In honor of “Veganuary,” PETA sent a letter this morning to the Planning & Zoning Administrator for the City of Troy, Melissa Sanders, making a case for upgrading the name of Butter and Egg Road, which promotes the exploitative dairy and egg industries, to Peanut Butter and Blackberry Jelly Road, which is kind to cows and hens, celebrates one of Alabama’s top crops and its official state fruit, and encourages Alabamians to choose healthy and humane vegan food instead of greasy, artery-clogging animal-derived products—a win-win-win.

“Every block of butter and fried egg represents the pain and suffering of female animals who are used until their bodies break down and then sent to slaughter,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is asking Troy to embrace this jolly new pro-PB&J name, which is meaningful to the area and doesn’t condone animal exploitation.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Sanders follows.

January 3, 2024

Melissa Sanders

Planning & Zoning Administrator

City of Troy

Dear Ms. Sanders:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, including thousands in Alabama—with an eggcellent suggestion: How about promoting two of Alabama’s favorite products by changing the name of Butter and Egg Road to “Peanut Butter and Blackberry Jelly Road”? This would be an educational opportunity and a fun way to encourage residents to moove away from the dairy and egg industries and toward healthier, humane, and more environmentally friendly choices.

Regardless of the name’s origin, we now realize that butter and eggs are unhealthy foods. Research links egg consumption to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, a top killer in our country. Dairy products contribute to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and various types of cancer. Healthy vegan foods, which contain no cholesterol, are increasingly popular and widely available. Fortunately, dairy and egg consumption are on the decline, and—according to a report from the Plant Based Foods Association—70% of the U.S. population is now consuming plant-based foods.

Today, regrettably, “Butter and Egg Road” evokes images of greasy, cholesterol-laden breakfasts from cows and chickens who endured miserable lives and untimely deaths. Each year in U.S. egg factories, 200 million hens are crammed into battery cages so close together that they can’t spread their wings and are forced to excrete on each other. At the same time, nearly 300 million “unprofitable” male chicks are ground up or gassed alive. The dairy industry is no butter. Cows are empathetic, sensitive animals who feel pain and form strong bonds with their calves, just as human mothers do. On factory farms, they’re artificially inseminated, their calves are torn away from them within hours of birth, and they’re then hooked up to milking machines. Male calves are shipped to feedlots for slaughter, and female calves are sentenced to the same cruel fate as their mothers, eventually to become cheap ground beef. Over 9 million cows are exploited for dairy and 700,000 calves are slaughtered for veal annually.

Now that millions of Americans are opting for better food choices, a name like “Peanut Butter and Blackberry Jelly Road” could inspire Troy’s residents to celebrate an Alabama top crop and its official state fruit. We’d be happy to contribute to the cost of new signage and host a “You’d Be Nuts Not to Try Vegan” food giveaway. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President