Miss Uk Urges Londoners To ‘Turn Over A New Leaf’ And Go Vegetarian

Britain’s Beauty Queen Stars in New PETA Ad

For Immediate Release:
12 January 2006

Contact:
Yvonne Taylor 020 7357 9229, ext 405
Karen Chisholm 020 7357 9229, ext 229

London – Braving the cold and wearing nothing but a bikini made of lettuce leaves, Miss United Kingdom Universe Brooke Johnston will unveil her new pro-vegetarian ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in Covent Garden. In the ad, Johnston appears in a lettuce bikini with the tagline “Turn Over a New Leaf: Try Vegetarian” and urges people to visit PETA’s Web site GoVeg.co.uk, where they can order PETA’s popular vegetarian starter kit. Free meatless meal samples supplied by Redwood  Foods will be distributed at the event.

Date:  Thursday, 12 January
Time: 12 noon
Place: Covent Garden Market (foot of James Street)

Why does Johnston want Londoners to start 2006 with a pledge to go veg? A meat-free diet is the best way to stay trim, avoid life-threatening illnesses and even spice up your sex life. Eating green is “really easy and delicious, and it can make a big change in how you feel about yourself and your energy levels”, says long-time vegetarian Johnston. “Anyone who’s resolved to lose weight in the new year should keep meat off their plates and choose veggie meals instead.”

Eating meat is linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. In men, it clogs arteries to all the body’s vital organs, which can lead to impotence.

Many animals killed for food are raised in cruel factory farms, where diseases such as avian flu spread like wildfire. Chickens may spend their brief lives in conditions so crowded that they can’t even turn around. Many won’t get a breath of fresh air until they are crammed onto trucks for a nightmarish ride to the abattoir, often through weather extremes and always without food or water. The animals are hung upside-down and their throats are slit, often while they are still conscious.

Johnston is joined by a growing number of celebrities who have also kicked the meat habit, including Sir Paul McCartney, Jodie Marsh, Traci Bingham, Chris Martin, Joss Stone and Alec Baldwin.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.