When it comes to PETA, no meat-lover’s holiday is sacred, even the Super Bowl–an event 600 million chickens give their wings for–as the first family is finding out.
In a friendly letter to the White House, the friends of fur, feathers and fins urge the presidential chef to go vegan with the wings as a demonstration that the blood sport of the nation’s biggest sports event stay on the field and not the dinner plate.
“I think you would be making history,” says PETA DC Outreach Coordinator Leila Sleiman in her letter. “I doubt faux chicken wings, although they are easy to find nowadays in any grocery store, have been served in the White House ever before.” She even sends White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford a recipe for “Happy Wings,” and some other meat-free “meat” treats.
Sleiman also reveals a grim stat about Super Bowl feasting: “600 million, yes million, chickens will lose their wing and their lives for just this one game.”
The White House didn’t have any immediate comment, though the first family is known to be fans of real fried chicken while also champions of health eating.
Here’s PETA’s letter:
“Cristeta Comerford
White House Executive Chef
Dear Ms. Comerford,
I’m not sure whether you will be watching the Super Bowl this coming weekend, but I suspect you will be cooking up a storm for the President and First Family’s Super Bowl evening. I’m also not sure if you have heard that 600 million, yes million, chickens will lose their wings and their lives just for this one game. That’s why I am making a special request to you: please will you serve up some delicious, totally cholesterol-free, tasty, and cruelty-free faux wings for this event? Although President Clinton’s chef cooked veggie burgers for him and made vegetarian meals for Chelsea, I think you would be making history. I doubt faux chicken wings, although they are easy to find nowadays in any grocery store, have been served in the White House ever before.
I am out on the streets of Washington, and my colleagues are outside the stadium in Indiana all week, offering faux wings to visitors and residents. We would love to hear that you gave the President and the First Family a taste of “happy wings”—wings for which no gentle birds had to lose their lives. No matter which team you place your money on to win the Super Bowl, going vegan is always a safe bet.
Here is the recipe I recommend and the one my “ordinary” family will enjoy this weekend.
With every good wish for a healthy, humane game time,
Leila Sleiman
PETA Outreach Coordinator
