Kathryn O:

I agree. I don't want the UN telling me what to eat. (Of course I was there screaming when the UN flag went up at my state building over a decade ago)

We don't ask the UN to tell what you should eat but in the contrary we ask the UN to defend the rights of vegans and vegetarians to eat in coherence with their belief which is garanteed by Article 18 and Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

al Sabah:

You want the United Nations to plan school menus? I am not trying to mock anyone's beliefs, but I fail to see how this is discrimination. If your school has no vegetarian options, talk to the school.

Hello, Actually public or private institutions often refuse to offer balanced vegan meals, in France there is even a new law that forbids vegetarian meals in schools: http://www.icdv.info/index.php?category/English . And you can clearly realize that refusing to offer a vegan/vegetarian meal to someone who has the belief that animals aren't a ressource and shouldn't be killed and exploited for consumption is a discrimination based on their belief which is forbidden by law. Also many doctors learn almost nothing about nutrition and are unable to provide vegans and vegetarians accurate information which is really a shame. Concerning my personal case I can tell you that I talked already 4 times with my university about the fact that they should offer balanced vegan meals to vegans and I still don't have those meals and have to prepare myself a meal if I want to eat correctly. Here is the AVAAZ petition to sign: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Respect_of_the_rights_of_vegans_and_vegeterians

Hi everybody I am part of the group that organizes the international Veggie Pridedemo in Geneva on 18 May 2013 ( http://www.veggiepride.org/en.html ) , and we have written a petition that we will give to an organ of the United Nations. This petition asks the respect of the rights of vegetarians. We will make an online AVAAZ petition soon and I will put the link here when it's done. Actually since Paul Mccartney is vegetarian and supports a lot this issue we were thinking that he could be the first person to sign it. That would be really great and would really help us to bring the attention of the media on this issue. But unfortunately I tried to find how to contact him but without any success. Actually I would be very thankful if someone could transfer him this information... That would be a shame if he can't even know that he can greatly help an issue that he supports. Here is the text of the petition , let me know what you think about it: _____________ According to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of thought and conscience. This includes the right to belief and the right to manifest one?s belief. Article 26 of the same Covenant states that discrimination based on opinion is prohibited. These two articles combined mean that vegans and vegetarians who refuse to consume animals or animal products for ethical reasons should not suffer discrimination because of their beliefs. Nevertheless, vegans and vegetarians suffer widespread discrimination. For example, discrimination occurs in schools, universities, hospitals and other public or private places where no balanced vegan meal is available. In relation to the inalienable rights of all people on the basis of inherent human dignity and considering that discrimination on the ground of belief is outlawed, the signatories ask the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief at the United Nations to present a recommendation concerning this issue, and promote the adoption of measures at the national, regional and international levels to ensure the promotion and protection of the following rights of vegans and vegetarians: the right to obtain balanced vegan meals in any public or private institutions, the right to impartial and appropriate medical information, the right to be provided with necessary resources to raise their children in accordance with their beliefs, the right to refuse any work contrary to their ethical beliefs.

Hello everyone! I am a big fan of Paul Mccartney 's music and his charity work. I also respect him for his support for vegeterianism and animal rights. Anushavan