"Cut Out Dissection" Action of the Week: Get Creative! October 26, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at October 26, 2009 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBack

If you love animals and hate dissection, this action of the week should be easy for you.

We'll give you 1,000 Street Team points just for sending us an example of something creative you've done to raise awareness about the dissection industry. You might bake some vegan cookies shaped like frogs, make your own "Cut Class, Not Frogs" shirt or bag with this stencil (we can also send you one for free if you earn enough Street Team points), write a poem about why the dissection industry sucks, record yourself freestyle rapping on behalf of the animals, or paint something related to dissection.

Honestly, do whatever is fun, legal, and makes sense to you. Then e-mail us at StreetTeam@peta2.com with what you've done and we'll give you 1,000 Street Team points!

Here are some pictures to inspire you ...

Photobooths are more fun when you're wearing peta2 stickers!


A+ for nice use of a prop!


DIY bag.

What's that? You don't believe that anyone would write a creative poem about dissection? Well, what do you call this?

Cutting up animals in school is dumb.
I don't see how anyone
could take a scalpel to a cat.
Or to a pig, frog, or rat.

It's really sad that animals die.
I wish schools would just try
alternatives since they teach so much better.
And you won't be spilling animals' blood on your sweater!

OK, let's see what you've got! Oh, and don't forget our new leaflets!

It's 'Cut Out Dissection' Month! October 1, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at October 1, 2009 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBack

You know October is 'Cut Out Dissection' month, right?

Help stop the suffering frogs like this endure at the hands of the dissection industry.
wikipedia / CC

What is that? Every year, 6 million animals like pigs, frogs, cats, and other animals, are killed to be cut up and mutilated in classrooms across the country, even though more humane, and less disgusting and cruel methods exist. October is the perfect time to get started with your campaign to help stop dissection in your school!

What can you do? If you live in a state that has a dissection choice policy allowing you to opt out for an alternative, print out of our state specific leaflets here. These leaflets will help you talk to your teachers and principal about a humane alternative to chopping up corpses in class. Not sure if your state allows you the right to not dissect? Cllick here to find out! If your state isn't on our list, no fear! We'll send you our re-designed 'Cut Class, Not Frogs' leaflets for free! Just e-mail us at peta2@peta2.com!

If you haven't yet, check out our brand new anti-dissection ad with Steve-O and share it on Facebook and everyone you hang out online.

Let's make this the best 'Cut Out Dissection' month yet! Do you have any plans for helping frogs and other animals at your school?

Introducing: peta2 Sandwich of the Week! September 17, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at September 17, 2009 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

Let me set the scene: Your school's vegan options suck—between french fries, iceberg lettuce and potato chips, you're getting a little fed up. You're gathering petitions to get more veg options, and talking to your lunch ladies about serving up some real food, but that's all taking a bit of time. What can you do for lunch right now?

peta2's got you covered. Every week we're going to be comin' up with something creative, but easy to put together, find ingredients for, and obviously easy to eat, for you to bring to lunch! These should make for happy stomachs, and good outreach because while your corpse munching friends are digging into their mystery meat, you'll have food that was tested out by vegan food experts. Trust us—we know vegan food!

I'm starting the blog out with some of my favorite things thrown together:

• Tofurky (any variety will do—I love original, and the new "cranberry and stuffing," pictured here!).
• Sesame tahini hummus—OK, if you haven't had hummus yet, and you're veg, get to it! Hummus can go on pretty much anything and make it amazing. Example? This sandwich. It can be a main dish, a side dish, a dip, or a spread. It's essential!
• Mustard, lettuce, sprouts, bread—these are self explanatory. I love mustard, in fact, some have said I have a small obsession. And I love sprouts. If you don't, leave 'em off! Vegan mayo is also an acceptable condiment for this (again, if you don't have vegan mayo in your life, WTF?).

So where do you get this stuff? Cody and I took a quick trip to Trader Joe's last night, but you can find this stuff at any small (or large) health food store in your area. Obviously, sprouts, lettuce, and mustard can be found at any grocery store—and chances are, you already have most of those in the fridge. Tofurky is great because it's super cheap, and is my favorite faux meat of all time—and it's got some pretty fierce competition. You can usually find Tofurky slices and hummus in stores for less than $5 each—so whether you're spending your own money, or asking your parents to shell it out for you, it shouldn't be too big of a deal.


