MP Tommy Sheppard Goes Vegan for PETA Earth Day Campaign
MP Tommy Sheppard Goes Vegan for PETA Earth Day Campaign
Edinburgh – To mark Earth Day today, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) teamed up with Labour MP and vegan Kerry McCarthy as well as a dozen other members of Parliament from across party lines – including Tommy Sheppard, Scottish National Party MP for Edinburgh East – all of whom pledged to ditch meat, dairy, and other animal-derived foods for the day.
“The shocking truth is that 75 billion land animals are killed annually for their flesh and that animal agriculture is also harming the planet,” says Sheppard. “I’m looking forward to trying a vegan diet and experiencing its many benefits.”
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of ocean dead zones, species extinction, and habitat destruction – and, by some estimates, it creates more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the world’s transportation systems combined. A study in the journal Nature found that greenhouse-gas emissions from animal agriculture would reduce by half if the world turned to a mainly plant-based diet. Every person who goes vegan can lower their carbon footprint by up to 73% and save nearly 200 animals per year.
“These lawmakers didn’t hesitate to step up and show people that we can spare animals’ lives, save water, and slash greenhouse-gas emissions simply by going vegan,” says PETA Senior Campaigns Manager Kate Werner. “PETA encourages everyone to follow their lead and be a vegan force of nature against climate change on Earth Day and every day.”
The other participating MPs are Henry Smith, Tracey Crouch, Dr Lisa Cameron, Luke Pollard, Sarah Champion, Helen Hayes, Emma Lewell-Buck, Caroline Lucas, Rachael Maskell, Caroline Dinenage, and Matthew Pennycook. PETA is sending each of them a vegan snack basket – provided by The Vegan Kind online supermarket – a #VeganForEarthDay selfie sign, a vegan starter kit, and a PETA pin.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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