Prior to St. Patrick’s Day, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, undertook an initiative to
inspire General Mills to alter the Lucky Charms marshmallow recipe for a vegan-friendly alternative.
And how does this affect us locally? Well, you might’ve been to a grocery store and browsed the cereal aisle. So, KDWA reached out to PETA for the reason behind the initiative.
Reilly Park, assistant manager of youth campaigns at PETA, offers insight.
“Lucky Charms doesn’t need to be a serial killer. It contains gelatin made from boiled pig skin and its vitamin D comes from sheep wool. So, PETA is urging General Mills to make Lucky Charms vegan so no animal has to suffer and die for a bowl, and so more people can enjoy it. On March 2, ahead of St Patrick’s Day, PETA sent a letter to General Mills chair and CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening, asking that the company made Lucky Charms vegan by switching to vegan marshmallows and vitamin D free.” Park says, “General Mills did confirm that they received our letter, but they did not follow up with anything.”
Park shares something for the public to consider.
“Well, with the demand for vegan foods at an all time high, we encourage the public to, you know, continue, continuing to choose vegan options, and to you know, urge General Mills to make the jump to vegan gelatin and vegan vitamin D free because General Mills has the chance to make a savvy business move by switching to, you know, the vegan marshmallows and vegan vitamin D free to broaden their appeal to a wider audience and also make a world of a difference for animals, and everyone deserves to enjoy delicious cereal without harming animals.” Park continues, “And there are many people who are vegan and vegetarian, and they don’t want to support this cruelty, but they want to enjoy delicious cereal. So yeah, people should, you know, continue to choose all the vegan options that we have, because it’s never been easier to you know, live well balanced vegan lifestyle with all the choices that we have in grocery stores.”
If you are interested in learning more about PETA initiatives happening locally, Reilly Park encourages listeners to sign up for text alerts at 73822.
“Yes, I encourage everyone to visit PETA.org to sign up for our action alerts, where you can get information about all of our campaigns and learn how to take action for animals in your area. I encourage everyone to join PETA’s action team and use your voice to advocate for animals.”
To listen to the broadcast, click the soundbite.