PETA Offers to Pay Overdue Water Bills for 10 Detroiters Willing to Go Vegan

Shutoff Prompts Offer That Will Reduce Water Use in Agriculture, Save Animals, and Improve Family Health-Care Costs

For Immediate Release:
July 24, 2014

Contact:
Alexis Sadoti 202-483-7382

Detroit’s residents have a temporary reprieve from water shutoffs, but many families are still behind on their utility bills—and a PETA member has found a way to help by offering to pay outstanding water bills for 10 Detroit residents who agree to go vegan for one month.

PETA, whose motto is, in part, “Animals are not ours to eat,” points out that a diet high in low-cost vegan foods such as rice, beans, lentils, and vegetables reduces one’srisk of developing obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other costly health conditions that consumers of meat and dairy products are prone to. And as for water, vegan meals take far less of a toll on the Earth’s resources: It takes about 2,500 gallons of water to produce just a pound of meat but only about 155 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat.

“Anyone who tries a rich, varied, and tasty vegan diet stops contributing to the immensely wasteful use of waterin meat and dairy farming,” says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. “Vegan meals are also a cost-effective way to help prevent health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart conditions, the last thing that someone who is struggling financially needs to deal with.”

Vegans don’t just protect their own health and reduce their carbon footprint—they also spare more than 100 animals a year immense suffering on factory farms, in slaughterhouses, and on the decks of fishing boats.

Detroit residents interested in participating in the program are encouraged to send a copy of their most recent overdue water bill and their pledge to go vegan for one month to PETA Attn: Detroit Waterat 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510, via the U.S. Postal Service by Friday, August 1.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or click here.