An Eco-Friendly Vegan Diet Is Key to Protecting the Planet, Says Group
For Immediate Release:
June 30, 2011
Contact:
Kristin Richards 202-483-7382
Baltimore -- PETA has sent a letter to James DeGraffenreidt Jr., president of the Maryland State Board of Education, asking him to encourage Maryland schools to include material on the environmental destruction caused by the meat, egg, and dairy industries as part of the state's new "environmental literacy" program, which will be required in order for students to graduate from high school. In its letter, PETA points out that raising animals for food results in enormous quantities of greenhouse-gas emissions and contributes to the destruction of the Chesapeake Bay. Switching to a vegan diet, the group writes, is the best way to help protect the environment, animals, and one's own health. PETA has offered to furnish the school with educational material regarding the destructive nature of animal agriculture.
"We commend Maryland's commitment to educating students about the environment, but no eco-education program is complete without a thorough discussion of the worldwide devastation caused by the meat, egg, and dairy industries," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "If the state is serious about encouraging students to go green, then it should also encourage them to go vegan."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to Maryland State Board of Education President James DeGraffenreidt Jr. follows.
June 30, 2011
James H. DeGraffenreidt Jr.
President
Maryland State Board of Education
Dear Mr. DeGraffenreidt,
I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters, including thousands across Maryland, regarding the board's wise decision to implement "environmental literacy" programs in state schools. Congratulations! We must now respectfully urge you to make the program even more effective by encouraging Maryland schools to include information about the enormous and inarguable environmental harm—widely considered to be the greatest harm of all—caused by the meat, egg, and dairy industries.
The United Nations has stated that animal agriculture is "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." Researchers at the University of Chicago determined that switching to a vegan diet (no meat, eggs, or dairy products) is 50 percent more effective in countering climate change than switching from a standard American car to a hybrid. The Chesapeake Bay provides a striking case study for Maryland students. Waste and run-off from chicken, egg, and turkey factory farms in the region have played a major role in turning vast areas of the bay into "dead zones."
In addition to helping the planet, every student who goes vegan because of this program will save more than 100 animals every year from the horrors of factory farms, slaughterhouses, and fishing nets.
PETA would be happy to help Maryland educators develop lesson plans on this vital topic. Please contact me to get started. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President