Mad Cows Urge Commuters to Choose Veggie Along San Francisco & Seattle Bus Routes

Animal Protection Institute
Monday, 5 February 2001

220 interior bus ads featuring "mad cows" with the caption, "Might we suggest a nice veggie burger?" will run through the month of February beginning the 5th as part of the Animal Protection Institute's "Choose Veggie" campaign. Eighty-five exterior bus ads will run in Seattle at the same time as part of the effort. Photos of the ad are available upon request.

"It is easier than ever to adopt a plant-based diet," says Alan Berger, Executive Director of the Sacramento-based Animal Protection Institute. "The sale of meat substitutes topped $250 million in 1998 and is expected to surpass $1 billion this year. Our ads are designed to appeal to consumers who may not consider themselves vegetarians but who recognize the overwhelming benefits of choosing a plant-centered diet for themselves, the environment and for animals."

Facts about plant-based foods:

- The whopping 48% growth rate in the sale of meat substitutes has made it among the top ten fastest growing categories in U.S. supermarkets.

- The American Dietetic Association reports that "scientific data suggest positive relationships between diets containing vegetables and reduced risk for several chronic degenerative diseases and conditions, including obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes ... and some types of cancer."

- The National Restaurant Association reports that, on any given day, nearly 15% of U.S. college students select a vegetarian option in their dining halls.

- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided last week to quarantine 1,200 Texas beef cattle who had been fed the remains of other cows to curtail the possibility of spreading mad cow disease, or BSE, to the United States. The decision came just weeks after the FDA discovered that hundreds of feed makers were violating rules associated with the ban on feeding cows the remains of other animals, raising questions about loopholes that might let BSE sneak into cattle and the U.S. market.

- The FDA concluded in October 1999 that including soy protein in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol levels. The agency has authorized the use of food labels that advertise the association between soy protein and the reduced risk of coronary heart disease.

For more information, or to contact Animal Protection Institute, see their website at: www.api4animals.org