Change Is A-Brewin’: PETA Offers Giant Oat Milk Carton Sculpture for Historic Bedford Coffee Pot

For Immediate Release:
October 2, 2024

Contact:
Maddy Missett 202-483-7382

Ahead of the Bedford Fall Foliage Festival—when the famous Coffee Pot will be open to visitors—PETA sent a letter today Bedford County Fair President Bill Hoover today with a mugnificent offer: a giant oat milk carton sculpture to sit next to the historic landmark. The proposal even comes with a perk—if Hoover accepts, PETA will hand out a whole latte free coffee with vegan milk at the unveiling.

“Plant milks are healthy, environmentally friendly, and don’t involve taking cows’ beloved calves away from them so that humans can drink the milk that nature intended for those babies,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges Bedford to add an exciting new element to its beloved Coffee Pot.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every 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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Hoover follows.

October 2, 2024

Bill Hoover

President

Bedford County Fair

Dear Mr. Hoover:

Hello! 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 many thousands across Pennsylvania—with a suggestion that would make the Bedford Coffee Pot even more brewtiful. We’d like to donate a giant vegan milk carton sculpture to accompany The Coffee Pot in order to send the message that choosing plant-based milks for one’s cereal or morning joe would allow mother cows to keep their calves, in addition to helping prevent ill health from artery-clogging dairy and safeguard the environment by reducing the devastation caused by animal agriculture.

Of course, like all mammals, mother cows produce milk only after pregnancy, so they’re forcibly impregnated over and over again to ensure that they maintain a steady supply of milk. Then their beloved babies are taken away from them within hours of birth. Cows on factory farms are forced to produce so much milk that their bodies are typically worn out by the time the animals are just 4 or 5 years old. At that point, they’re sent to slaughter. Our statue near The Coffee Pot would encourage people to choose plant-based milks, which would be good for coffee-drinkers and for these social animals who make friends, have long-term memories, and display a wide variety of personality types, just as humans do.

Vegan milks are hugely popular: The industry is flourishing, with dairy consumption down 20% among Gen Zers, 65% of whom say they want to follow a more plant-based diet. The production of vegan milk involves far less greenhouse gas emissions and uses far less land and water than dairy farms do. Dairy is also linked to diabetes, serious allergies, and prostate and breast cancer, and approximately 36% of Americans are lactose intolerant.

Our sculpture would be a mooving tribute to all the cows who are exploited for milk production. If you accept, we’d gladly hand out fresh cups of coffee with vegan milks at the unveiling of the display. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you a latte for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President