Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) told the White House that it’s time for a fresh starch, urging First Lady Jill Biden to swap chicken eggs for potatoes at the annual Easter Egg Roll.
In a pun-heavy letter to the first lady, PETA said they wanted to “respectfully suggest an appeeling way to modernize the White House Easter Egg Roll,” which is set for April 1.
In the letter, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk argued that a potato roll “would be truly inclusive and welcomed by every tot who doesn’t eat eggs for religious, cultural, or environmental reasons or because they object to the way animals are raised and killed these days.”
“Instead of promoting the deleterious factory farming and slaughter industries, will you please initiate the annual White House Potato Roll?,” the letter inquired.
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PETA urged the White House to abandon its Easter Egg Roll tradition by switching from chicken eggs to potatoes at the South Lawn event. (Artist Rendering via PETA)
Newkirk said that the potato roll would not “exploit any sentient beings and would encourage empathy and kindness to animals while supporting potato farmers in the U.S.”
“Potatoes are the most popular vegetable in the country and can be safely dyed, allowing for spudtacular traditional activities, such as rolling them, seeking for them, and decorating them,” the letter said. “You could even hold potato sack races and games of hot potato!”
PETA argued that potatoes can be dyed, decorated and rolled. (Simplistically Living via PETA)
President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and two Easter bunnies on the Blue Room Balcony at during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn on April 18, 2022. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
PETA argued that in the spirit of the joy-filled season that Easter brings, chickens’ eggs should be spared the “pain and fear” brought about by the annual White House Egg Roll.
“Easter should be a time of renewal and joy for everyone, including chickens. But chickens suffer in the cruel, environmentally destructive meat and egg industries, which raise and kill millions of sensitive birds each year. Farms that use “free-range” or “cage-free” labels confine chickens to cramped, filthy sheds, where they can’t even stretch their wings, root in the soil, or breathe fresh air. Farmers often cut off the tips of chicks’ sensitive beaks with a hot blade to prevent anguished, frustrated birds from pecking at each other,” PETA said in the letter.
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“In starch contrast, a potato roll would support U.S. potato farmers and teach tots that our fellow animals are sensitive, feeling beings who deserve respect,” the organization said. “Chickens form complex social hierarchies and can recognize more than 100 individuals of their own species. They feel pain and fear, just as humans do.”
PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said the proposed change would be “leaving a legacy of kindness.” (Artist Rendering via PETA)
PETA also cited the rising cost of eggs and the ongoing avian flu outbreak to consider economical alternatives.
“Amid the worst avian flu outbreak in history, in which almost 82 million birds — most of them egg-laying chickens — have been slaughtered, and during a period of rising egg prices, we’re rooting for you to leave a legacy of kindness by starting this new Easter tradition,” PETA said.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to PETA and the White House for comment.