Wow, my mom just pointed this out to me, as she was looking at the cover
of her local paper. Maybe a chance for a letter? Or a volunteer?
Oooh, if we had something good to say, maybe we could ghost-write it, and
have my dad submit it (so it'd be coming from a local resident). Just a
thought.
So many possibilities, so little time.
Unny
http://www.thisweek-online.com/2006/March/3b-peta.html
(His photo can be found here:
http://www.thisweek-online.com/burnsville.html)
Sexy on veggies
Burnsville man is finalist in PETA.s .Sexiest Vegetarian. contest
Posted: 3/3/06
by John Gessner
Thisweek Newspapers
He.s young, he.s vegan, and PETA people think he.s hot.
Burnsville resident Mario Rader is also surprised and slightly amused to
be one of 10 male finalists in the .Sexiest Vegetarian Alive. contest
sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
.I don.t consider myself that great-looking,. said the native Austrian,
who just turned 26. .I don.t think I.m the ugliest. It.s hard to evaluate
yourself. I guess it.s kind of a fun thing. It might give me more of a
voice to speak out on the whole topic..
Rader.s fiancee, Meghan Fleming, entered him in the contest by sending a
picture to PETA.s GoVeg.com Web site. Online viewers liked what they saw,
making him a finalist from among the .hundreds of sultry soy boys and
Tofutti cuties. entered, PETA says. A male and female winner will be
announced in late March.
Rader grew up in the Austrian city of Wels. A hardcore punk- rock fan with
left-wing political views and an interest in human rights, he met the
like-minded Fleming online in 1999. He came to Minnesota to visit in 2000,
and the couple have been together ever since.
Now Rader splits his time between their Burnsville apartment and Johannes
Kepler University in Linz, Austria, where he studies business informatics
when school is in session. He also attended Fort Hays State University in
Kansas, where he was an award-winning student photographer.
Rader swore off meat in his mid-teens after watching a documentary about
the cruelty of cattle transport in the Mediterranean Sea.
.It was disgusting to watch,. said Rader, who announced the diet change to
his family.
.It was kind of hard,. he said. .In Austria we.re a real agricultural
country. But it wasn.t so hard for me not to eat the meat as it was for me
to convince my family not to cook it for me..
It wasn.t a big leap to go from vegetarian . consuming no meat . to vegan
. consuming no animal products.
.In Austria, dairy is one of the national foods,. said Rader, who made the
commitment in 1998, inspired partly by a punk band.s militant vegan
lyrics. .We.re like the Wisconsin of Europe. But if you.re used to it,
it.s not that hard..
While PETA sells vegetarianism as sexy, Rader doesn.t fully endorse the
organization. He was bothered by some of the revealing photos submitted by
female contestants and told PETA so. He bristles at some of the agitprop
PETA uses to get its message across.
.I don.t want to promote violence. That.s my top priority,. Rader said.
.And it.s also a reason for me to live like this, because I don.t want to
force violence on animals..
John Gessner is at burnsville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
Top of Page
Check out this week's newspaper for more about your community.
Thisweek Newspapers
12190 County Road 11, Burnsville, MN 55337
Telephone: 952-894-1111 Fax: 952-846-2010
--
Unny Nambudiripad
Treasurer, Compassionate Action for Animals
612-377-2015 (h) / 612-532-4239 (c)
www.exploreveg.org / www.vegguide.org
