Local Man Who Loves Turkeys Wins PETA’s ‘Vegan Eats and Treats’ Contest

Easter Family Dinner Earns Curtis Taylor a Supply of Handcrafted Vegan Meals

For Immediate Release:
November 13, 2018

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

When Eugene resident Curtis Taylor set out to make an all-vegan Easter dinner earlier this year, serving up Trader Joe’s Turkey-less Stuffed Roasts and all the vegan trimmings, he just wanted to wow his family members. But after submitting a photo to PETA’s Vegan Eats and Treats contest, he officially became an award-winning chef. As his prize, he’ll receive six Veestro packs, each containing 10 delicious handcrafted vegan meals, delivered to his door.

Taylor served his family roasted red peppers stuffed with dairy-free mac and cheese, two vegan roasts, oven-roasted veggies, mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, steamed cauliflower, and homemade cranberry sauce. For dessert, there was a vegan pumpkin pie. And here’s the bonus: His family was so impressed that his aunt is now planning to serve a turkey-less roast at Thanksgiving this year.

“I went vegetarian in middle school after a PETA video showed me how turkeys are tormented and killed for the table, so it seems right that a turkey-free holiday meal won me a prize,” says Taylor. “With so many delicious vegan entrées and sides on the market today, it’s easy as pie to create a feast without harming animals.”

“PETA salutes Curtis Taylor for treating his whole family to a meal that shows respect for animals, helps the environment, and is healthy to boot,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “From turkey-free roasts to dairy-free mac and cheese, everyone can find everything that they need for a vegan feast at the local supermarket, and PETA has free vegan starter kits for the asking.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that about 45 million turkeys are killed in the U.S. each year for Thanksgiving. The birds are hung by their feet from metal shackles and dragged through an electrified bath that can cause them to have full-body tremors. They’re often still conscious when their throats are slit and they’re dumped into a tank of scalding-hot water to remove their feathers.

For more information and free vegan holiday recipes, please visit PETA.org.