Vegans In Newark: PETA At Penn Station, Celebrity Chef Visits School

NEWARK, NJ — Newark has been seeing some vegan advocacy lately, with the city recently getting separate visits from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and celebrity chef Lyana Blount.

Recently, PETA spokespeople announced that the group is launching a digital campaign at Newark Penn Station, right in the middle of the busy holiday travel season.

The group is putting up a series of digital messages in the busy train station, which feature chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs and other animals – each of which are making pleas to see animals as fellow beings, not as food.

“I’m ME, not MEAT,” the digital ads proclaim. “See the individual. Go vegan.”

According to a news release from PETA:

“Cows, pigs, turkeys, and chickens raised and killed for food endure extreme crowding, routine mutilations without pain relief, terrifying trips in all weather extremes to slaughterhouses, and violent, painful deaths on blood-soaked floors. In the fishing industry, aquatic animals are impaled, crushed, suffocated, dropped into pots of boiling water, or cut open and gutted, all while conscious.”

“All animals feel pain and fear and value their lives, and it’s wrong to carve their bodies up when their lives are as precious as our own,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said.

PETA offers a free vegan starter kit for those looking to make the switch, advocates said.

CELEBRITY CHEF VISITS SCHOOL

Last month, students at Newark Vocational High School got a visit from well-known celebrity chef Lyana Blount.

Blount, the founder of Black Rican Vegan, took the students on a culinary journey, introducing them to the world of “plant-based comfort food.”

The event included a lecture for students, an interactive Q&A session, a book signing and a cooking demonstration for the culinary and hospitality program students.

Blount – who is proud of her African-American and Puerto Rican heritage – spoke to the students about how she turned a hobby into a thriving business.

The event was a valuable career exploration experience for students in the school’s culinary arts program, administrators said.

“The Newark Board of Education is dedicated to creating experiences for students to learn from experts in various fields,” board president Hasani Council said. “The collaboration with Chef Lyana is a prime illustration of how such experiences have a life-changing impact on students' lives.”

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