Council Member Kimberly Warmsley, Las Maris Food Truck to Join PETA to Fight Food Deserts

For Immediate Release:
January 31, 2023

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

To help some of the 8 million California residents who live in food deserts, Council Member Kimberly Warmsley will join PETA on Thursday to give out free vegan chicken burritos and watermelon aguas frescas from Carlos Bryant’s Las Maris food truck as well as bags packed with fresh produce and nutritious vegan staples like tofu and lentils. This giveaway is part of PETA’s national food justice campaign, which aims to redirect the billions of dollars in subsidies for the meat, egg, and dairy industries toward incentives for grocers in food deserts to stock vegetables, fruits, and other healthy, humane, vegan foods.

When:    Thursday, February 2, 12 noon–1 p.m.

Where:    McKinley Park (at the parking lot at the southeast corner of S. El Dorado and E. Eighth streets), Stockton

“Food justice is a critical issue here in South Stockton, which, due in large part to meaty and cheesy fast food and the lack of availability of fresh produce, has some of the highest rates in the state of high blood pressure, diabetes, and childhood obesity,” says Warmsley. “With PETA’s help, we can build a healthier community by giving residents access to mock meats that deliver real benefits and to fresh fruits, vegetables, and other vegan foods that ‘health-up’ any’ menu.”

“Everyone deserves to have nourishing food that keeps them thriving instead of being limited to fast and processed fare full of animal-derived fat and cholesterol,” says PETA Senior Director Danielle Katz. “PETA’s food justice campaign empowers people to take action by contacting their representatives to demand equal access to healthy foods.”

Supporters can text JUSTICE to 73822 to call on state legislators to take action to save animals’ lives; help vulnerable communities reduce their rates of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes; and safeguard the planet, given that animal agriculture is responsible for nearly one-fifth of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.S. government currently spends about $38 billion of taxpayers’ money each year subsidizing the meat, egg, and dairy industries—the vast majority of which goes to big corporations—while only about $17 million is used to subsidize the fruit and vegetable industries.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.