What is Paul McCartney eating for Christmas dinner this year? Not turkey, that’s for sure – and to bring the message home, the former Beatle appears in a brand-new PETA UK campaign, in which he shows off an “Eat No Turkey” T-shirt below the words “Celebrate Life This Holiday Season. Go Vegetarian”.
When McCartney sat down to record his narration for PETA’s video exposé of the meat industry – called Glass Walls for the music legend’s famous statement “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian” – he shared what his family eats for the holidays: “We eat a veggie roast at home, so if we have traditional moments like Christmas … the roast is perfect. It’s completely vegetarian, but I can slice it, so I can do all my traditional dad things. We can do our family stuff with it, and it’s delicious, so I much prefer that to my memory of turkey”.
Every year, almost 10 million turkeys are slaughtered in the UK for Christmas dinners alone. In nature, turkeys are protective and loving parents as well as spirited explorers who can climb trees and run as fast as 25 miles per hour. But most turkeys slated to be killed for food are crammed into filthy warehouses, where disease, smothering and heart attacks are common. Turkeys are drugged and bred to grow such unnaturally large upper bodies that their legs often become crippled under the weight.
Paul McCartney is part of a long list of celebrities – including John Bishop, Pamela Anderson, Owain Yeoman, Joss Stone, Alicia Silverstone and many more – who have teamed up with PETA UK to promote healthy, humane and Earth-friendly vegetarian meals.
The “Eat No Turkey” T-shirt is available to purchase here. For more information, including animal-free holiday recipes, visit PETA.org.uk.
