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Saturday, September 25, 2004
Pamela Anderson urges Pinoys to go vegetarian
* Former Baywatch Babe Stars in New Peta ad promoting vegetarianism
WEARING nothing but a skimpy bikini made of lettuce leaves, pin-up queen Pamela Anderson, best known internationally for her starring roles in the TV series Baywatch and V.I.P., appears in the new People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) ad with the tagline "Mas maganda sa katawan ang maging vegetarian (Going vegetarian is good for the body)."
The ad steers readers to Peta's website www.GoVeg.com, where they can order the latest edition of Peta's popular vegetarian starter kit, which features Anderson on the cover and is tailored especially for Filipinos.
Peta and Anderson want Filipinos to know that a vegan diet-one devoid of all animal products-is the best way to stay trim, ease your conscience, avoid life-threatening illnesses and even spice up your sex life.
"I've found that going vegetarian is the best and easiest method of staying slim and sexy," says Anderson, who's been a vegetarian since she was 16. "I hope to get the word out to Filipinos that 'eating green' is good for animals and people."
Peta's new vegetarian starter kit, which features Anderson on the cover, makes it easier than ever to start eating right. The explosion of vegetarian foods means that you can get a veggie burger at Burger King or pop a veggie "hot dog" into the microwave and finish the meal with a tofu dessert. You can order a latte with soy milk at coffee-shop chains like Starbucks and Seattle's Best, enjoy a veggie burger straight from the barbecue, and stock your kitchen with products that were unimaginable 20 years ago: flavored rice mixes, microwavable ready-made meals, soy-based "cream," "mayonnaise," and a variety of mock meats.
Eating meat causes heart disease, the leading killer of Filipinos. Vegetarians are 40 percent less likely to die from cancer than meat-eaters. Men take note: Eating meat clogs the arteries to all of the body's vital organs, which can lead to impotence. Consumption of meat and other animal products have also been linked to diabetes and societies with the highest rates of dairy consumption also have the highest rates of osteoporosis, the very disease dairy promoters claim their products prevent. Unfortunately, at a time when vegetarianism is on the upswing in some countries, many Filipinos are mimicking the unhealthful, meat-laden eating habits of Western cultures.
Anderson has been defending animals since she was a little girl growing up in British Columbia, Canada. She raised such a ruckus when her father brought home a deer he had killed that he never hunted again. Then she learned about the atrocities committed against animals raised for food, became vegetarian, and joined Peta. Years later, as the special guest of Prince Albert of Monaco, she inadvertently held up dinner at a glamorous ball when she asked for a vegetarian meal.
Animals raised for food lead miserable lives and suffer terrifying deaths. Many animals in the Philippines are raised on cruel factory farms, where chickens are treated like machines. They spend their brief lives in overcrowded conditions-many of them so cramped that they can't even turn around or spread a wing. Many do not get a breath of fresh air until they are roughly gathered and crammed onto trucks for a nightmarish ride to the abattoir, often through weather extremes and always without food or water. The animals are hung upside-down and their throats are slit, often while they're fully conscious.
"Why go vegetarian?" asks Anderson. "With so many great reasons, I think that a better question is, 'Why not?'"
Anderson is joined by a growing number of celebrities who've also kicked the meat habit, including Sir Paul McCartney, Isabel Roces, Chin Chin Gutierrez, Martina Navratilova, Raymond Bagatsing, Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, Joaquin Phoenix, Moby, and Spider-Man's Tobey Maguire. PR
(September 25, 2004 issue)
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