For Immediate Release:
April 21, 2008

Contact:
Nicole Matthews 757-622-7382

PETA points out that although healthy and delicious vegetarian mock meats (made from plant protein and spices) abound, consumers who just can't get enough cholesterol and saturated fat in their diet could indulge their cravings without harming animals. Also, because a recent U.N. study concluded that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, and planes in the world combined and is a top contributor to land degradation and water pollution, switching to lab-grown meat would be a boon to the environment.

More than 40 billion chickens, fish, pigs, and cows are killed every year for food in the U.S. Chickens' sensitive beaks are cut off, and they are drugged and bred to grow so fast that they become crippled under their own weight. Their throats are cut while they are still conscious, and millions are scalded to death in defeathering tanks. Humans who eat animals suffer too. Consumption of meat and other animal products has been conclusively linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, obesity, and several types of cancer.

"Many people are stunned to hear that PETA is interested in lab-grown meat, but it's clear that we must overcome our own revulsion at flesh-eating to achieve a kinder world," says Newkirk. "One million dollars might seem like a lot of money, but it's a small price to pay for something that has the potential to save about 1 million lives every hour."