Orlando Fire Chief, Chef, and Student Are Finalists in PETA’s ‘Sexiest Vegan’ Contest

Floridians Battle It Out to Take Home Top Honors—and a Tropical Vacation

For Immediate Release:
May 31, 2017

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

PETA is preparing to crown this year’s Sexiest Vegan Next Door—and three Orlando-area vegans are all vying for the title. They beat out hundreds of other entrants from across the nation to advance to the final round of 10 male and 10 female contestants. Visitors to PETA.org can now help PETA select the two lucky winners—one man and one woman—who will each receive a free vacation for two to Maui, Hawaii, courtesy of Humane Travel.

• Jay Steiner (left), a fire battalion chief in Longwood, credits his 15 years of vegan eating with giving him the energy, good health, and muscle mass that he needs to fight fires and save lives—including those of the numerous animals he rescues from roadways, even when he’s not on duty.
• Altamonte Springs chef Josue Solis, aka “Chef Sol,” (center) has been vegan for eight years and now lends his expertise to celebrity clients as well as restaurants looking to expand their plant-based menu options.
• Lifelong vegetarian Devki Pancholi (right) went vegan a year ago—and when she’s not busy studying as a pre-law student at the University of Central Florida, she can be found protesting SeaWorld, animal circuses, and other enterprises that exploit animals.

“From a fire chief to a chef to a pre-law student, the energetic and passionate vegans of Orlando are heating up the competition,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Each one of the finalists in PETA’s contest is a testament to how sexy vegans are, inside and out.”

Voting for the finalists to help PETA determine whom it should select as the winners ends at 12 noon EDT on June 21. PETA will select the winners based on several factors, including vote count. See the full contest details here. Winners will be notified and announced on June 28.

For more information and to cast your vote, please click here.