You know what they say: The key to a man's heart is through his … stomach. Our sexy pilgrims, who are touring New England this week, can attest to that and more. Obviously, they attract a crowd, largely because of the delicious, free Tofurkys they're handing out. In fact, the Tofurkys flew off the table—with men and women gobbling them up—within 20 minutes in Bangor, Maine.

The pilgrims also gave out PETA's free vegetarian/vegan starter kits and told passersby that every year in the U.S., 40 million gentle, inquisitive turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving dinners alone.

In nature, turkeys are protective and loving parents as well as fast, cunning runners who are able to outwit their pursuers. But the turkey industry crams the birds into windowless warehouses and genetically manipulates them to grow so large that their legs are often unable to withstand the birds' weight. Countless birds slowly starve to death within inches of food after they become crippled and are unable to move.

PETA's sexy pilgrims will be docking in New Haven today and Providence tomorrow. Even if you aren't lucky enough to grab a Tofurky from these lovely ladies, you can get tips on serving up a cruelty-free feast at our "Living" page.

Is it selfish to eat shellfish? The results of several studies in the Netherlands seem to indicate so. Three professors at two universities have determined that meat-eaters are more selfish and distant and less social than vegetarians are.

Of course, it shouldn't come as any surprise that sentencing an animal (or several) to death for the fleeting taste of a turkey sandwich or bacon cheeseburger shows a certain lack of empathy, decency, and altruism. But the researchers studying the psychological impact of meat-eating concluded that carnivores are insecure people who feel the need to dominate others and be "the boss." They eat animals as a way to feel superior. Vegetarians, on the other hand, are less selfish and less lonely—and therefore happier.

Could this mean that happiness is waiting at the end of the produce aisle? I'm pretty sure that leafy greens are a lot cheaper than therapy.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

A Tofurky and some mistletoe will help to make the season bright, according to Katy Perry. She told the Italian magazine Grazia that she and her new hubby, Russell Brand, plan to celebrate Christmas by gathering 'round a pink (!) tree and extending some peace and goodwill to turkeys by dining on a vegan roast.

What a coincidence—my family plans to do the same thing (except for the pink tree part). Stars: They really are just like us.

Written by Alisa Mullins

sneakerdog/CC by 2.0

Here's some free financial advice from MoneyWatch: If you want to save money, go vegan. Beef and dairy prices are expected to rise by 5 percent in 2011. Pig meat—or "pork" to those who like to pretend that they're eating something other than the flesh of a dead, dismembered pig—will likely cost 3 or 4 percent more next year too.

And people who are actually willing to fork over money for a turkey's corpse have to fork over a whole lot more of it this year, largely because of a 56 percent increase in feed costs. (Yet another reason why I'm passing on turkey!)

The real savings of going vegan can't be put in a bank—animals' lives, the environment, and good health (well, unless you count all the money you save on healthcare costs)—but vegans do tend come out ahead in the supermarket check-out lane, so it simply makes cents (get it? sense?) to go vegan.

Written by Heather Moore

flythebirdpath/CC by 2.0

We all know that Thanksgiving is murder on turkeys,  but it turns out it can be murder on turkey-eaters too. With a little more than a week to go before the biggest turkey-dismembering day of the year, a Texas-based meat company is recalling 2,600 pounds of cooked turkey meat because of fears that it is contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. While listeria may not be as "sexy" as E.coli (bloody diarrhea, kidney failure!), it's still a nasty little bug that can cause fever, headaches, and nausea and can even be fatal to people with compromised immune systems, such as infants, elderly people, and AIDS and cancer patients.

Think you're safe if you buy a raw or frozen turkey? Sorry, turkey carcasses are often contaminated with salmonella (USDA inspection reports reveal that an average of one out of eight turkeys is infected), as well as campylobacter, which is the second-leading cause of reported food-related illnesses.

But wait, there's more! Turkey wings and legs contain even more fat and cholesterol than many cuts of beef. A turkey leg contains more than 700 milligrams of cholesterol and more than 1,600 calories—40 percent of which are derived from fat.

But all is not lost. A Thanksgiving feast without the dead bird is still a feast—just a less potentially lethal one. Need some turkey-friendly ideas? Take a gander at the tempting recipes in the Living section of PETA.org.

