State-Journal.com - Superintendent says no thanks to PETA burgers

PETA wants to exchange veggie burgers for a chance to put ads on Franklin County playgrounds. The ads show a pudgy-faced kid about to devour a fast-food hamburger beside the phrase "Tot teetering on obesity? Go vegan!" and the PETA logo.

PETA wants to advertise on Franklin County Public Schools playgrounds in exchange for thousands of free veggie burgers for students.

The animal rights organization sent a letter to Superintendent Harrie Buecker Thursday morning, “offering to provide the district’s students with a free veggie-burger lunch in exchange for advertising space on school teeter-totters,” according to a press release.

But Buecker said Thursday that the Board of Education doesn’t support direct advertising to students. The board must approve any advertising from outside organizations that appears on school property.

“It’s the same reason we don’t want them to see ads for sugared cereals,” Buecker said. “They’re still little, and they may not be mature enough to make those kinds of decisions.”

PETA could submit fliers or handouts, which parents could pick up in the school office or at open house events, she said.

“But not out on the playground where the students are,” she said. “We certainly don’t have any ill will toward PETA, but they need to adhere to the same policy as other organizations.”

The ads show a pudgy-faced kid about to devour a fast-food hamburger beside the phrase “Tot teetering on obesity? Go vegan!” and the PETA logo.

“These ads urge parents and school faculty to encourage children to enjoy healthful vegan meals comprised of nourishing fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains instead of fatty, cholesterol-laden meat and dairy products,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in the letter.

PETA chose Franklin County because Kentucky has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the U.S., the release said.

“Our proposal is a win-win situation for Franklin County Public Schools,” Reiman said.

“Students will get a delicious, healthy, fat- and cholesterol-free meal and a lifesaving message about how unhealthy it is to eat meat. The best thing that people of any age can do for their health, animals and the environment is to go vegan.”

Franklin County lunch lines won’t be serving PETA's veggie burgers either, Buecker said. Schools must abide by the National School Lunch Program guidelines, she said, but vegetarian-friendly items are available.

“We are very restricted on what we can and cannot serve our students during the school days,” she said.

Buecker emphasized that local teachers spend time talking to kids about nutrition, exercise and healthy lifestyles.

16.	Posted by devilshollow March 31, 2010
	@HeIsLegend You actually are incorrect in knowing my friend (who does not even live in this state) but it seems like you have a little bit more knowledge on vegans than your comments below show, so I can rescind my attitude towards you earlier. However you have to understand, when people attack vegans or vegetarians we are USUALLY defensive because: A) It happens every single day B) Why would anyone else care what you do or do not eat. C) Where is it anyone else's place to tell you what you can do to yourself I once had a boss at a restaurant tell me not to tell people I am a vegetarian because it alienates them. Ever had to tell someone you didn't eat meat??? And although, I am a vegetarian though I usually do not describe myself as such because there is a lot of stigma attached to the word and veganism is something that just wouldn't work for me( i love cheese!!!) :) I however do support humanitarianism and that is, how I understand it, the love for everything( humans, animals, earth, etc...) Take that for what you will and forgive me if I acted out of character when, once again, something I believe was attacked. Have a nice day!

10.	Posted by BeTheChange March 26, 2010
	We are not carnivores, we are omnivores. That is what our teeth are for: plants and meat. I fully support people who go vegan as long as it is done healthily with good balance of the vitamins and minerals that are highest in meat. It is not hard to be a very healthy vegan. I think the main incentive to not eat meat is all the hormones that big industry meat use (which is of course then in dairy products). I personally eat meat, but i do not think it should be a main course. Meals that consist of a huge steak with a small salad and a baked potato are not healthy. Vegetables and whole grains should be the main part of a meal. While i am glad that PETA is staying out of the school for many reasons including their often sexist and degrading fear/scare/repulsion tactics and fat shaming (ATTN PETA: there are fat and unhealthy vegans, it isn't a cure all), i do not like the tone of some of the comments against healthy options for food. Veggie burgers (which can range from bean, soy and sometimes tofu) can be delicious. I assume anyone who uses the phrase 'tofu turd' has never had a good one, but i assure you, they exist and are easy to find. While for some students school meals are the healthiest meal they can get in a day, i hope that if people can afford to buy vegetables that is not the case. If you look at the menus below, you will note that vegetables are lacking...big time. we need to teach our children what healthy food is. If we keep up the played up cliches of 'beef, its whats for dinner' 'real men eat meat' and 'rabbit food is for those dang hippies'...we will continue to fuel childhood obesity and a country dying of heart disease.

8.	Posted by devilshollow March 26, 2010
	@HelsLegend Seriously dude you have got to stop! You are killing me! Where do you get your info? "school lunches in Franklin County are the healthiest meals most of these kids will ever eat" DO you really believe that? "has anyone even seen a vegan that actually looks healthy" I have a vegan friend that is pregnant right now and her doctor just told her that she is the most healthy patient he has seen in 20 years of practice!!! "they all look like marilyn manson on the mechanical animals album cover. hair all falling out and thin. pale as michael jackson." Although this explains alot to me about you...you are so far from spouting the truth that it makes me want to have you examined by a psychiatrist. If anything vegans are usually a little bigger because of how many carbs they take in and how much they have to substitute in protein. They definitely are not frail or weak! I think you are confusing folks that are vegan with folks that have poor diets. Let me know if you do not know the difference and I will help! also...do not take this as me defending Peta's actions here because advertising/pushing this stuff on kids is WRONG!!! Did I surprise you there? Good!