Dear Peta,
My name is Natala Constantine and I am obese. You’ll be happy to know that I’m also a passionate, loving, caring and hopeful vegan, and I have been one for over a year. I thought that it might be in your best interest to know a few things about people who are overweight. I feel like this education might be key to your future and hopefully less hateful and bullying endeavors.
1. Overweight people come in all shapes, sizes, and follow all sorts of lifestyles for eating. There are overweight vegans, vegetarians, pescetarians, omnivores, raw food eaters.
2. Eating a vegetarian diet does not mean that people will lose fat, or that whales will lose blubber. In fact, according to your site, you list 100′s of foods that are okay to eat including cocoa puffs, oreos, and bacon bits. If you want to teach people how to eat, learn how to eat well first, yourselves.
3. Because someone is overweight does not mean they are not eating a healthy diet. In fact, Peta, most of the overweight people you’ve decided to bully and make fun of are trying hard. MOST of them work out more than you and eat better than you. There are so many overweight people who are ON the journey of weight loss and health, you have assumed that because someone is overweight they have not already lost 125 pounds. You have made the mistake of making an assumption of all people who you see as being overweight.
4. Overweight people have heard worse. That’s right, do you think your the first to call me a whale? Why not a cow or elephant? Because I’ve been called those things as well and laughed at a lot, by people like you.
5. Overweight people do not need to be told they need saving or that they should try something else. There are a lot of reasons, that you are far too juvenile to understand as to why people are overweight.
6. There are overweight people that have been made fun of so much that it has lead to suicidal thoughts, or taking their own life, myself included. So if you think that you have done anyone a favor by posting huge billboards bulling and hurting people, you have only made the problem worse, and have cause more pain and hurt in the overweight community.
7. There are people who have been vegan or vegetarian for YEARS and are still curvy, healthy, and lovely. You do not determine what healthy is, we do.
8. Vegans and Vegetarians do not want to be associated with your hateful antics. You have not only offended the public you have offended the very people that you are advocating being like. I for one, no longer will support your “organization”. I will encourage people to look to support people who are loving, and caring and do not use bullying to get a message across. Just because you claim to want to help animals, does not give you the right to hurt people. I’m sure Peta, if it were animals that were being made fun of you’d have a problem. But apparently, to you overweight people are not creatures worthy of being defended.
9. You have given up the right to be trusted as a source of healthy tips. All of your recipe books, and information regarding health should be tossed out. There are plenty of recipe books, web forums, blogs, twitter accounts that are caring and do not have the intent to hurt anyone. With this latest campaign, you not only show your ignorance regarding matters of healthy eating, but you show your blatant disregard for peoples health, emotional and physical. I will encourage people to send back your cookbooks, or any other literature.
10. Take down the boards and put up apologies. You owe a lot of people apologies. I am standing up for every single overweight person who has been made fun of, hurt, teased, bullied, and abused for being overweight. Until a formal apology is issued, and until the billboards come down, I am asking all vegans and vegetarians to disassociate themselves with hateful and hurtful campaign against overweight people. There are far more loving and caring avenues that you could have taken, but you chose the one of hate. Vegans are loving people who want to see the best for all creatures, even the overweight ones, and we do not need to use the tactics of a middle school bully to get our point across.
Sincerely,
Natala Constantine
(overweight, beautiful, Vegan)
Dear Natala,
I love you for being one the most transparent vegans I know.
xo
YOU SAY IT GIRL!!! Well said, very well said!
YES!!! You better believe I’m posting this anywhere I can. Before I’m done, everyone I know will have read this, and passed it on.
The more I think about this latest campaign, the angrier I get.
You deserve better.
We deserve better.
And so do the animals.
{{hugs}}
I just love this letter! Thank you!!
As far as I’m concerned Peta’s latest campaign is tantamount to hate speech. We must not stand for it.
I’ve lost weight going vegan, on a very healthy vegan diet. However, I am so upset by this latest campaign. Obviously anyone who does not understand why someone would be upset has never been overweight and has never been bullied.
