So in only a week or so, 36,176 people have signed up for "Hug a Vegetarian" Day. Now that the day is finally here, everyone has all these questions for me about how I came up with the idea, what other animal rights-themed holidays I've got up my sleeve, and where I got the HI-LARIOUS hug-related facts from (seriously, if you didn't read them, do it now–if you click on "Random Hug-Related Fact of the Moment" it will refresh and you'll see a new fact). Well, I'll answer the last question first: If you couldn't tell, I actually made up all of the hug-related facts. I first tried searching for "hug facts" on google, but was greatly disappointed at the results, so I decided to just make some up that sounded official. I am curious to find out how many hug-related deaths there are each year, though.

So, onto the other questions: How did I come up with "Hug a Vegetarian" Day you ask? Well, it all started with a tattoo I got a little over two years ago…

I wholeheartedly believe in this motto. Not in a lame hippie-ish way, but I think friends need to be more affectionate, and, well, give more hugs. And what group of people are more huggable than vegetarians? None! Since there aren't nearly enough holidays dedicated to animal rights activists, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and created one myself.

So what's next? I'm thinking "Talk Like a Vegan Day" or "Vegetarian New Year" (which, of course, is on May 12). We'll see.

Anyway, here are some pictures from "Hug a Vegetarian" Day. BEST. HOLIDAY. EVER.

Jazmyn and Gidget

Christian and Mariko

Charlene and Alexis

Check out peta2's Flickr page for more, and click here to post yours.

-Noah

P.S. I wish Tofutti made a really huge, like, 3-foot long Cutie and called it a Hug. I'd eat the fuck out of Tofutti Hugs.