California Wildfires Prompt PETA Plea to World Ag Expo: Change Your Name, Change the Game

For Immediate Release:
February 7, 2025

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

With the World Ag Expo fast approaching—and with drought posing an increasing threat in California, contributing to the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles last month—PETA has sent a letter today to Expo’s Show Chair Connie Conway with an unbeetable idea: Since animal agriculture is fanning the flames of climate change, reinvent the Expo by making it vegan! PETA points out that reimagining the event as the Planet’s Most Perfect Plant Pro Expo—focusing entirely on animal-free, plant-based farming—would be humane and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from animal farming, a major factor in exacerbating the climate catastrophe and the natural disasters that come with it, including wildfires.

“Animal agriculture gobbles up precious resources, spews methane that’s destroying the planet, and sends billions of animals to an ugly death,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA wants the World Ag Expo to leave the destructive meat, egg, and dairy industries in the dust they’re creating and go vegan, for everyone’s sake.”

Clearing land to raise animals and grow crops to feed them is a leading cause of deforestation, and the massive amount of water used in animal agriculture contributes to the dry conditions that allow wildfires to spread. The United Nations reports that a global shift toward vegan eating is vital to combat the worst effects of the climate catastrophe. Each person who goes vegan lowers their food-related carbon footprint by up to 73% and spares nearly 200 animals every year. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out thatEvery Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Conway follows.

February 7, 2025

Connie Conway

Show Chair

World Ag Expo

Dear Ms. Conway:

Greetings! I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, including hundreds of thousands in California—with a proposal: What do you say to reimagining the World Ag Expo as the Planet’s Most Perfect Plant Pro Expo and making the event entirely vegan and animal-free? Since water is a precious resource in California and drought poses an increasing threat, this is just one reason to recognize the importance of plant-based agriculture, as animal farming requires far more water than all vegetable, fruit, and nut production combined. Our proposal is even more critical in light of the recent devastating wildfires, which have shown the catastrophic consequences of unsustainable practices. Wildfires are significantly exacerbated by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere—like those produced by animal farming. There are other reasons, so please allow me to elaborate.

Like you and me, all animals experience pain, fear, joy, and stress. It’s a fact that mother cows in the dairy industry mourn the loss of their calves, who are taken from them shortly after birth, and if able to, they chase the trucks carrying their calves away. In nature, pigs keep their spaces clean and even decorate their homes with flowers. They’ve been seen bringing food to their sick or disabled siblings. By moving away from an industry that treats these empathetic, intelligent animals as if they were inanimate widgets, the Planet’s Most Perfect Plant Pro Expo would instead celebrate farmers who nourish us by growing nature’s bounty and so pave the way for a more compassionate world.

The Planet’s Most Perfect Plant Pro Expo could replace smelly, sad exhibits with fun, cruelty-free activities that would really set it apart from other events, including a “Saving Our Soil” seminar with a focus on sustainable plant-based farming, a “Vegan Vino” wine tasting, and an “Avocado Ultrasound: Uncovering the Unripe” demonstration to teach visitors how to determine when avocados are at the perfect level of deliciousness.

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

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President