PETA Offers to Ease Schools' Budget Woes With Pro-Vegan Lunch-Tray Ads

Group's Offer Includes Free Delicious, Healthy, Cruelty-Free Lunch for Students and Faculty at One of Cleveland's Schools

For Immediate Release:
September 24, 2012

Contact:
Kaitlynn Kelly 202-483-7382  

Cleveland -- In response to reports of the $13 million gap in Cleveland's public school budget, PETA has sent a letter to Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon with a suggestion that could help the district's budget, its students' health, and animals on factory farms all at the same time: Open the schools' cafeteria lunch trays to paid advertisements, and PETA will kick off the effort with a pro-vegan ad that features the group's chick mascot and reads, "I Am Not a Nugget. Go Vegan!" In the letter, PETA explains that kids who choose vegan meals are significantly healthier than their meat-eating counterparts—and that every person who goes vegan saves more than 100 animals a year.

"PETA's proposal is a win-win situation for Cleveland's schools," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "The school's budget will get a nudge toward the black, and students will learn an important message about compassion that could also inspire them to start choosing fiber-rich, nutrient-packed vegan meals over artery-clogging meat and dairy products."

According to the late child-health expert Dr. Benjamin Spock, "Children who grow up getting their nutrition from plant foods rather than meats have a tremendous health advantage. They are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer."

PETA has also offered a free vegan lunch—complete with protein-packed and cholesterol-free faux-chicken nuggets, vegan chili, and corn on the cob—to the students and faculty at one of Cleveland's schools.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.