College Students to Swarm McDonald’s With Vegan Demand

PETA Campus Representatives Will Lead Protest to Call For Animal-Free Menu Additions at Fast-Food Chain

For Immediate Release:
February 1, 2019

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

On Sunday, PETA’s campus representatives and members of their animal rights groups will descend on the McDonald’s location on Virginia Street for a spirited demonstration urging the notoriously meat-happy chain to add vegan options to its menu.

When:    Sunday, February 3, 11 a.m.

Where:    McDonald’s, 432 N. Virginia St. (between E. Fourth and E. Fifth streets), Reno

“While other fast-food companies, such as Carl’s Jr. and Taco Bell, are responding to the demand for healthy, animal-free meals, McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. are moving backwards,” says PETA Director of International Campus Mobilization and Live Events Ryan Huling. “The next generation of PETA supporters is fired up and ready to push McDonald’s to start offering some truly happy vegan meals.”

PETA (whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”) is urging McDonald’s U.S. restaurants—which just introduced even more bacon options to their menus—to follow the lead of the chain’s international locations and take steps to meet the rising demand for vegan food. McVegan burgers are available across the Nordic region, and in Sweden, McDonald’s has also added the McFalafel—made with chickpeas, parsley, garlic, and cumin and served with a vegan pepper dip—to its offerings. And just this month, McDonald’s U.K. teamed up with the Vegetarian Society to debut the Spicy Veggie Wrap, which is filled with meat-free chicken and can also be ordered as a happy meal.

PETA’s campus representatives hail from universities across the West Coast, including the University of California–Berkeley, the University of California–Irvine, the University of California–Merced, the University of Southern California, and the University of Nevada–Reno.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.