Do they not think that overweight people know they are overweight?
Thank you for this letter, thank you for saying this. There are better ways to promote a healthy vegan diet than to make fun of people.
I LOVE WHAT YOU WROTE!
I’ve been a member of PETA for a long time, but this really made me question how they run things. I will not be associatd with them until something changes.
I agree with someone above that if you want to promote a healthy vegan lifestyle there are ways to do that with out being a bully.
-Mel-
Shame is never the way to go in convincing someone of your cause. PETA does not understand that it is not as easy as “GOING Vegetarian”? Good for you for writing what you did, I hope they listen, I doubt they will. They at least need to know that it is considered hateful, and they should know there are other ways to go about it.
Hi,
I’ve been a vegetarian for 12 years, and I am fat. I lost an initial 20 pounds when I went vegetarian, but I still kept eating. There is a lot of depression and things that kept me down. I’m trying to do more and more plant based. I’ve been depressed about my weight for many years, when I saw that advertisement, I broke down and cried, because I’ve tried and I’m having such a hard time. It sucks that people think of me as a whale, still. I love animals, and I’m trying hard, so as far as PETA is concerned, they should be treated like school bullies and nothing more.
-fat vegetarian-
Count me in as a fat vegan! Peta can kiss my big vegan ass. SRSLY.
I used to have a school bully yell “EAT A SALAD FATTIE” I think it might be PETA’s advertising person!
WOW. It’s such a shame that PETA has stooped to this, because PETA is what got me thinking about being vegan! I wish there were a better org. to support! This is really over the line. Yes, being a HEALTHY vegan will help most people lose weight, but by telling people that in a way that hurts them????? And NO not every vegan/vegetarian is healthy!
Damn your letter made me cry! I am still obese, and I am making changes, and your site is why. But unlike PETA you present facts, and hope and reasons why eating a vegan diet works, you also have made me aware of what is happening to animals! I saw a blog post about this add campaign, and was really upset. I was in college when I was so depressed that I thought about taking my own life because of my obesity. I know how it feels to be called names, and to have people assume that you are just not eating right, and that is the only problem. These people have never been fat, and do not know what it is like to be called those names.
Thank you for writing this, and for being so open! You should replace PETA and their piss poor advertising people.
Laura in MN
I saw this on your facebook page, and I wanted to comment. I also started crying reading this! I’m another overweight woman, and I also have been reading your blog, and have been making positive changes. I’ve also had my fair share of hateful things said about me. People pointing and laughing, and recently on a beach a group of young guys yelled “look a beached whale!” and started laughing. I left, completely mortified. Which I guess is what peta’s intentions were? If you make fun of people they close down, they don’t listen. I’m glad I was introduced to being vegan through your blog, and not through peta, because I would have just shut down, and shut them out!
YOU GO!
Kim
No one should support PETA. They are undermining animal liberation with nearly all of their recent campaigns. The sooner PETA closes up shop, the better off the animals and women will be. Kudos to you, Natala, for having the courage to post this. You are absolutely right.
Sadly this PETA advert is only one amongst a pile of offensive, sexist and racist campaigns.
I am vegan but I have never been a supporter of PETA and I dislike very much being associated to them.
They really need to reassess their communication strategy,
being mean and aggressive is not the way forward.
I’ll admit when I first saw the ads I thought it wasn’t a big deal. I’ve supported PETA before even when they seem to go over the top, thinking that they do some good, and I didn’t want to forget that.
Thinking about this now, after what you wrote, I understand why it is so offensive. I also will not be supporting them anymore. I really don’t think they will apologize, they are the shock jocks, and they could care less it seems.
Good for you for standing up to them though!
Thank you for this great post!
Well put!
I’m taking, and advocating, a tippy-toe approach to changing over to a whole foods, high raw, plant-based diet, but these messages cause so much damage. It’s hard enough to persuade and convince people that they can live without animal products by being reasonable and loving, but it’s well nigh impossible when you have PETA making such absurd and offensive claims.
I think I will have to do a post on my blog where I categorically distance myself from them and their tactics.
