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All You Need Isn't Meat: Madison Square Garden Will Reportedly Go Vegan For Morrissey
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 1, 2015
Modified May 1, 2015
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By
Ben Yakas
Published May 1, 2015
Modified May 1, 2015
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Beloved cat wrangler Steven Patrick Morrissey has revealed that Madison Square Garden is going full-vegan when he plays there this summer.
Moz let the news slip in a typically loquacious open letter to Al Gore asking that the former vice president offer a vegan-only menu at the 2015 Live Earth performance: "Not only is it possible for venues to provide a 100 percent meat-free menu-as is done now at every concert venue in which I perform, including Madison Square Garden, where I have a show at the end of June-it's also a moral duty."
MSG officials declined to comment to the Post on the matter, but at least one food vendor told the Post he was surprised—but willing to go along with—Moz's request: "This is the first time I’m hearing about it," said Drew Nieporent, owner of Daily Burger. "But I love my man, Morrissey. He’s a wonderful artist, so I wouldn’t mind. He can do whatever he wants."
Back in 2013, Moz got into a bit of a row with the Staples Center over whether they would or would not comply with his request for all-vegan food. In the end, he settled for the arena closing their McDonald's, so don't be surprised if some sort of similar compromise is struck with MSG.
That same year, Morrissey also got into a tiff with Jimmy Kimmel, after he refused to appear on the show alongside cast members of Duck Dynasty. This led to a war of open letters and tweets between the two, with Moz calling the reality stars "animal serial killers" and Kimmel responding, "If you have more dumb statements to make, I invite you to make them where I do, on my show."
Read the full letter to Gore below, including Moz's adorable new nickname for the Live Earth event:
Dear Mr. Gore and Mr. Wall,
I am writing to ask you to do the one thing that will do the most good for the planet and the majority of its inhabitants: not serve meat or dairy products at Live Earth 2015. I don't mean offering a vegan option-I mean not serving animal products at all. Otherwise, the event will make no sense-it'll be "greenwashing." Serving meat and dairy products at an event to combat climate change is like selling pistols at a gun-control rally. Your responsibility is to alert people to a crisis, not sell out to the vendors responsible for it.
Not only is it possible for venues to provide a 100 percent meat-free menu-as is done now at every concert venue in which I perform, including Madison Square Garden, where I have a show at the end of June-it's also a moral duty.
We already know that raising animals for food is a leading cause of climate change and that moving toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat climate change's worst effects. Animal agriculture severely affects the world's freshwater supply and is a major contributor to global greenhouse-gas emissions, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and air and water pollution, among many other harmful effects.
Since you can't miss the fact that meat consumption is killing the planet-your own sponsor organization, the United Nations, states this-and since venues can and will cater vegan food for events, if you choose to serve animal flesh at Live Earth, you'll be making a mockery of the very concept of the event, in which case it should be renamed "Dead Earth: We Contributed!"
Don't be a denier of the causes of climate change. You know the facts. Make the right choice.
Sincerely, Morrissey
Tagged
madison square garden
morrissey
moz
msg
Music
vegan
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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