Vegan Awesome Person of the Year

Oprah Winfrey as PETA's Person of the Year? Seriously? I mean, no disrespect to the philanthropic icon, but she's not a vegetarian. Sure she brought notoriety to a cleansing diet that happened to be vegan, but let's not forget that she steered away from this diet and has resumed her carcass-eating ways.

I respect Oprah in all that she does and I believe that she does a lot of good in this world. Should any other organization, publication, or random person name her to be Person of the Year in any give time frame, I wouldn't bat an eye. But PETA? PETA which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? To me, being at least vegetarian if not vegan should be a pre-requisite for the honor. I realize that publicity is all the rage, but may I suggest an alternate personality? Might I recommend someone who has recently made that switch to veganism and is arguably as beloved by people around the nation? Or maybe I'll just give an award for Vegan Awesome Person of the Year.... drum roll please...

The 2008 Vegan Awesome Person of the Year is... Ellen DeGeneres!!!

Yes, the lovable, dancing, freak-freaking, gorgeous-actress-marrying, animal-loving, 50-year-old-turning, utterly hilarious Ellen DeGenerous is my choice for person of the year. For years people have been telling me that Ellen loves animals, and even prior to my decision to go veg about a year and a half ago, I thought that slightly odd, since I couldn't find her name listed among known vegetarians. This year, Ellen made it known that she has elected to go vegan, and I couldn't possibly be more excited. From having PCRM President Neal Barnard, M.D. on the show, to having a vegan wedding, Ellen has demonstrated vegan awesomeness in everything she's done. Being vegan isn't the only thing that makes her awesome, but the fact that she is so awesome AND a vegan is the reason why she deserves this honored distinction.

Hats off to Ellen and may her viewers see her for the Vegan Awesome person she truly is!