Animal welfare charity PETA has published an open letter to Coldplay, urging them to ensure that only vegan food is served in venues on their world tour next year.
Coldplay, of course, recently announced that they would be returning to touring in 2022, having said two years earlier that they would not do so until they had found a way to make playing concerts around the world environmentally “beneficial”. Earlier this month they revealed a long list of things they will do on the 2022 tour to make it as eco-friendly as possible.
Most of the methods being used to improve the environmental impact of the upcoming dates are technological, although they will also plant a tree for every ticket sold. A glaring omission from that list, however, was any announcement on what food would be available.
“Like many people around the world, we were excited to hear about your goal to make your ‘Music Of The Spheres’ world tour as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible”, writes PETA Director Elisa Allen. “To that end, we have a suggestion that we’re sure will strike the right chord: ensure that only vegan foods be served during your concerts”.
Now, Coldplay have said that they will send a “sustainability rider” to each venue on the tour, detailing ways in which activities in the building outside the band’s direct control should be made more sustainable. It is entirely possible that this has stipulations on the type and origin of food sold to punters and served elsewhere. The band have not said whether that is the case, but it would seem like a bit of an error not to, if this tour is to be truly beneficial to the planet.
“As you may know, animal agriculture contributes to many of the serious environmental problems the planet is facing”, Allen continues. “By some estimates, the industry emits more greenhouse gases than the aviation and automobile industries combined, which is why University Of Oxford researcher Joseph Poore concluded that going vegan is ‘the single biggest way’ we can reduce our impact on the planet. Farming animals for their flesh also requires massive amounts of water and grain, both of which are scarce in much of the world, and 80% of all deforestation in the Amazon is linked to raising cows for meat”.
“It’s little wonder, then, that the United Nations states that a transition to vegan eating is urgently needed to prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis”, she goes on. “And this can be as simple as swapping beef burgers for bean burgers. With so many delicious vegan options available worldwide, it’s never been easier to eat vegan. Best of all, making the switch to vegan eating reduces a person’s food-related carbon footprint by up to 73% – and also spares around 200 animals per year a miserable life and a terrifying death”.
“We hope you’ll agree that cutting damaging animal-derived foods from concert venues is a no-brainer”, she continues. “We’d be happy to connect you with world-class vegan chefs, should that be of use”.
Whether or not the band will take them up on that offer remains to be seen, or maybe they reckon their big dancing-powered battery is enough. Either way, they have just added a fourth night at Wembley Stadium in August as part of the tour. Tickets for that are on sale now.
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