I’m speechless.
I never realised that PETA was such a bully organisation. I mean, I knew they were always very extreme, but never to the point of insulting people who are very much working for the same cause.
I, for one, am not impressed with PETA.
*You* have my full support, Natala.
PETA really stepped over the line on this one, and I have supported them. I also lost a lot of weight by switching to a healthy vegan diet. I stress HEALTHY because you can still eat potato chips and a lot of dessert as a vegan. I think that as far as weight loss it is with out a doubt the best way to go, but of course done in a healthy way.
However, calling people names, using hate just makes the problem worse. Bullies never win in the end, and PETA just lost a former supporter.
Lori
Great words Natala!
I was so pissed when I saw this. Way to encourage people PETA. Being vegetarian or vegan is not a magic cure for obesity. Yes some people did lose weight after going vegetarian or vegan and I know folks who were pretty much on the thinner side who GAINED weight after going vegetarian or vegan.
Agreed! I know Peta does some good work, but their awful ads and questionable attention-getting drama makes it hard for me to support them. It just makes veggies not want to be associated with them. Boo!
I started to look into joining PETA when I first became veg in 93. For me….they have always gone about things entirely the wrong way and simply alienate anyone who may have been on the fence. I think they do and always have given the animal rights movement a bad name. I never have supported PETA and I never will.
Go Natala!
Beautifully written. I agree.
I have been vegan for 15 yrs and am overweight and very sensitive about it. I have tried everything and cannot seem to stay at a healthy weight.
I am sure no one takes into account that my thyroid was removed and I havel other health problems that affect my weight, they just see me as fat and therefore I must be lazy and eat too much. And now PETA is adding to this, so sad.
Thanks for posting this. PETA is problematic for AR for a number of reasons, and it’s good to see them called out. To stand on solid ground when promoting AR/veganism, advocates must avoid wronging others at the same time. More the point, progress for animals cannot occur through exploiting and harming others. And, even if it could, the exploitation would still be wrong. Bunch hypocrites using means-to-an-end thinking. It’s gotta stop.
Good job!
It is amazing how bad of a rep we get because of PETA. I for one am a veggie and do social media for 8th Continent Soy Milk, and every time someone finds out I am a veggie they instantly think I will be judgmental, uptight, cruel etc. to anyone else who does not share my beliefs. It is ridiculous… that is how genocides happen.
Education is the best route… and I don’t understand why PETA has yet to realize that.
Oh yeah…..and I’ve always had a serious weight problem. I can work out until the cows come home ( hehe ), but even eating veg I still have to be eating very, very little to stay thin.
I’ve long thought PETA, with their crazy, disrespectful, attention-mongering stunts, served as the perfect excuse for non-animal-rights people to marginalize the entire AR movement as a bunch of extremists, a bunch of crazies. Once they (so easily) discredit the messenger, there’s no need to listen to one scrap of the message. In fact, the “opposite-message” sounds more credible and correct. Which plays in quite well for the people who don’t *want* to change their ideas about animals in the first place.
And it’s asinine to think you’ll convince people to respect one class of creatures by being disrespectful of another … they’re just looking to make their current constituency – who they apparently think are all skinny, beauty-over-brains women (judging by their sexist campaigns) – excited and sending in the money.
Actually, though, I’m kind of hoping they don’t take down the board and issue an apology … in fact, I hope they continue to chip away at their “base” with insulting ads and PETA-brand stupidity until their membership dries up and they close down. And good riddance!
Best to you Natala,
another overweight vegan! =)
What a fantastic letter Natala. The points you make are so true.
Using bullying tactics like PETA’s are only going to alienate people. They should be concentrating on the positive aspects of being vegan… the fact that it is a compassionate lifestyle, the lower environmental impact, the animal abuse that can be avoided etc. etc.
We all know these reasons and recognise them as why we are vegan. These points are all valid enough reasons without having to resort to abusive campaigns that insult such genuine and compassionate people like you.
