Miss Philippines Earth featured in PETA ad

MANILA, Philippines - Miss Philippines Earth 2009 Sandra Seifert yesterday urged the public to take care of their bodies by being vegetarians.

In a statement, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said that Seifert, who has been a vegetarian more than half of her life, is featured in its advertisement naked and holding an apple, with the caption““Our Bodies Are Temples. Go Vegetarian.”

“Killing animals for food is cruel, and it’s also killing our planet... With so many delicious meat-free foods available these days and so many compelling reasons not to eat meat – to improve your health, to help stop animal suffering, and to fight back against pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions – there’s never been a better time to go vegetarian,” PETA added.

A United Nations report said that the meat industry is “one of the most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.”

The report also recommends that the meat industry be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water storage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.

In addition to causing the suffering of billions of animals raised and killed for food, eating meat and other animal products has been conclusively linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity and cancer. Vegetarians, on the other hand, claim to be more fit and trim than meat-eaters.