McCartney Calls for Veg Day

Paul McCartney, a VegNews 2010 Veggie Award winner and one of the world’s most influential and outspoken vegetarians, has sent a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging him to declare January 12 a national vegetarian day. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals reports McCartney sent a letter stating such a day would celebrate compassion toward animals, the environment, and human health, with the former Beatle star saying, “It would be a celebration of life.” According to a 2003 report from the United Nations, about 42 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people are vegetarian, mostly for religious or financial reasons.