PETA’s bipartisan mascot “Chris P. Carrot” is on the campaign trail in Iowa, where he’ll give attendees at the first caucus of the 2024 primary season some food for thought as he urges presidential hopefuls and voters to “EAT ME!” and go vegan for three good reasons: to stop harming animals, to bolster human health, and to protect the environment. Chris P. Carrot will kick off his lifesaving campaign that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions pumped out by the meat, egg, and dairy industries on Friday morning at the Northside Conservatives Meeting with Gov. Kim Reynolds and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at The District Venue in Ankeny.

Chris P. Carrot at prior events. Credit: PETA

“Animal agriculture is a killer, spewing methane that’s destroying the planet, hardening humans’ arteries with cholesterol, and sending billions of animals to their deaths,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s Chris P. Carrot is urging candidates and voters to go vegan before it’s too late—and we have free downloadable vegan starter kits for all.”

According to the United Nations, about a third of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food production, and the largest percentage of these emissions come from the meat and dairy industries. PETA notes that growing water-intensive crops just to feed animals raised for food consumes more than half the water used in the U.S. and that up to 80% of deforestation in the Amazon is linked to meat production, either for grazing or for growing food for cattle. Vegan foods—such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts, and lentils—require less energy, land, and water.

Chris P. Carrot will be traveling to candidates’ events in Iowa throughout the weekend. 

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers free vegan starter kits to help anyone make the switch. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.