The president and CEO of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, Kay Johnson Smith, told this site that the act is nothing more than a PR stunt and said consumers should not be made to feel guilty for eating meat.
This started earlier in the week when visitors at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, were greeted to more than just Donald Trump’s vehement call to make America great again.
At the convention, which saw Donald Trump officially confirmed as the Republican presidential nominee, campaigners from the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) donned nun’s attire and stilts. Armed with placards emblazoned with polemical slogans like ‘Meat Is a Bad Habit. Tax It!’ and ‘Slap a Sin Tax on Meat!’ the nuns quickly drew attention to themselves. Scores of people shared pictures and posts on Twitter and Facebook, but the meat industry, unsurprisingly, was less than impressed.
‘Shock value’
“PETA has a long history of relying on absurd and outlandish tactics to draw attention to its mission - ending the use of animals by humans,” said Kay Johnson Smith, Animal Agriculture Alliance president and CEO.
“This latest act is simply a publicity stunt, and shouldn’t merit any attention from consumers or meat and poultry producers. Today’s farmers and ranchers are committed to providing safe, wholesome and affordable options in the grocery store. Consumers should not be guilted by activist organizations who thrive on shock value in their attempts to spread misinformation about animal agriculture.”
This is not the first time this month that PETA has embarked on a campaign to discredit the meat industry after it posted undercover footage of a poultry factory in North Carolina.