PETA to Bernard Matthews: Lay off the Turkeys, Not the Employees

For Immediate Release:

10 May 2016

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 222; [email protected]

PETA TO BERNARD MATTHEWS: LAY OFF THE TURKEYS, NOT THE EMPLOYEES

Group Wants to Talk Turkey – Vegan Turkey

Norfolk – Today, after hearing reports about Bernard Matthews’ financial crisis, PETA rushed a letter to the company’s CEO, Rob Burnett, urging him to turn the company’s fortunes around by laying off the turkeys – not the staff. In the letter, the group points to the growing demand for meat-free meals and urges the company to switch to producing humane and tasty vegan meat.

“Successful companies adapt to the times”, says PETA’s manager of special projects, Dawn Carr. “As the demand for vegan fare skyrockets, there has never been a better time for Bernard Matthews to start offering delicious vegan meat – with all the taste but none of the cruelty of animal flesh.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – notes that interest in vegan eating is on the rise. The market for meat-free products is worth over £625 million, Google searches for “vegan” are at an all-time high, and government surveys reveal the lowest rates of meat and fish consumption in at least a decade. In addition to sparing many animals every year the horrors of the abattoir, vegans are less prone to suffer from cancer, obesity and diabetes than meat-eaters are. They also have a lower carbon footprint. These are just some of the reasons why millions of British people (including 20 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds, according to the research group Mintel) have chosen to ditch animal-derived foods

PETA’s letter is available here. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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