Fitting Tribute to Civil Rights Icon Who Extended Compassion to All Living Beings
For Immediate Release:
January 23, 2013
Contact:
Kaitlynn Kelly 202-483-7382
Detroit -- This morning, PETA sent a letter to Patricia Mooradian, president of the Henry Ford Museum, urging her to serve only vegetarian food in the facility's three restaurants during the National Day of Courage commemoration of Rosa Parks' 100th birthday on February 4. In its letter, PETA points out that peace and justice should be extended to all living beings and that Parks credited her vegetarian diet with helping to keep her healthy and fit.
"An entire nation is thankful to Rosa Parks for standing up to injustice, and she is also a hero for saving more than 100 animals' lives every year by going vegetarian," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "There's no better way to honor Ms. Parks' all-encompassing, humane legacy than by leaving meat off the menu on her 100th birthday."
PETA has offered to provide the museum with a menu of popular kitchen-tested vegetarian recipes that feature some of Parks' favorite foods.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or click here.
PETA's letter to the Henry Ford Museum follows.
January 23, 2013
Patricia E. Mooradian
President
Henry Ford Museum
Dear Ms. Mooradian,
Greetings from PETA and our more than 3 million members and supporters. Rosa Parks was an American hero, of course, but not only of the civil rights movement. As a vegetarian, like Coretta King, Parks was committed to peace and justice and extended both to all living beings. To honor Parks' compassionate legacy, we ask that on February 4, your National Day of Courage to commemorate Parks' 100th birthday, you serve only meat-free food at the museum's three restaurants.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." It is only prejudice that allows people to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the animals they eat. On today's factory farms, animals are forced to live crowded together by the thousands in dark, filthy sheds and cages, where they are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them. One day, there will be a museum that contains the torture devices, such as the ear punches and castrators used to mutilate animals, the iron maidens in which sows are kept, and the rape racks on which cows are impregnated. But even now, many museum visitors would be horrified to learn that in slaughterhouses, millions of gentle animals are transported in all weather and end up having their throats cut open while they are still conscious.
Offering your visitors only humane vegetarian food on your Day of Courage would provide a truly comprehensive understanding of Ms. Parks' extraordinary life. And by introducing people to delicious animal-friendly fare, it would also help in the battle against our nation's obesity crisis. Ms. Parks credited her vegetarian diet with helping her maintain her health and stamina. Vegans are, on average, 18 percent thinner than meat-eaters are and have a far lower risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes than do their meat-eating counterparts.
We would be glad to provide the museum's restaurants with some popular recipes, including dishes that feature Parks' favorite vegetables: broccoli, sweet potatoes, string beans, and greens. In addition, tasty dishes like faux chicken (made of healthy plant protein and spices), portobello mushroom sandwiches, veggie burgers, vegetable pizza, and apple pie could be served at Michigan Café or Lamy's Diner, and, of course, veggie dogs could be served in the Wienermobile Café. Thank you for your consideration.
Very truly yours,
Ingrid E. Newkirk
President
PETA