A Vegan Mars? That's What PETA's After

PETA has long been known as an advocate for a vegan lifestyle here on Earth, but now they're attempting to spread their influence to parts yet unknown.

The group, led by Ingrid Newkirk (who made our list of the 50 most powerful people in food for 2013), sent out a petition last year requesting that anyone who colonizes Mars take up a vegan diet, but now that news is getting around that Elon Musk, PayPal founder and entrepreneur extraordinaire, might just be attempting to land on the Red Planet in five years' time, they've begun to step up their advocacy efforts, according to a press release sent to The Jane Dough.

And while it could be easy to just brush this aside as another publicity stunt, there's some real merit to this push. Meat isn't something that's particularly feasible in the realm of space exploration, as there isn't much in the way of resources to support farm animals on Mars (obviously), and agriculture is a far more viable option. Musk himself has even said that colonists will have a mostly vegetable diet, and NASA's plans to go to Mars also involve a largely vegan diet.