Keep up the good work. x
I’ve been vegan for a long time and I am overweight. I still overeat, and haven’t learned to live a healthy diet for myself. PETA is just that, a bully. They pull stuff like this ALL the time, and then they laugh about it, just like a bully. And other people who support them make all sorts of excuses for them, just like the friends of bullies. It’s really sad, and I think that anyone interested in Animal Rights should stay far away from them, they are not a good org. to support. You will do more with your food and fashion choices by supporting animal rights than anyone ever will do supporting PETA.
WELL DONE!!!
Jeanie
Bravo, well said. Being as PETA has been censoring comment sent to their blog that protest the ad. I am trying to find exactly where in Jacksonville, FL the ad is so that the correct City Counsil District can be notified directly and pressure put on them so that if PETA won’t take the billboard down they will.
Thanks again for your intelligent words of wisdom.
Karen
maybe they didnt have vegans in mind when they asked their graphic designers to include an image of the fat woman in the advertisement…… in all likelihood they had omnivores in mind…… as that was their target audience.
so why should vegans (who happen to be a little obese) identify with the image of the fat woman…….
Sara B –
Even if they were making fun of only overweight omnivores, it would still be wrong. People should not bully other people period. I’m vegan, and overweight, and greatly offended and hurt by this advertisement. It doesn’t matter who they were trying to hurt and bully, they still did.
I keep hoping that PETA will stop all of this nonsense. They would have been much better off doing an educated campaign on health, rather than one that puts people down, and tells them that all they have to do is go vegetarian, which I completely disagree with, for many overweight people (like me) milk, cheese, dairy are the biggest offenders. I have no problem at all with eliminating meat!
I’m learning more about a healthy vegan diet, and have been reading what Brendan Brazier has to say, and it’s making a difference. I believe that eating animal products is not healthy at all, but I disagree that simply by going ‘vegetarian’ or ‘vegan’ will make someone automatically lose weight. The ad just shows they are not trained in aspects of a healthy veg diet.
I’m encouraging people to unfollow them on twitter.
HC
thank you so much for sharing this.
I get that peta is all about being offensive to get attention. I’m not saying that “method” is right or appropriate, I just recognize it as their only strategy.
I am one of those people who lost a lot of weight when I went vegan and so did my husband. & Part of the reason I went vegetarian in the first place was because I thought it would help me lose weight, make better food choices and be healthier. I admit that. So from my personal experience, I think telling people that a veg diet has health benefits incl possible weight loss is a good strategy, it certainly converted me… BUT that message has to be done appropriately and not offensively. I had read about the heath benefits in a few books. It was textbook, not in-my-face offensive.
With this campaign, Peta is essentially promoting vegetarianism as the next fad diet. That is unacceptable. “I’m a vegan because I wan’t to be skinny?” THAT’s the draw in message you want Peta? Not maybe “its for the environment, the animals or my health”
Anyway, BRAVO for standing up!
SaraB I agree with Jeannie, people should not be hurt and bullied and called names no matter what they eat. They should be presented with facts.
I’ve lost about 75 pounds since becoming vegan. I think it is one of the most effective things you can do for your body, and that is just plain scientific fact. Stressing, a healthy vegan diet. Although, I did read somewhere that people on a vegan diet that wasn’t healthy were still in the long term healthier than omnivores.
I read books, researched nutrition, took classes to understand that. No one in “China Study” was calling me a fat whale. And I also agree, that telling people that being a vegetarian is not doing anyone any good. Cheese was also my downfall. And then there were a lot of emotional things I had to work through.
Great letter!
DAMN! I am not a vegan or vegetarian. This post made me seriously start thinking. For years I’ve dismissed vegans and vegetarians because I’ve hated what PETA has done and is doing. I just figured that all vegans were behind peta, and I didn’t want anything to do with it! I also thought that if they can’t present a good positive clear message they must not have a good message to present!
I’ve been reading through your site, and I am really interested in finding out more now. I didn’t know the health part of it! I saw the billboard on a newsite and thought to myself “Here they go again!” and really dismissed it and said that if PETA was talking about losing weight by going vegetarian it must not be true, because they have to sensationalize every thing, which just makes people not trust them.
