Historic National Cheeseball Day Prompts Vegan Gift to D.C. Schools, POTUS From PETA

For Immediate Release:
April 13, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

A history lesson, updated: Ahead of National Cheeseball Day (April 17), PETA sent letters today to C.W. Harris Elementary School and Ketcham Elementary School announcing a donation of delicious vegan cheese balls for teachers to distribute at snack time, to include in an after-school program, or to send home with food-insecure students. And because the cheesy holiday marks the day in 1802 when a 1,235-pound “mammoth cheese” was presented to President Thomas Jefferson, PETA has also offered to send “the big cheese” himself, President Joe Biden, a wagonload of vegan cheese balls at the White House for him to enjoy and share.

PETA notes that in addition to sparing cows the misery of the dairy industry—in which they’re repeatedly forcibly impregnated and their beloved calves are taken away from them—vegan cheeses are easier for many people to digest: More than 75% of D.C. students are Black or Latino, up to 80% of whom are lactose intolerant, and an allergy to cow’s milk is one of the most common allergies among children.

“Vegan cheeses are skyrocketing in popularity as families reach for snacks that are kind to cows and healthier for kids,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is eager to give everyone from President Biden to D.C. school students and teachers a taste of how delicious cashew, almond, and other plant-based cheeses are.”

Vegan cheeses are also “greener,” as animal agriculture is one of the biggest drivers of the climate catastrophe and the single largest source of U.S. methane emissions, which have 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—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