Vegging Out

With more and more teens going veg every day, trend-watchers are calling veganism the “it” choice for the new millennium! Stores report that products like veggie “sausage” and Fakin’ Bacon are flying off their shelves, while restaurants everywhere are changing their menus to meet the demands of hungry vegetarians. And teens are the fastest-growing part of the veggie craze.

Vegetarians live longer, healthier lives than meat-eaters. And they look better, too: The average vegetarian is slimmer than the average meat-eater and has clearer skin and stronger bones to boot!

On factory farms, animals are often crammed into crates so tiny that they can’t even turn around. They’re deprived of sunlight and fresh air, pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, fed the remains of other animals, and then trucked to slaughter.

When Oscar Mayer sent the Wienermobile in search of kid stars for its hot dog commercials, PETA’s “pig” mascot let kids know how pigs on factory farms are castrated without painkillers, have their tails cut off, and spend their entire lives crammed into tiny cages. Hot dogs contain every imaginable part of these poor pigs–stomachs, snouts, intestines, spleens, and even lips. Eeew! Pass the veggie dogs!

When Utah 11th-grader Spencer Merkeley was told he couldn’t wear a shirt reading “VEGAN” to school because the school mistakenly thought it was a “gang” term, his classmates rallied around him. Dozens of students showed up wearing their own “VEGAN” shirts, taking a stand for animals and a healthy diet–as well as free speech. “With the violence plaguing our schools today, schools should be encouraging students who promote kindness, rather than punishing them for taking a stand for compassion,” says Spencer.

If you care about Mother Earth, a veggie diet is the only way to go. Producing just one hamburger uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles and enough water for 17 showers. In fact, more than half of all water used in the U.S. is used to raise and kill animals for the table. And to create pastures for livestock, the meat industry has destroyed millions of acres of forest, including the tropical rain forests, a vital source of oxygen and home to half of all species on Earth.

Until recently, Eisenhower Junior High School in Taylorsville, Utah, had a very crowded flagpole, flying Old Glory, the Utah state flag–and McDonald’s Golden Arches. After being tipped off by student Zachary Platis, PETA asked school officials to remove the McDonald’s flag–or play fair and add one promoting vegetarianism–but Principal Lori Gardner said it was “a privilege” to have McDonald’s as a corporate sponsor.

Outraged, local PETA members held weekly protests outside the school–or tried to, anyway. The young activists were threatened with arrest when they distributed pro-veggie leaflets, but–surprise, surprise–”META,” or Meat-Eaters Thankful for Animals, was allowed to hand out fliers urging kids to “Be neat, eat meat!” The PETA kids prevailed, though! After we filed a civil rights lawsuit against the school, the McDonald’s flag came down, pronto! Veggie burgers and chicken-free nuggets for all!

This just in: PETA Vegetarian Campaign coordinator Bruce Friedrich is one of McDonald’s “most valued customers”! Not really, but after Bruce contacted the McMasters of animal suffering, asking them to start offering veggie burgers at all their restaurants, McDonald’s sent him a form letter and coupon for a free beef burger. Hell-ooo?! Bruce said,“No, thanks!” and you can, too–by sending coupons for unfriendly foods and cruelly tested products back to company headquarters.