Just Salad Nabs PETA Award for Vegan Beef Swap

Chain Cites Environment in Decision to Replace All Beef on Its Menu With Beyond Meat’s Plant Protein

For Immediate Release:
October 3, 2019

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

A Proggy Award (“Proggy” is for “progress”) is on its way from PETA to Just Salad in honor of its recent decision to remove all beef from its menu and, instead, offer diners Beyond Meat’s Beyond Beef meatballs, citing red meat’s “huge carbon footprint.”

While other dining chains have added vegan meat options, Just Salad is the first to replace beef entirely with a vegan protein option. “We can envision a completely meatless menu at Just Salad within the next five years,” said Just Salad Chief Sustainability Officer Janani Lee.

“By ditching beef in favor of Beyond Beef meatballs, Just Salad just got on board with the vegan dining trend,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “As the demand for delicious vegan fare continues to skyrocket, PETA looks forward to seeing more eateries veganize their menus—for the sake of animals, the environment, and diners’ health.”

More than 90% of the Amazon rainforest that’s been cleared since 1970 is used for meat production, either for grazing or for growing food for cattle, including those in the U.S. market. The United Nations states that animal agriculture is responsible for nearly a fifth of human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions—and warns that a global shift to vegan eating is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of climate change.

In addition to helping to combat deforestation, decreasing their carbon footprint, and sparing the lives of nearly 200 animals per year, each person who goes vegan reduces their risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and other health conditions.

Recently, vegan options have been added by a wide range of fast-food chains, including Del Taco (which offers Beyond Meat Beyond Beef Crumbles); Dunkin’ Donuts (which offers a Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich); and White Castle, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., and Hardee’s (which offer veggie burgers).

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.