Well Done

FROM Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, a roughage curtain has descended across Europe. In Italy, the number of vegetarians has grown from 1.5 million to 2.5 million in just the past year. Demand for beef has been in free fall across the Continent— down 75 percent in Italy, down almost 50 percent in France. British newspapers report that it is hard to find steak on a menu in major capitals from Scandinavia to the Iberian peninsula. The reason for the spreading carnophobia is obvious and understandable: Mad-cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease, and pictures of thousands of slaughtered sheep and cows have dampened appetites.

And the animal-rights movement is taking advantage of the situation. In Germany, where the number of self- professed vegetarians has doubled to 6.6 million since the outbreak of mad- cow disease, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is moving free “vegetarian starter kits” like soy hotcakes. As usual, PETA’s PR campaign takes no prisoners: They have signed up various German celebrities, launched an ad blitz, and pushed the idea that the current troubles are retribution for man’s sinful meat- savoring past.

About the Author

Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg is a National Review contributing editor.

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FROM Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, a roughage curtain has descended across Europe. In Italy, the number of vegetarians has grown from 1.5 million to 2.5 million in just the past year. Demand for beef has been in free fall across the Continent— down 75 percent in Italy, down almost 50 percent in France. British newspapers report that it is hard to find steak on a menu in major capitals from Scandinavia to the Iberian peninsula. The reason for the spreading carnophobia is obvious and understandable: Mad-cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease, and pictures of thousands of slaughtered sheep and cows have dampened appetites.

And the animal-rights movement is taking advantage of the situation. In Germany, where the number of self- professed vegetarians has doubled to 6.6 million since the outbreak of mad- cow disease, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is moving free “vegetarian starter kits” like soy hotcakes. As usual, PETA’s PR campaign takes no prisoners: They have signed up various German celebrities, launched an ad blitz, and pushed the idea that the current troubles are retribution for man’s sinful meat- savoring past.