Good for you for standing up, and I can’t tell you how happy I am to know that not every vegan or vegetarian supports PETA! They are why vegans/vegetarians get a bad name and why people think they are hostile. This ad was hostile!
Hi Natala,
My wife has been reading your blog for a while, and she has started to make changes in her diet. She is also a T2D. We live near this board and when she saw it she just got really silent and then I looked over at her in the car and she was crying. She has been a vegetarian for many years, and has been trying so hard to lose weight. She was hurt very badly for being overweight growing up as well. This billboard was the very definition of bullying. And worse, it’s not factual. Just going vegetarian is not the answer, and to think that overweight people just need to do that to lose weight is absurd. I am glad you wrote this letter because I think people need to see how the organization they support comes across to other people. They might not realize that it actually has caused pain for people. It is a sensitive topic, and I am glad you had the mindset to say that it is not acceptable. I want you to know that I have never thought about being vegan, ever. I’ve been a happy steak eating kind of guy for many years. My wife has been sharing things she’s learning here, and she also got China Study. I’ve eliminated red meat, pork and cheese from my diet! I know it’s not all the way yet, but I plan to get there, and it’s thanks to people who take the time to explain where they are coming from with out hurting other people.
James
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to thank you so much for all of the positive responses. I’ve been getting one question a lot that I want to address. The question being, do I think that a vegan diet is still best for weight loss.
My answer is YES. I’ve done a lot of research, have read nutrition books, journals, talked to doctors on both side of the opinion, and have concluded that a vegan diet is not only good for a billion other reasons aside from health, but is the best way to live a healthy life. I encourage people to research on their own. However, I do not believe that the answer to obesity is as easy as going vegan – I think that eating a good healthy diet is key, but I think there are many emotional and physical challenges that must not be ignored.
I am always open for questions.
Thanks again!
Natala
Beautifully said. I hope Peta will pay attention.
i don’t know you, but i think you are neat.
Well said, Natala. Brava!! I am neither Vegan nor Vegetarian, but am overweight. I, also, take great offense to this ignorance. Good for you for being so open and honest and letting them know that being Vegan of Vegetarian does not guarantee their “vision” of perfection. We are all individuals, and deserve respect no matter what our size or beliefs. I do try to eat a healthy diet-and yes, meat is a part of that diet-and have lost a lot of weight so far. I do still have a little way to go. I definitely eat a lot more fruits and vegetables than I used to, and I do believe that is necessary for a healthier life. I can’t believe that anyone actually thinks that a billboard like that is okay. PETA has done nothing but strengthen my bad opinion of them. Thank you for speaking out.
Hi Natala,
I am not a Vegan but I applaud your calling out PETA. You have come to realize, as many other people have, that PETA is an organization that uses scare tactics and misinformation to acheive one goal: making money. They have found a gold mine in the name of animal cruelty and now have evidentally discovered another money-maker: obesity. They have profited handsomely from good people everywhere sending them hundreds of millions of dollars thinking their donations are being used for a good cause. Au contraire mon ami, the money is being used to solicit even more money…to pay bonuses to PETA management, intimidate companies and legislators, and spread fear and hate such as you are now experiencing. Thank you again for your courage to speak out against such a malicious and hateful organization.
This is so beautiful and articulate. Thank you for writing and sharing it.
I’m really at a loss for words mostly because I’m overcome with emotions after reading your post. All I can say is big love to you for putting into words some of what I have been thinking when I read about that PETA ad and saw the billboard. The PETA folks I know are all really kind people albeit their tactic as an organization is pretty in your face, but this campaign does cross a line for me. As someone who used to weigh over 300 pounds and who is an ethical vegan now the goal should be to shine a light on cruelty to animals, but being cruel in doing so is really far off the mark. Thank you very much and I look forward to reading more of your blog.
metta chitta.
Awesome. Thank you so much for writing this Natala.
You go girl! Thank you for writing this!
