Posted on 11/21/2001 4:37:34 AM PST by wbill
Arlington, Va. (CNSNews.com) - Trading the Thanksgiving turkey for Tofu? That's what representatives from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were urging Americans to do Tuesday.
"We are asking people to have a compassionate Thanksgiving by substituting turkey for one of the alternatives, like Tofurky, UnTurkey or Tofu Turkey," PETA spokesperson Bruce Friedrich said at Washington's Reagan National Airport.
PETA workers Kristie Phelps and Lina Choudhury, who braved the 50-degree weather wearing only bikinis made of plastic lettuce leaves, handed out pamphlets explaining the conditions at the nation's turkey farms. They asked airport workers and travelers to try a vegetarian or vegan (foods that contain no animal products) meal instead of the traditional Thanksgiving turkey.
"I want to appeal to holiday travelers to ask them to go vegan this Thanksgiving," Phelps said. "Fifty million turkeys each year are slaughtered for Thanksgiving after living their lives in unhealthy, inhumane conditions."
PETA claims turkey farms force the birds to spend their lives in filthy, overcrowded sheds, where heart attacks, contagious diseases, and skeletal deformities run rampant, and where the animals are bred and drugged to produce abnormal amounts of flesh.
The group says its appeal is also aimed at individuals concerned about their health and diet. According to PETA, turkey flesh is loaded with fat and cholesterol, and many nutrition experts fear the antibiotics and other chemicals fed to turkeys are passed on to humans who eat the animals.
The campaign has garnered some high profile support. Martin Sheen, the star of NBC's The West Wing, has spoken out against conditions at turkey farms. Also, PETA has shipped faux turkey products to almost 100 homeless shelters across the country.
The PETA campaign had some immediate effect on those who read the pamphlets. Airline worker Kenneth Brown said the information made him reconsider his Thanksgiving menu.
"I'm sure not going to eat turkey this Thanksgiving," he said. "After reading about the way that turkeys are held in captivity until they're slaughtered, it's sad. It's just a poor bird."
John Green, an airport security guard, said he was impressed with PETA's methods of spreading their message.
"I'm not even touching turkey this year," he said. "In fact, I'm not going to be able to even look at a turkey this year.
"They sure know how to get their point across," Green said.
However, another traveler, admittedly entertained by the press conference, said she was unwilling to give up turkey.
"I thought the lettuce bikinis were cute," said Mateel Todd, who claimed to be supportive of PETA on some issues. "But their campaign is not going to stop me from being a meat eater. I believe that animals raised for food can be treated ethically.
"Besides, I'm originally from Montana, and I would encourage everyone to eat Montana beef," she said.
David Almasi, spokesman for the National Center for Public Policy Research, said PETA chose the wrong holiday to criticize.
"PETA has to remember that this is a holiday based on the Pilgrims and the Indians working together to overcome the adversity of the harsh winter, and celebrating that they have been able to work with the earth to sustain themselves and the earth," he said. "If anything, this is one of the greatest, [politically correct] holidays as far as the environment is concerned."
Almasi added that Tuesday's press conference is just one of PETA's many moves to publicize itself and gain national recognition.
"It is just another attempt by PETA to get into the press," Almasi said. "One thing you can say about them is that they are a constant P.R. machine, and they have some genius people working there to make sure that every event in our lives affects their animal rights campaign."
His educational career began, interestingly enough, in agricultural school, where he majored in animal husbandry, until they... caught him at it one day....
--Tom Lehrer
IMHO, "Tofurkey" makes me think of the sound we make after eating too many bean products.
I wonder what planet this moron is from? The toes of turkeys are not "cut off". The SPURS are clipped, just like taking the dew claw off a dog. This keeps the toms from killing each other. Just like roosters, they have a pecking order and LOVE to fight.
The spurs are taken off barnyard roosters for exactly the same reason.
Another note about turkeys: they are very, very aggressive. That's another reason for removing the spurs, unless you LIKE the idea of hemorrhaging. Farm bred ones that run loose will attack you. Carry a big stick for protection.
Actually, after ducking a big tom long enough, the meat will taste 100 times better on Thanksgiving. Revenge is a great seasoning.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
They sure ARE dumb. And so was my family. We moved here from the city, during the '70's Back-to-the-Land movement. We subscribed to Mother Earth News, read all the Foxfire books, 5 Acres and Independence...all that stuff. We'd read in one of those books that guinea hens make good "watchdogs" and are hard to breed. The only thing we knew from experience about them was that they're delicious when cooked right.
We brought a pair. Named them Luigi and Maria. Luigi and Maria apparently never heard that Guinea hens have a hard time reproducing. Over the first summer, they had 18 nests - at different times - that we knew of.
Of all those eggs, there were 43 chicks which survived foxes, coons, and other predators. We added an extra coop next to the chicken coop and penned them up.
There is no sound which can compare to the racket put up by 45 guinea hens, in "watch mode" every single time any of us went anywhere near that blasted pen.
I did, for one. Something very 'unhealthy' looking about most. Although it could just be that most don't bathe either. You know, getting in touch with nature and all that. :o)
After their double mastectomy, will Medi-care pay for breast implants?
People Eating Tasty Animals
I think PETA members should donate their money to a fund for those, as well as prosthetic toes for all the toe-less, two-legged turkeys out there.
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