The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles absolutely love their pizza. It’s one of the staples of their franchise. Pizza Hut even sells each of the Turtles’ favorite pizza. Michelangelo’s pizza has pineapple, pepperoni, ham, and jalapeno. Donatello enjoys chicken, mushroom, green pepper, and tomatoes. Leonardo’s favorite is onions, black olives, green pepper, and mushrooms. Finally Raphael’s favorite pizza is pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon, and beef.
While the Turtles each have their own favorite pizza, they aren’t afraid to try some different combinations. Some of them are pretty bizarre including tuna fish, peanut butter, and grape jelly. Michelangelo even describes peanut butter and clams as “an acquired taste.”
However, PETA doesn’t want the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles enjoying their favorite pizzas any more. With the new Nickelodeon animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set to premiere on the network, PETA wants the Turtles to only eat vegan pizza.
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PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange asks, “Modern kids are embracing vegan food, so why shouldn’t modern Ninja Turtles?” She continues, “Vegan pizza is popular, and it’s healthier and far kinder to animals than old-fashioned dairy cheese pizza. PETA thinks that’s something the ‘Heroes in a Half Shell’ would support.”
But that’s not all! They even wrote a letter to Nickelodeon demanding the Turtles eat vegan pizza.
“January 31, 2018
Cyma Zarghami
President
NickelodeonDear Ms. Zarghami,
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide—a bunch of them dyed-in-the-half-shell fans of Mikey, Leo, Raph, and Donnie—to say, “Bodacious!”
That was the reaction around here when word got out about Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What really got PETA buzzing, though, was the “different direction” that you spelled out for the new series. More laughs? Mystic ninja powers? Gnarly!
But every fan worth his or her nunchucks knows that wherever the show leads the Turtles, they’ll be fueling up with pizza. It’s practically their raison d’être, right? That’s another reason why I’m getting in touch: to ask that their pies and slices be vegan, because compassionate eating is the direction that TMNT fans, their siblings, and their parents are taking.
Check this out: Generation Z already scarfs down 57 percent more tofu and chugs 550 percent more nondairy milk than millennials do. Meanwhile, 70 percent of U.S. college campuses offer daily vegan options—that’s an awesome 42 percent jump from just four years ago—and one in five even have an all-vegan dining station. Twenty-six percent of all consumers say that they’ve cut back on eating meat in the last 12 months, and 58 percent of adults drink nondairy milk.
What’s that mean for reptilian—and human—pizza connoisseurs? More than 40 restaurant chains across the country, including Two Boots, &pizza, and Pizza Studio in the Turtles’ New York City stomping grounds, have taken note and added vegan cheese to their menus, and many of them now offer cruelty-free toppings like mock meats, seasoned tempeh, and tofu.
Putting vegan pizza on the Fab Four’s plates is sure to inspire fans to try it themselves, and that would be great news for cows. The dairy industry isn’t kind to these gentle, intelligent beings—they often spend their lives standing on concrete floors, separated from their babies and tethered to machines until their milk production wanes. Their misery ends at the slaughterhouse.
I’ve got to believe that the Turtles would be willing to help save other animals’ lives.
Thanks for your time and for considering this important issue. I’m looking forward to discussing it with you.
Sincerely,
Lauren Thomasson
PETA”
What do you think should the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles eat vegan pizza on the upcoming animated show?