I have been overweight for a long time. I work out 2 hours a day, I stick to a vegan diet. Recently I found out I had some pretty serious health problems and I’ve been working on fixing them, and have started losing weight.
I am someone who was abused because of my weight. I wrote many suicide notes to the people who abused me when I was younger, thankfully because of a very caring and loving friend I was able to get help.
I don’t know anyone who is overweight who is not desperately trying to become healthy, or who have not tried so many different things. People just don’t understand that. I am fully in support of a vegan lifestyle to help with health, but to stoop to this level really is a shame. They give a bad name to vegetarians.
I am proud of you for writing this!!
Brilliant post, Natala
I know that a lot of thin people are disgusted by me and they think nasty things about me. I assure you that whatever they think of me is far less than what I think of myself for being like this. Natala, I started reading your blog 2 months ago, and 1 month ago I stopped smoking, threw away diet soda and have stopped eating dairy, eggs, red meat, pork, chicken and turkey. I still eat fish right now, but I am planning to take that away as well. I’ve lost 21 pound and I feel amazing. But it wasn’t because you called me names or made fun of me, you were just like me, you knew what I was feeling and you told me facts. And I started to listen, and know that if you could lose over 100 pounds so far that I could as well. It helped so much that you are still on your journey!
Your recent series “My Big Fat Life” helped me so much with the emotional part of it. I had a lot of shit that I needed to work through, and decided I should see a therapist.
Your blog has changed my life. I want to thank you for writing this and for encouraging people to be kind to others, you can be truthful with out being hateful.
THANK YOU.
Big hugs & lots of love, Natala. I featured/linked to your post; it’s heartfelt and strong and important for people to read.
I had not heard of this horrible campaign until today but it does not surprise me. However it does increase my disgust for PETA and reminds me of why I can never offer them my support. The way they have used women and women’s bodies in the past has always bothered me, but this takes the cake. Is this the only time they are going to show a half naked woman that it isn’t meant to be sexy? I wonder why they did not use a model for this one, would it have been too disgusting to show a real woman’s body? What will they think of next?
thanks so much for being such a brave and beautiful person!
hell yes! thanks for speaking out!
lovely letter from an obviously lovely person. thank you.
I used to donate a lot of money to PETA and no longer will because of what you wrote. I guess I thought before that they had some tasteless advertisments but it was for some greater good. This is not acceptable. Also I was really interested to know that a lot of vegans don’t support PETA! I didn’t know that, I thought they were the only ones to support. I’m now looking at animal sanctuaries! Thank you for writing this!!!!
Here here! Well said. I particularly agree with #2. I was astounded at what was on that list! I’ve only been vegan since January, and only went to PETA’s website recently, but it was enough to turn me off.
My husband has been supporting me, but over the course of the months only lost 7 lbs, not enough to remove him from the “moderately obese” category.
Way to go to have the courage to send this.
Thank you so much for your beautifully written post.
Thank you SO MUCH for this! I’ve had issues with my weight since I was 4 years old (47 years ago). I was tortured throughout most of my school years and spent many hours contemplating suicide. I went vegetarian over 20 years ago and vegan early this year, but it has not made much of a difference in my weight. (Although my blood pressure has improved dramatically since becoming vegan, and I’m now weaning myself off my medications.) I’ve often felt alone – I don’t know many other vegans and have felt marginalized by some in the AR movement, particularly PETA. This last campaign really upset me and you put in words so many things I’ve felt. It’s so nice to know that I’m not the only vegan dealing with weight problems. Thanks again!!
This is awesome. I’ve been vegan for years but embarrassed by PETA’s tactics even longer. Knock it off, PETA!
You rock!! Thanks for writing this much more eloquently than I ever could have!
This is beautiful. Thank you so much for so clearly articulating what is so harmful about this campaign. It is such a shame that the most public face of veganism in our country puts marketing out there that turns more Americans away from the lifestyle. Not to mention the blatant hurt it has caused and will cause those struggling with weight issues.
What a beautiful response! Vegans and animal-supporters are about love not hate. PeTA is so offensive; if someone were to start a better animal rights organization, so many of us would support it.