No picture of food would be complete without my cat Lily Monster trying to eat it! :)

Let us know if you try this and love it! And feel free to send us suggestions at peta2@peta2.com—if there's something you'd like us to try out, or a sandwich you love to make, let us know!

School Supplies—peta2 Style September 9, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at September 9, 2009 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 43 ) | TrackBack

Things peta2 Street Teamers are good at (short list):

• Winning campaigns against companies like Delia's (aka: saving animals)
• Being creative
• Spreading the word about animal rights
• Starting animal rights clubs at their schools
• Did we mention being creative?

I don't know about you guys, but I was kind of—okay, really—into school supplies (math class, not so much). I loved covering my folders, notebooks and book covers with stickers, album covers, and photos of my favorite bands.

Sadly, everyone's favorite peta2 (not a) Nugget hadn't been born just yet, so my school supplies were definitely lacking, but I'd be willing to bet that most of you have peta2 stickers and leaflets somewhere around your house that you could use to get the word out at your school.

Check out some pictures from some of our awesome Street Teamers in D.C—see the new peta2 stencils they used? They're new to Street Team goods! We've even got an 'Evil Ronald' one for our McCruelty campaign. The only way to get one is to earn one on the Street Team!







You know the deal. We'll give you 500 Street Team points for sending us photos of your school supplies covered with animal rights stickers, stencils or artwork! E-mail them to us at StreetTeam@peta2.com!

We Heart Jeannette! September 3, 2009

Posted by Elizabeth Barturen at September 3, 2009 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

Jeannette, the president of the animal rights club at her high school, recently requested a tabling pack from us here at peta2, and I was more than happy to oblige her!

When she e-mailed the pictures to me, I nearly pulled a face muscle from smiling with giddy pride (I absolutely love pictures—can you tell?). She and her fellow club members even collected petition signatures to help animals at their school! It was such a great turnout, and she reported that some people even decided to go vegetarian right then and there at the table!

The best part was that they were able to open the eyes of so many people who weren't aware of what really happens to animals who are exploited for food, and they had so much fun doing it! Check out some of these great pictures:

That sounds like a good time to me! So what's stopping you from spreading the word at school? Of course, before you table at school, a show, or any event, please make sure that you have permission! You can check out our Guide to Tabling for information on what steps you need to take to table successfully!

Sound like something you're into? E-mail us at peta2@peta2.com. If you're not a part of an animal rights group at your school, get one started. Check out our guide to starting a group at your school here!

For the animals,


P.S. You'll be awarded 5,000 Street Team points for starting a group—just make sure you send us photos of an event your group has held!

What Do You Eat At School? August 31, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at August 31, 2009 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 13 ) | TrackBack

Does your school serve vegetarian options or does the cafeteria resemble something more along the lines of a butcher shop? Do you think most students have had a chance to meet their meat?

Whether you're in high school or college the fact is that when you're in school, you are around people who are in a very unique learning environment.

But let me ask you a question. What's the point of your school offering something like Health class or a course all about the environment if there isn't any way to turn that classroom lesson into real world action?!

Here at peta2, we're a big fan of education as one step to changing the world. It's not going to happen just from reading books and writing reports, though. We want every one of you to make changes in your school and local communities with our Street Team.

One of the best things you can do to help animals is to make your school vegetarian-friendly!

We created a brand new guide to help you, and we're always willing to send you free stickers, leaflets, posters, and DVDs to help spread the world about cruelty to animals, healthy eating, and environmental sustainability. Check out the guide and e-mail peta2@peta2.com if you need anything mailed out to you. Just give us an idea of when you need it and how many people you are going to reach!

Download your guide now!

Get to work. It's still very early into the school year, so we want to work with you to make changes happen! Schools can't keep getting away with serving such disgusting food. With a little work, you and your friends will be able to enjoy some amazing options at school within a couple weeks!

Does Sesame Street Love Tofu? August 30, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at August 30, 2009 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

From the look of this video, it seems like someone over at Sesame Street is a fan of tofu!

What do you think of it?

I was definitely, pleasantly surprised to see it!

