Photo: Wenn
Morrissey has written an open letter to Al Gore and Live Earth co-founder Kevin Wall, demanding that they do not serve meat at this year’s Live Earth event.
“Serving meat and dairy products at an event to combat climate change is like selling pistols at a gun-control rally,” he wrote in the letter, which was published via Rolling Stone. “Your responsibility is to alert people to a crisis, not sell out to the vendors responsible for it.”
“Since you can't miss the fact that meat consumption is killing the planet-your own sponsor organization, the United Nations, states this-and since venues can and will cater vegan food for events, if you choose to serve animal flesh at Live Earth, you'll be making a mockery of the very concept of the event, in which case it should be renamed ‘Dead Earth: We Contributed!’”, he continued.
Morrissey is no stranger to voicing his contempt for venues that serve meat. Most recently, he canceled a show in Iceland because the venue refused to go vegetarian for the evening. He was meant to perform at Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, but said of the cancellation: "I love Iceland and I have waited a long time to return, but I shall leave the Harpa Concert Hall to their cannibalistic flesh-eating bloodlust ... "
You can read Morrissey’s full letter to Al Gore and Kevin Wall below:
Dear Mr. Gore and Mr. Wall,
I am writing to ask you to do the one thing that will do the most good for the planet and the majority of its inhabitants: not serve meat or dairy products at Live Earth 2015. I don't mean offering a vegan option-I mean not serving animal products at all. Otherwise, the event will make no sense-it'll be "greenwashing." Serving meat and dairy products at an event to combat climate change is like selling pistols at a gun-control rally. Your responsibility is to alert people to a crisis, not sell out to the vendors responsible for it.
Not only is it possible for venues to provide a 100 percent meat-free menu-as is done now at every concert venue in which I perform, including Madison Square Garden, where I have a show at the end of June-it's also a moral duty.
We already know that raising animals for food is a leading cause of climate change and that moving toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat climate change's worst effects. Animal agriculture severely affects the world's freshwater supply and is a major contributor to global greenhouse-gas emissions, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and air and water pollution, among many other harmful effects.
Since you can't miss the fact that meat consumption is killing the planet-your own sponsor organization, the United Nations, states this-and since venues can and will cater vegan food for events, if you choose to serve animal flesh at Live Earth, you'll be making a mockery of the very concept of the event, in which case it should be renamed "Dead Earth: We Contributed!"
Don't be a denier of the causes of climate change. You know the facts. Make the right choice.
Sincerely, Morrissey
Morrissey wrote the above letter on behalf of PETA, who have previously requested that Gore and Wall serve only vegan food at Live Earth. “Live Earth can’t be a leader in fighting climate change if it betrays its own values by failing to offer only vegan food at everything associated with this event,” PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk said in a statement. “Animal agriculture is as toxic to the soil, water, and air as it is to animals’ and humans’ health. PETA is encouraging organizers to practice what Live Earth preaches by leaving animals off their menu.”
Rolling Stone reports that Live Earth representatives did not immediately respond for a request for comment regarding the open letter.
