Canadian actor Pamela Anderson revealed that she wants to help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau adapt to the vegan lifestyle in a letter she wrote to him that also praises his support of the vegan food industry.
Last week Trudeau announced that the Canadian government would make a $100-million investment into Merit Functional Foods, which creates ingredients for plant-based foods.
Anderson applauded the investment in her letter to Trudeau.
“Sensuality includes being engaged in the world and caring about others’ feelings, and nothing is sexier than compassion,” the honorary director of the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wrote.
“Your recent decision to invest $100 million in our mushrooming plant-based industries fits that description—and that puts Canada on top when it comes to promoting a humane and healthy diet. On behalf of my friends at PETA, thank you for doing that—please keep it up!”
She said that Trudeau’s “fiscally responsible move not only creates good jobs for Canadians but also spares countless animals a terrible life and death.”
“As COVID-19 has exposed serious health risks associated with factory farms and slaughterhouses, the wold needs more sensible leaders like you, who are willing to embrace clean, compassionate, and clever food solutions,” she said.
Anderson closed her letter by offering to give Trudeau guidance if he decided to go vegan.
“Were you to drop meat and dairy from your personal diet—which I so hope you will—I would be honoured to be your mentor and to suggest some of the tasty, diverse vegan foods proudly produced in Canada,” the Baywatch star wrote.
Last week the federal government announced that it will be helping finance a new agricultural production plant in Winnipeg that turns peas and canola into protein powders for the food industry.
Merit Functional Foods Corp. plans to have its new 94,000-square-foot production plant at Winnipeg’s Centreport running by the end of the year.
There it will extract protein from peas and canola seeds for use in everything from pre-packaged protein shakes and meat-alternative foods to non-dairy creamers and energy bars.
The company intends to use only Canadian-grown peas and canola and claims to be the first in the world that will produce canola protein for the food industry.
Ottawa is contributing a total of $100 million, including a previously announced $9.2 million from the Protein Industries Supercluster.
Loans of $25 million and $55 million are coming from Farm Credit Canada and Export Development Canada, while the AgriInnovate Program is contributing a $10-million repayable grant.
“This facility will be a world leader in plant-based proteins and will create good jobs in a fast-growing field,” Trudeau said last Monday. “And by using 100 per cent Canadian inputs, it will also support farmers who produce the canola and yellow peas used in Merit’s products.”
The plant is expected to create 80 new jobs.
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Read Anderson’s letter to Trudeau in full below:
June 29, 2020
The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Dear Prime Minister,
Sensuality includes being engaged in the world and caring about others’ feelings, and nothing is sexier than compassion. Your recent decision to invest another $100 million in our mushrooming plant-based industries fits that description—and that puts Canada on top when it comes to promoting a humane and healthy diet. On behalf of my friends at PETA, thank you for doing that—please keep it up!
Your fiscally responsible move not only creates good jobs for Canadians but also spares countless animals a terrible life and death. As COVID-19 has exposed serious health risks associated with factory farms and slaughterhouses, the world needs more sensible leaders like you, who are willing to embrace clean, compassionate, and clever food solutions.
Were you to drop meat and dairy from your personal diet—which I so hope you will—I would be honored to be your mentor and to suggest some of the tasty, diverse vegan foods proudly produced in Canada.
Kind regards,
Pamela Anderson
—With files from The Canadian Press
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