National ‘Vegan Roast Boast’ Winners Offer Bird-Friendly Solutions to Soaring Turkey Prices

For Immediate Release:
November 9, 2022

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

With more people than ever expected to celebrate a meat-free Thanksgiving this year, PETA is giving 10 eateries nationwide something to brag about with its inaugural Vegan Roast Boast Awards, honoring the most succulent solutions to 2022’s soaring turkey prices and rampant bird flu outbreaks.

On the East Coast, in Guilford, Connecticut, Three Girls Vegan Creamery, owned by a mother and her two daughters, won for its Vegan Holiday Roast dressed with mushroom gravy and filled with apple, “sausage,” and herb stuffing. In New York, the Thanksgiving Feast from Binghamton’s Parlor City Vegan includes a shaved juicy roasted vegan turkey; Rochester’s Grass Fed is dishing up a roast with mushroom, fennel, and leek stuffing; and Brooklyn’s Monk’s Meats is offering a 5-pound roast with chestnut fennel stuffing, wrapped in a yuba skin, rubbed with sage butter, and smoked over hickory hardwood.

Love Again Local in West Chester, Pennsylvania, won for its Stuffed Holiday Roast—perfect for serving with a generous glug of gravy—and The Herbivorous Butcher in Minneapolis has options for any size gathering, with sage-seasoned roasts available in 1-, 2-, and 2.5-pound varieties. In Tempe, the Seitan Turkey Breast with “Giblet” Gravy takes center stage in Green New American Vegetarian’s “ThanksLIVING” meals, and in Tucson, Arizona, Lovin’ Spoonfuls’ cashew Nut Loaf—served with garlic mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy—is available on its daily dinner menu. In California, The Butcher’s Son in Berkeley grabbed a spot on the list for its crispy-skinned roast and Planted Table in Oakland is dishing up a roast basted with apple cider that’s accompanied by roasted apples, carrots, and celery.

“These juicy roasts offer all the comforting holiday flavors we expect, with none of the cruelty to turkeys or cholesterol,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “This ‘ThanksVegan,’ PETA is celebrating local businesses that make it easy as dairy-free pumpkin pie to enjoy a bird-friendly feast.”

Not only are vegan roasts free of saturated animal fat and cholesterol, they also spare animals immense suffering: More than 45 million turkeys will be killed for this Thanksgiving alone. During their short lives, they’re forced to stand in their own waste and inhale ammonia-laden air inside dark warehouses. They’re even genetically manipulated to make them grow unnaturally large, which causes their legs to break beneath them.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers a “ThanksVegan” guide packed with recipes, shopping tips, and more. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.