Maynard S. Clark

The Benedictine Women of Madison, Wisconsin, know a thing or two about green living. The ecumenical order’s new Holy Wisdom Monastery is being called the greenest building in America after receiving the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest-ever rating for sustainable construction.

Pardon me, sisters, but there’s a way for you to go even greener. PETA is asking the Benedictine sisters to adopt a vegan diet and serve only vegan meals at the monastery. As most of us know by now, eating meat is mean, not green.

We also point out that Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Ratzinger) has in the past spoken movingly about the plight of farmed animals. During a 2002 interview, he said that the “degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible.”

So what say you, sisters? Will you make the switch?

Written by Paula Moore

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Exclude hot dogs and other obesity- and cancer-causing foods from photo ops that feature the president.

The nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine believes that food-related photo ops featuring the president, vice president, first family, or members of the cabinet routinely conflict with government health messages. The photos often present foods that contribute most strongly to cancer, obesity, and premature mortality in a favorable light. A typical photo op depicts a president entertaining a foreign dignitary, with both stuffing processed meats or hamburgers into their mouths for the assembled cameras. All recent presidents have been involved in such events. There is no justification for encouraging Americans to eat foods that will harm them and their children. Instead, photo ops that include food should portray government officials eating healthfully.

Created: May 09, 2012

Issues: Health Care