PETA to Issue ‘Go 100% Vegan’ Message at Tyson Annual Meeting

For Immediate Release:
February 10, 2021

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

“When will Tyson develop a plan to capitalize on the future of meat, which is vegan?” That’s the question a PETA representative will ask the company’s executives at its virtual annual meeting tomorrow, citing study after study from health practitioners to climate scientists to animal welfare experts as well as statistics that show the rise in popularity of vegan foods.

PETA purchased stock in Tyson—which already produces the vegan brand Raised & Rooted—early in the COVID-19 pandemic. The filthy, crowded conditions and frenzied line speeds in slaughterhouses make virus transmission among slaughterhouse workers nearly unavoidable: Tens of thousands of them have tested positive for COVID-19 and hundreds have died. The group notes that the novel coronavirus originated in a Chinese “wet market,” where live and dead animals are sold for human consumption; swine flu began on a U.S. factory farm; and other deadly influenza viruses have been traced to chickens.

The cost of raising animals for meat is rising, while the demand for vegan meats is skyrocketing, and the market is predicted to be worth more than $4.15 billion by 2026.

“By becoming a 100% vegan company, Tyson can save animals, protect its profits, and even do its part to help prevent future pandemics,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges Tyson to use its own Raised & Rooted line as a blueprint for the rest of the company—and to inspire the meat industry at large.”

PETA has also purchased stock in Hormel, Sanderson Farms, Maple Leaf Foods, Kraft Heinz (the parent company of Oscar Mayer), and Chinese-owned WH Group (the owner of Smithfield Foods) to urge them to switch to producing vegan meats.

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