Native Foods Blog: 30 Years of PETA!

^{So this weekend some of us Native Foods tribe members are getting’ all gussied up to attend PETA’s 30th Anniversary Gala and Humanitarian Awards. Pretty exciting, huh? We are uber excited! We love PETA here at Native Foods Cafe. Ingrid Newkirk, one of the founders and President of PETA, is an amazing lady. To learn more about her and her life’s work, be sure to check out her documentary I Am An Animal}^{http://features.peta.org/HBOIAmAnAnimal/index.asp.}

^{PETA describes the upcoming Gala as a “once-in-a-lifetime event to celebrate 30 years of cutting-edge campaigns that have brought about monumental change for animals.” And it got me to thinking about PETA, and its wide array of tactics employed to effect a change in the world and prevent animal suffering.}

^{Most people tend to associate PETA with outlandish, aggressive tactics like covering their naked bodies in fake blood and charging into the nearest Hermes boutique to protest the latest line of fur-trimmed leather jackets and handbags. Well, sure they have been known to stage a few fake blood covered coup d’etats on certain designers, but come on now, can you blame them? Most people don’t know that PETA has come up with some very unique and off-the-wall PR campaigns to spread their message without all the shock and gore. Let’s just take a step back a moment and take a look at some of these quirky campaigns.}

^{They campaigned to change fish into “sea kittens” so they would be more appealing to the public.}

Those sea kittens are cute!!!

^{PETA publicly asked The Pet Shop Boys to change their name to The Rescue Shelter Boys in order to bring more awareness to the grotesque puppy mill scene that supplies most pet stores.}

This may be my favorite PETA request! It never hurts to ask. "Always On My Mind" makes a an apropos soundtrack to shelter animals as well! Well played PETA!

^{They announced plans to release George Clooney’s Sweat-Flavored Tofu.}

It is weird, but catchy; and anything to draw attention to the dismal plight of thousands of animals is cool by me.

^{In early 2010, PETA made offer to Macomb County Jail in Michigan to replace its broken freezer if the jail agrees to place the inmates on a vegan diet for one year. Genius! http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/01/should_macomb_county_jail_go_v.html}

Veggies in Jail?

They are hurting for money over there at the Macomb County lock-up, so this could be a very practical solution!

^{Overall, PETA does an extraordinary amount of wonderful for animals everywhere. In 2009, PETA spared more than 4 million animals from being maimed and killed in laboratories all over the world.}

Ingrid Newkirk highlights some of the most victorious moments of 2009:

“Our vital work to hold factory farmers legally accountable for cruelty to animals led to some new "firsts": the first convictions for abusing factory-farmed pigs in Iowa (the top pig-raising state in the country), the first felony cruelty-to-animals charges in the U.S. for abusing factory-farmed birds, the first conviction of farm workers in the U.S. for abusing factory-farmed turkeys, and the strongest penalty ever levied in U.S. history for cruelty to animals raised for food!”

http://features.peta.org/AnnualReview/

Go PETA! Congratulations! And keep on keepin’ on! We can change the world together!