Banned: PETA Ad Urging NHS to Ditch Cancer-Causing Meaty Meals Deemed Too ‘Political’
Banned: PETA Ad Urging NHS to Ditch Cancer-Causing Meaty Meals Deemed Too ‘Political’
London – As the NHS continues to serve carcinogenic red and processed meat to patients, PETA tried to place a thought-provoking and not-at-all-graphic advert near hospitals urging them to go vegan. But a billboard supplier rejected the ad on the grounds that it “[does] not run adverts of such political nature”.
Far from being politically motivated, the group’s ad highlights that cancer, obesity, and heart disease rates in the UK have never been higher, placing an enormous burden on the NHS, an institution that, according to The Times, is . As patients are served bacon and sausages, PETA points out that the healthcare system may as well be encouraging people to smoke cigarettes.
“The NHS is shooting itself in the foot by serving carcinogenic animal-derived foods laden with saturated fat that will further tax its already stretched system,” says PETA Corporate Projects Manager Dr Carys Bennett. “Replacing meat, eggs, and dairy with vibrant vegan foods like vegetables, pluses, and grains would protect animals, the planet, and the health of the British public and save the NHS money.”
People who consume processed meat suffer higher rates of early death, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, dementia, chronic kidney disease, and strokes. Eating one rasher of bacon a day increases your risk of developing bowel cancer by 19%. The United Nations says that 80% of chronic diseases are preventable if we all adopt a healthy diet, alongside other good habits. The NHS could save more than £30 billion per year if all meals served in the UK were vegan.
Making patient meals plant-based would also spare countless animals miserable lives and terrifying, violent deaths in blood-soaked abattoirs. All 11 hospitals in New York City now serve vegan meals as the default option in order to benefit patient health, cut carbon emissions, and decrease food costs, and Lebanon has a fully vegan hospital in order to tackle the root cause of diseases. It’s time the NHS followed suit.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview – offers a free vegan starter kit on its website. 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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