Will Bill Gates’ ‘Smart City’ Go Vegan?

PETA Encourages Microsoft Founder to Prove That Vegan Meat Is the ‘Future of Food’

For Immediate Release:
November 16, 2017

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

In response to the news that Bill Gates has purchased 25,000 acres in Arizona in order to build a new “smart city,” PETA sent the tech giant and philanthropist a letter this morning urging him to make the city even smarter by making it vegan.

In the letter, PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that while eating meat kills animals and harms the environment and human health, vegan meals are healthier, humane, and skyrocketing in popularity. Gates has long spoken out about the benefits of vegan eating and has invested in vegan companies, such as Beyond Meat and Memphis Meats. And in 2013, he called a sample of vegan chicken “a taste of the future of food.”

“The smartest move for a ‘smart city’ is to leave cruelly produced and unhealthy meat, eggs, and dairy ‘products’ in the past,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “The future is vegan, and PETA is encouraging Bill Gates to set an example of what a compassionate, forward-thinking vegan society can look like.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Bill Gates follows.

November 16, 2017

Bill Gates

c/o Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dear Mr. Gates,

On behalf of PETA and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide, I’m writing to ask you to do the thing that will do the most good for your new “smart city” in Belmont: Make it vegan! We can’t think of a more perfect opportunity to set an example of what a progressive, forward-thinking society would look like—the future is clearly vegan.

You have long spoken out about the benefits of vegan eating, and we admire you for putting your money where your mouth is by investing in vegan companies, such as Beyond Meat and Memphis Meats. Given the increased demand for healthy food—as well as the growing number of people concerned about animal welfare and the environment—it’s no wonder that vegan eating has skyrocketed by 600 percent in the past three years alone. Cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals used for food are often raised on crowded, filthy factory farms and are subjected to painful mutilations before they’re sent on a terrifying trip to the slaughterhouse. Eating vegan also helps reduce our risk of developing some of the top killers, such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, and of course, it’s the best thing that we can do to combat climate change.

You’re in a unique position to set an example for other cities to follow. Requiring that food vendors in Belmont provide only healthy, humane, and environmentally friendly foods made from plants or cell-cultured meats would set a positive example for the rest of the world while fulfilling your mission to help all people lead healthy, productive lives.

We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman

Executive Vice President
PETA