Military Members Are Finalists in PETA’s ‘Sexiest Vegan’ Contest

Airman and Army Sergeant Battle It Out in an Attempt to Take Top Honors—and a Tropical Vacation

For Immediate Release:
April 26, 2019

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

PETA is preparing to crown this year’s Sexiest Vegan Next Door—and an Air Force Reserve airman and an Army sergeant in the Signal Corps have beaten out hundreds of other entrants from across the nation to advance to the final round of 20 contestants. Visitors to PETA.org can now help PETA select the two winners, who will each receive a free vacation for two to Hawaii, courtesy of Humane Travel.

Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, local Guiseppe Troisi is an Air Force Reserve airman and an accomplished bodybuilder who was inspired by his mother and sister to go vegan in 2017. His prime physical health recently landed him the position of physical training monitor, and he’s tasked with helping his fellow airmen pass the Air Force’s notoriously stringent fitness test. He always shares vegan recipes and nutrition tips—especially regarding muscle-building plant protein—with family, friends, and colleagues.

Currently deployed in Iraq, Amanda Rea went vegan seven years ago to alleviate debilitating stomach problems and hasn’t looked back. She reports that she’s off all medications for digestive health concerns and has even inspired some of her friends and family to ditch animal-derived foods, too. Her victories for animals include successfully campaigning for more vegan options to be offered in military cafeterias. The veggie burgers and soy milk that she got the cafeterias to serve were a hit with her fellow service members.

“Amanda Rea and Guiseppe Troisi are living, breathing examples of the strength, energy, and moral fiber that can come from choosing fortifying vegan fuel,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “All the finalists in PETA’s Sexiest Vegan Next Door contest prove that there’s nothing sexier than making the world a kinder place.”

Voting to help PETA determine which finalists it should select as the winners ends at 12 noon EDT on May 13. The winners—who will be selected based on several factors, including vote count—will be announced on May 20. This is the first year that the contest is gender neutral. See the full contest details here.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.