We looked through hundreds of bios, counted up your votes, and, after careful consideration, we've chosen Grace Jencks and Perry Martijena as this year's Cutest Vegetarian Kids!
Grace Jencks
Grace is a 9-year-old from Park City, Utah, who went vegan this past year. Yay! She says Field Roast, Vegan Gourmet, and Sunshine Burger are her favorites! Oh, and I can't forget to tell you how much Grace loooves vegan pizza! When she's not being homeschooled, you can find Grace mountain biking, skiing, skateboarding, dancing, hiking, camping, doing gymnastics, or playing with her cat, Twig, who her family adopted from a local animal shelter.
Grace says that she enjoys visiting PETAKids.com because she gets to learn about all the ways that she can help animals. Grace makes sure she spreads the word by sharing everything she's learned with friends and family. She also likes taking her friends to her favorite vegetarian restaurant in nearby Salt Lake City to show them how great vegan nachos can be. Hey, Grace, where's my invite?!
Perry Martijena
Perry is a 9-year-old from Jersey City, New Jersey. He says he doesn't eat meat because "there are lots of other ways to get protein that don't involve killing animals." Right on, Perry! Like Grace, Perry enjoys introducing his friends to vegetarian foods, like Tofu pups (instead of hot dogs), so that they can learn how easy and fun it is to be vegetarian. Since there are a lot of restaurants in his neighborhood with great vegetarian dishes, Perry gets to show those off too. When he's not teaching his friends about all the delicious vegetarian foods out there, Perry loves acting and playing tennis, soccer, and baseball. He also loves hanging out with his two dogs and watching the Cartoon Network.
Grace and Perry will hold the title of Cutest Vegetarian Kids for one whole year, be announced to their local media, and be featured in the spring issue of PETA's Animal Times magazine. As this year's winners, they'll also receive an iPig docking station, an "I Am Not a Nugget" T-shirt, and PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's book 50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals.
Congratulations to Grace and Perry, and thanks to all of you who entered and voted this year. Keep doing great things for animals, 'cause you never know … next year's Cutest Vegetarian Kid could be YOU!
Click here for a FREE copy of our "Vegetarian Starter Kit."