choice TV Show: ActionChoice TV Actress: Action
Audrina Patridge, Audrina Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star
Katy Perry Choice Music: Female Artist
Kellie Pickler Choice Music: Female Country Artist
Maggie Q, Nikita Choice TV Show: ActionChoice TV Actress: Action
Yvonne Strahovski, Chuck Choice TV Actress: Action
Carrie Underwood Choice Music: Female Country Artist
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids Choice Movie: ComedyChoice Movie Actress: ComedyChoice Movie: Hissy Fit
Glee Cast Choice Music: Group Choice TV Show: Comedy
Khloe & Lamar Choice TV: Reality Show
Linkin Park Choice Music: Rock Group
Modern Family Choice TV Show: Comedy
OneRepublic Choice Music: Rock Group
Ellen DeGeneres, Gordon Ramsay, and Entourage star Adrian Grenier are among the many stars who have recently done something noteworthy for animals:
Written by Alisa Mullins
You know it's going to be fun when longtime PETA pal Pamela Anderson and PETA's 2009 Woman of the Year Ellen DeGeneres get together. When Pamela appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday, precocious Pam showed that she can toss an animal rights message into any situation as easily as she can stop traffic.
Pam told Ellen that the night before the show, she had to call the courthouse to find out if she was needed for jury duty. "I don't think I'd be a very good juror," Pamela admitted. "You know, 'If you're not vegetarian—guilty!'"
Ellen, a vegan herself, burst out laughing along with the audience, and Ellen later complimented Pam on all the great work she does for animals. And look who's talking, Ellen—animals are crazy about you too. If ever there were a green room we'd like to hang out in, this one takes the vegan cake.
We know that you love to talk about how much you love PETA (we love you too!), but if some jealous type ever responds, "Dude, PETA's soooo gay," don't get offended, 'cause it's totally true! Here are a half-dozen reasons why:
1. Cruelty is a drag. Long before the current flock of RuPaul wannabes ruled the airwaves, PETA enlisted drag divas—including Lady Bunny, Lypsinka, and Flotilla DeBarge—to shed some light (and throw some shade) on animal abuse.2. Give a gal a break. PETA has always been a lesbian haven—from Ellen DeGeneres to k.d. lang to Sara Gilbert—even before they come out!3. Can you make out our message? PETA's famous make-out tours have not only been girl-on-girl but also guy-on-guy, because all vegetarians make better lovers—no matter whom you love.4. Pride in our work. PETA's Oakland office is a fixture in San Francisco's legendary annual Pride Parade, but instead of tossing beads (which wouldn't go with what you're wearing, anyway), they toss literature about the benefits of a vegan diet.5. You can hear a name drop. With apologies to Logo, our famous friends include the crème de la crème of the real gay A-list. (Reichen and Rodiney? Girl, please.) Perez Hilton, Martina Navratilova, Lance Bass, and Tim Gunn are just a few of the celebs whose love—of justice for animals—dare speak its name.6. Closets are for clothes—as long as they're not made from fur, leather, or wool. The staffs of PETA and the PETA Foundation include plenty of out-and-proud LGBT folks, from yours truly to PETA's senior (but eternally young) V.P. of campaigns, Dan Mathews, who was named one of Out magazine's "Power 50" and whose exploits—including an attempt to turn leather men into pleather men—are detailed in his witty memoir, Committed.
Let's face it: Animals don't care whether people are GLBTQ or none of the above—they just need us to help them. To learn how, take a look at this.
Written by Jeff Mackey
Ellen playing sweet to Simon's tart was reason enough to watch this season of American Idol, but ever since the Top 24 were revealed, we've also been tuning in to support vegetarian contestant Michelle Delamor, who easily made it through last night's vote to become one of the Top 10 ladies.
We haven't "Fallin'" this hard for an Idol hopeful since compassionate country star Carrie Underwood's now-iconic performance of "Alone."
Written by Logan Scherer
It wasn't easy to choose two people out of the slew of celebrities who have taken action for animals this year—heck, just during the past two months, Joanna Krupa bared her true feelings about purebred pups, Ana Ortiz blasted McDonald's, and a blinding number of stars all agreed that protesting the Canadian seal slaughter fit their caring personalities to a T.
But we had to make a decision, so this year, PETA's Man of the Year is Tim Gunn and PETA's Woman of the Year is Ellen DeGeneres. I must say, we're over the moon about it!
Let's start with Ellen—ever since she and her wife, Portia De Rossi, decided to ditch all animal products in 2008, Ellen has made sure that her wildly popular talk show includes features to raise people's awareness of animal issues. She made vegan pizza with Chef Wolfgang Puck, spoke with Dr. Neal Barnard about the health benefits of a vegan diet, and just in time for Thanksgiving, "talked turkey" about the everyday abuse of animals on factory farms with Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals. Ellen also created pages on her Web site that feature insight, info, and tips about cruelty-free living. Visitors can find recipes, read about why Ellen went vegan, learn where to shop, and more.
Now on to Tim Gunn: The connoisseur of class, the guru of good taste, the titan of tact (I could go on all afternoon with these) narrated our video exposing skin-crawling atrocities suffered by animals who are slaughtered for their pelts, and the media have been buzzing ever since. Tim recently told the L.A. Times, "Wearing fur is like wearing a big sign reading, 'I'm in favor of inflicting cruelty and pain on animals as a fashion statement.' Unspeakable torture is inflicted on dogs, cats, bunnies, raccoons, foxes, minks, and myriad trapped, helpless creatures in the name of fashion—yes, dogs and cats."
And thanks to Tim, fur challenges are noticeably absent from Project Runway—and there's zero fur at Liz Claiborne, where he is chief creative officer.
So, to Ellen DeGeneres for her exuberant embrace of cruelty-free living and to Tim Gunn for his thoughtful and thought-provoking messages of compassion for animals, we at PETA are dancing in the halls. Thank you, thank you! And conga-rats!
Written by Karin Bennett
As if we needed another reason to adore Ellen DeGeneres, the delightfully ubiquitous comic loves her vegan lifestyle and wants everyone to know it. She's dedicated a page of her Web site to promoting her cruelty-free existence. On this new Web page, she writes the following:
I personally chose to go vegan because I educated myself on factory farming and cruelty to animals, and I suddenly realized that what was on my plate were living things, with feelings. And I just couldn't disconnect myself from it any longer. I read books like Diet for a New America and saw documentaries like Earthlings and Meet Your Meat, and it became an easy choice for me.If you choose to educate yourself, it'll be an easy choice for you, too. Click here to take a look at a variety of reasons for living a vegan life.
I personally chose to go vegan because I educated myself on factory farming and cruelty to animals, and I suddenly realized that what was on my plate were living things, with feelings. And I just couldn't disconnect myself from it any longer. I read books like Diet for a New America and saw documentaries like Earthlings and Meet Your Meat, and it became an easy choice for me.
If you choose to educate yourself, it'll be an easy choice for you, too. Click here to take a look at a variety of reasons for living a vegan life.
This has me wondering if we can petition to change the American Idol rules: Can Ellen, who is next season's new judge, be crowned American Idol? After all, her powers of persuasion are undeniably charming, and I can't think of anyone better to convince people to make the compassionate, healthy, and environmentally conscious decision to go vegan.
Posted by Logan Scherer
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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