‘Coronation Street’ has been urged to “go vegan” by PETA.
Coronation Street
The ITV soap’s boss Iain MacLeod has been sent a letter by the animal rights campaigners, who have asked him to ditch the meat products sold in the fictional Roy’s Rolls café - which is owned by Roy Cropper, the character played by David Neilson - in order to guide viewers toward a “climate-friendly future”.
PETA Director Elisa Allen wrote in the letter: "Eating vegan makes firm environmental sense: raising and killing animals for food contributes heavily to the many serious environmental problems our planet is facing, including deforestation, water shortages, ocean acidification, air pollution, and biodiversity loss.
"Don’t tell Jack and Vera, but vegan foods and ‘Corrie’ would make the best match we’ve ever seen on TV! Eating vegan can reduce our food related carbon emissions by up to 73 percent. Animal agriculture currently accounts for 14.5 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, while the 13 largest dairy companies in the world produce the same level of emissions as the entire United Kingdom.
“Many meat and dairy companies aren’t required to report or actively reduce their emissions, leaving positive change up to others. Since Corrie has always been a tastemaker, who better to guide us towards a climate-friendly future?”
Elisa also pointed to ‘Corrie’s 60th anniversary, which the soap will celebrate on December 9, as the perfect time to “respond to one of the biggest challenges of our century”.
The letter continued: “‘Corrie’s production team has shown ingenuity and creativity for 60 years. Now, you have the chance to respond to one of the biggest challenges of our century. As Sir David Attenborough stated plainly, 'We must change our diet. The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters.'
“So, will Corrie help protect our planet by going vegan?”
PETA’s letter comes after rival soap ‘EastEnders’ recently employed an "eco consultant" in a bid to go greener on the set, and vowed to make Ian Beale's (Adam Woodyatt) greasy spoon - which is called Kathy's, after his mum Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) - ditch mouth-watering meaty fry ups for vegetarian alternatives.
A source said: "When Ian Beale tucks into a full English at the caff, not a rind of bacon passes his lips.
"Instead, all food now shown on air is vegetarian. This means Quorn sausages and bacon, and some sort of kidney bean concoction for black pudding."
As well as saving animals, the meat-free move is also a practical one for the soap's bosses, because vegetarian food can be re-heated if it goes cold on the set, reducing waste.