Written by Alisa Mullins

This just in from an alert PETA member: Gerber is selling baby food made out of veal. For some reason, this struck us at the PETA Files as especially spit-up-inducing. Feeding babies to babies just seems sort of … I don't know, cannibalistic? Want some puréed fava beans with that, Junior?

Would you feed me to your baby?

But then we started thinking: Veal is one of those foods that even many carnivores shy away from because of the horrors that are now widely known to be involved in its production—horrors such as tearing babies away from their mothers and locking them in up boxes for a few months before prodding them on wobbly, atrophied legs to slaughter. But the truth is that most animals who are killed for food are still babies when they are strung up on the slaughter line.

Because of "modern" innovations such as feeding animals growth-promoting drugs and selectively breeding them so that they'll grow fatter faster, pigs and turkeys are on average just 6 months old when they are killed, and chickens are just 7 weeks old. By comparison, steers who are raised for beef are old-timers when they are killed at between 1 and 2 years of age.

It's enough to make strained carrots sound downright … grown-up.

There's been some online chatter that the Veal and Veal Gravy baby food has been discontinued, but it's still listed on Gerber's website. Have you seen this "baby cruelty in a jar" at your local market?

Written by Alisa Mullins

Summer hasn't even officially kicked off, but the folks at the Today show were talking Thanksgiving this morning—or, rather, discussing PETA's Thanksgiving Day public service announcement (PSA), which was just named one of the "Best Commercials of the Year" by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP).

As AICP President and CEO Matt Miller noted, many networks refused to air PETA's PSA—in which an adorable young lady educates her family about the violence on turkey factory farms—but the Today show coverage ensured that millions of viewers saw and heard our "potent message" (Matt Lauer's words).

Curious and caring Today show viewers who are compelled to educate themselves about how turkeys are abused on factory farms and in slaughterhouses just might opt for Tofurky on Thanksgiving Day.

Written by Karin Bennett

Some people don't eat animals because they don't want to support factory farming. Others are worried about protecting their health or the environment. Nicolas Cage has a much more, shall we say, X-centric reason for why he leaves certain animals off his plate: They have undignified sex.

No, I am not making this up. Here's what Cage told the U.K. tabloid The Sun: "I actually choose the way I eat according to the way animals have sex. I think fish are very dignified with sex. So are birds. But pigs, not so much. So I don't eat pig meat or things like that. I eat fish and fowl."

While this is great news for pigs and cows, I have to wonder where Nick got the idea that there is anything dignified about the way birds live on factory farms. Turkeys are bred to grow so top-heavy that they can no longer reproduce naturally, so female turkeys are artificially inseminated. "Breeder broiler" chickens are kept alive longer than most chickens who are raised for their flesh (most of whom are killed when they are just a few weeks old), so the males are deprived of food to prevent their bodies from getting too large for their organs to support. How do farmers do this? By shoving plastic rods through their beaks to prevent them from gaining access to females' feed troughs. Yeah, real dignified.

As for me, I'm not particularly concerned about how birds, bees, or even educated fleas do it. I'm more worried about making sure that animals have a dignified life—and death.

Written by Alisa Mullins

wikimedia / CC

When President Obama received this year's lucky turkey to be pardoned, he had some brow-raising reservations: "I'm told Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson actually ate their turkeys. You can't fault them for that; that's a good-looking bird," he said.

Malia and Sasha's response? No. He. Couldn't.

"Thanks to the interventions of Malia and Sasha—because I was planning to eat this sucker—'Courage' will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate," he said.

To show Malia and Sasha that we're thankful for their lifesaving involvement this Thanksgiving, we're giving the girls an honorary membership to PETA Kids!

Written by Logan Scherer

Want to get active for animals, but not exactly the bikini in an ice storm type? You could take a cue from two fabulous Florida citizens and organize a "holiday compassion" display.

Carla and Bryan Wilson set up this beautiful educational exhibit in Florida's largest public library.

The display includes an awww-inspiring photo of a mother turkey and her chicks along with interesting facts about these intelligent, affectionate animals. It features eye-catching boards about why meat is bad for animals, bad for your health, and bad for the environment. And what holiday display would be complete without tasty tips for cruelty-free holiday meals?

The best part? It's easy for you to replicate. For materials to set up your own cruelty-free information center, contact PETA's activist liaisons.

Written by Heather Drennan