Sometimes controversial, sometimes provocative, sometimes whimsical, and sometimes very serious, they continue to hammer home their message: cruelty to animals in all its forms is inhumane.
Now as I pointed out in the first article of this series, The Meat of the Issue, I am not a vegetarian. I don’t eat red meat, I do eat poultry and fish. Not a lot, sometimes once or twice a week, sometimes I don’t eat it for weeks, but I can’t say I eat vegetarian.
I do believe, as I’ve pointed out in this entire series, that a diet of too much meat is not healthy. And I’ve backed it up with with various studies to make my point, including the landmark China Study.
I like PETA’S message, and I like that they’re ready to occasionally rumble and take off the kid gloves in getting the point across.
And so, over the next three days, I’ll highlight some PETA hijinks.
Today, let me tell you about the woman they recently voted the sexiest vegetarian woman over 50.
And this woman, Mimi Kirk of the San Diego area, isn’t just 50 years old, she’s 20 years past the half century mark – she’s 70!
Mimi Kirk has been a vegetarian for 40 years and won the title after a nationwide vote conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Kirk was the oldest of the 10 female finalists — “most could be my daughters” she said — and is thrilled.
“I’m very happy,” Kirk said in August when she found out. “I’m trying to balance this crown on my head.”
Actually, the only prize associated with the win is an organic gift basket filled with chocolate, cider, nuts and coffee. The title is what it’s all about.
Kirk entered the contest a couple of months ago on a whim after seeing an ad on Facebook. She had to fill out a questionnaire and send in lots of photographs. A while back, Kirk was notified that she was a finalist.
Since then, she’s made hundreds of new Facebook friends with whom she’s sharing her secret of sexiness.
“I quit eating meat because I didn’t want to kill animals,” Kirk said. Her food choices, she believes, have helped her stay young-looking.
“I think I dress on the younger side,” she said. “I shop at places like American Eagle, and my boyfriend, who is 19 years younger than me, is always telling me those are clothes for 15-year-olds.”
Kirk said she feels young and dresses accordingly. “I don’t try to dress young, but I do try to dress current.”
After PETA chose the finalists, nearly 5,000 people cast votes on PETA’s Web site, with Kirk winning by a narrow margin in the female over-50 category, said Lindsay Rajt, PETA spokeswoman.
Rajt said PETA held the contest to show that “vegetarianism is a recipe for healthy living.”
Kirk said she’s always been active. She has four children whom she raised alone after being widowed at age 29.
Past jobs have included working as a stand-in for Mary Tyler Moore and designing clothes for Valerie Harper on the TV show “Rhoda.”
Just last year, Kirk sold a business she began a decade ago.
“I invented a board game for women called Cowgirls Ride the Trail of Truth, kind of a gal’s-night-out game. Margaritas with the gals and talking about your life and answering questions about everything personal.”
She said her grandkids are having a great time with all the sexy vegetarian stuff.
“They posted on their Facebook messages about their hot grandma,” Kirk said. “Now their Facebook friends are asking me to be friends.”