Oh, and while we're on the topic of food, if you need some back to school eating tips, check out VegCooking.com and PETA's Vegan College Cookbook.

Save Animals With Your iPod! August 28, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at August 28, 2009 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 42 ) | TrackBack

If I had a vegan cupcake for every time someone said they'd stopped eating animals, wearing fur or going to the circus because of a video they'd seen that shocked them, well, I'd be a very happy person. Even though it can be hard to watch, videos like Meet Your Meat, Chew On This, or our undercover investigations into Ringling Bros., suppliers for McDonald's, and others, are really what make people realize that what happens to animals is wrong—and that they can make a difference.

School has started for most of you, and while you're probably dreading spending time in those buses, hallways and classrooms, peta2 has found a new way for you to spend that time really educating your classmates.

Click on the images below to download our videos specially encoded for your iPods (if they play videos!), or iPhones. Once they're downloaded to your computer, just drag or import them into iTunes like you normally would a song.

Download the Animal Testing Breaks Hearts and McCruelty videos


Trent Reznor dog and cat fur investigation and our new Ringling investigation

If you're on the Street Team, we'll give you 500 points for showing them to your friends! E-mail us at StreetTeam@peta2.com and let us know what videos you downloaded, who you showed it to and how it went! We'll give you an extra 500 points if you send us a screen shot or a picture of the videos on your iPod!

Study: More Vegetarian Lunches in Schools Than Ever! June 23, 2009

Posted by Ryan at June 23, 2009 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBack

Say goodbye to mystery meat.

An exciting new report from the School Nutrition Association has concluded that "almost two thirds of school nutrition programs now offer a vegetarian school lunch on a consistent basis, up from 22% in 2003." That's a 41% increase!

Want to know what I think the best part of the report is though? According to the news coverage, "the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service received over 10,000 comments on the need for increased availability of vegetarian meals in schools." [Emphasis mine]

They hear you! All of those comment cards you're filling out and petition signatures you're gathering are making a difference, in a big way. Keep it up!

Say Hello To Anna! May 21, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at May 21, 2009 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBack

I was pretty excited when Anna, a Pleasant Valley High School student, sent us a link to her school newspaper article about a PETA demonstration against the use of animals for their skins.

She did a great job of getting quotes and conveying the message that animals should not be fashion victims.

Here is a quick interview I did with Anna so you can get to know her a bit better ...

How has the response been to your article?
For the most part it has been positive. Our Entertainment Editor is vegetarian so I have had support from her and other friends that are vegetarian. Some of the people that I know think that the PETA campaign against the use of animal fur in the fashion industry is pointless because of the few amount of people who wear fur. But for the most part people think that it's an interesting campaign that PETA has for advocating against the fur industry and found the article insightful.

Why are you interested in animal rights issues?
Before I began research for my article on PETA, I was indifferent about the subject of animal rights. I was never aware of the horrible treatment that still occurred in today's advanced societies. After I wrote my article I realized that there is still a large amount of work people must do, and I feel that we must begin focusing part of our attention on the silent victims that are the animals.

What's your favorite way to educate people about this topic?
I educate people about animal abuse in the fashion industry and the abuses in general by not laughing at their stupid jokes about PETA and the people who advocate against animal abuse. Instead I let them know that there is still a problem. I enjoyed researching my article so whenever I can I throw a fact or statistic about animal abuse there way to let them know it's not a small issue they are usually shocked to learn that something new about the topic.

How did you hear about peta2?
When I was a freshman my first locker had a peta2 sticker stuck on it that read, "I am not a nugget." I didn't think too much about peta2 until this year when I went to the protest against furs and skins and the fashion campaigner, Jena Hunt, suggested I visit the website to learn more about PETA and how high schoolers can become active.

Any advice for other students who want to write about animal rights for their school newspaper?
I would suggest that they attend a protest rally that focuses on what they want to write their article about. When I attended the protest everyone was so nice and welcoming. I didn't know a lot about the animal abuse in the fashion industry until I met the protesters and it truly inspired me to write my article. They were so willing to share with me their experiences and their knowledge about the subject. Also supporting an article with statistics and facts about the topic you write about always makes an article stronger and it makes the reader more aware of the problem.

Thanks again, Anna! If you're looking to write a story about animal rights or otherwise get active for animals, check out the Street Team today!