(The Hill) — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is calling on the White House to roll a different way this spring — swapping chicken eggs for potatoes at the annual Easter Egg Roll.
The PETA Organization is based in Norfolk.
In a pun-heavy letter to first lady Jill Biden this week, the animal rights organization said it wants to “respectfully suggest an appeeling way to modernize the White House Easter Egg Roll,” which is set for April 1 on the South Lawn.
“Instead of promoting the deleterious factory farming and slaughter industries, will you please initiate the annual White House Potato Roll?” the letter from PETA President Ingrid Newkirk asks.
A “potato roll,” Newkirk said, wouldn’t “exploit any sentient beings and would encourage empathy and kindness to animals while supporting potato farmers in the U.S.”
“Potatoes are the most popular vegetable in the country and can be safely dyed, allowing for spudtacular traditional activities, such as rolling them, seeking for them, and decorating them. You could even hold potato sack races and games of hot potato!” the letter to the first lady said.
Citing 2022’s avian flu outbreak that triggered sky-high egg prices, Newkirk urged Biden to “leave a legacy of kindness” by starting a new potato-filled tradition at the White House.
Last year, the American Egg Board donated 30,000 eggs for the White House Easter Egg Roll and another 30,000 to food banks in the Washington area.
It’s not the first time PETA has offered some eggceptionally out-of-the-box suggestions for ways to ditch chicken eggs at the festivities.
Last year, the group pressed Biden to choose “reusable plastic or wooden eggs — or even lovely painted rocks or egg-shaped balls” for the event, which dates back to the 1870s during the Rutherford B. Hayes administration.