Eugene weekly., November 21, 2018, Page 6, Image 6

BY H E N R Y H O U S TO N
A JIVE TURKEY
HOLIDAY
Eugene resident wins PETA award
for a vegan Easter dinner
urtis Taylor, 33, was first introduced to People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in sixth
grade when he was writing a report on animal cru-
elty. This introduction led to his being a vegan for
more than half of his life.
Now he has more of a reason to love the animal rights
group. Taylor won an award from PETA for the all-vegan
Easter dinner he made earlier this year; he submitted a
photo of the meal to PETA’s Vegan Eats and Treats con-
test.
When he won the award, he says he couldn’t believe it.
He adds that he never gambles and has never won a prize
before, so it was the first time he’s ever won something.
C
Usually, Taylor would just bring a few sides to his
aunt’s house for Easter, he says. But he decided to cook a
full vegan Easter dinner meal for his family.
He cooked a Trader Joe’s Breaded Turkey-less Roast
and put together a few sides, such as roasted red peppers
stuffed with dairy-free mac and cheese and a vegan pump-
kin pie.
His aunt was skeptical about trying the vegan Easter
meal, but he won her over. She’s now preparing an all-
vegan Thanksgiving meal this year. She’s just not a vegan
— yet, he adds.
“She was thoroughly impressed enough to buy a To-
furky roast this year,” he says.
PETA awarded Taylor with $600 in gift cards, enough
for six meal kits from Veestro, a vegan meal home delivery
service.
Best of all, he says, it gave him more confidence in his
ability to cook.
“I used to think, ‘Well, I think what I make tastes good
for me,’” he says. “I thought it would be a great opportunity
to share with others, and I definitely have more confidence
in my cooking now. And it’s great to share with others.”
According to PETA, when turkeys are prepared for
slaughter, they are hung by their feet from metal shack-
les and dragged through an electrified bath that can lead
to full-body tremors — and are sometimes still alive when
de-feathered.
Taylor says he doesn’t get close to the wild ones in Eu-
gene, but he says he loves domesticated turkeys because of
their sweet nature.
“They’re very inquisitive, cute, cluck along to music,
like to be petted,” he says.
He says he gets his vegan recipes from Peta.org/
Thanksgiving and got the vegan mac and cheese recipe
from PETA2, the youth branch of the organization.
“Why not have a meal that celebrates animals?” he
says. “More than 44 million turkeys are killed every year
just for Thanksgiving so people can eat the holiday’s mas-
cot.”
Even though it’s a presidential tradition to pardon a tur-
key, Taylor says those turkeys often die after the pardon be-
cause they’re carrying around a ton of weight since they’re
bred for slaughter — so these animals are at death’s door
despite the pardon.
“It really is fake news,” he says. “[Presidential pardons]
are sponsored by the turkey industry.” ■
Karen Daly
As a kid in suburban New Jersey,
Karen Daly loved rollerskating, jump rope and
hopscotch. Her childhood ended abruptly at
age 8, when “growing pains” in her right leg
turned out to be bone cancer. Three years later
the leg was amputated. “I have no memories
of that time,” says Daly, who plans to walk
(on crutches) from Eugene to Hoboken this
summer, to sit on the stoop of the brownstone
she lived in, and consider the missing years.
“I’ll walk four to six hours each day,” she says.
“Then I’ll open myself to generous people who
will pick me up.” An artificial leg got Daly through
her teens and into a nursing career, but after 19
years she left the leg behind and started danc-
ing. She discovered Contact Improvisation and
moved to Eugene five years ago after attending
Alito Alessi’s DanceAbility workshop here. She
has since danced on stages around the world.
“Karen found that her loss was her gift,” says
fellow dancer David Koteen.
HAPPENING
PEOPLE
BY PA U L N E E V E L
JUNE 1999:
6
November 21, 2018 • eugeneweekly.com
2 0 1 8 U P D A T E : “I didn’t end up walking very
much,” says Daly, who completed her cross-
country journey mostly by bus. “But it was a
pivotal experience.” On her return, she entered
a 12-step program for a 30-year addiction to
bulimia: eating and throwing up. “I needed to
come out of hiding,” she says, “and own up
to what was inside of me.” She took writing
classes, and over the course of 10 years wrote
a memoir, Joy Ride: My One-Legged Journey to
Self-Acceptance, published in 2017 and avail-
able on Amazon. “I focused on the incredible
influence that dance has had,” she says. “I’m
going to semi-retire from nursing in December
and become a dance gypsy!” Daly will perform
with DanceAbility at the Oregon Bach Festival
at the Hult Center in July 2019.