PETA gives Alfons Schuhbeck a vegan cookbook

In the end, there was no mercy for Alfons Schuhbeck, even though the sentence fell short of what the prosecution had demanded: the Munich I Regional Court handed down a sentence of three years and two months to the ZDF television chef, for allegedly evading around 2.3 million euros in taxes.

„The prospect of prison frightens me“, Schuhbeck had declared during the trial. Judge Andrea Wagner described the defendant Schuhbeck as having «a high degree of criminal energy«. While other restaurateurs simply take money from the till, he had a computer program written to enable him to manipulate the cash registers without being detected.

As his lawyers announced, the celebrity chef filed an appeal following the verdict handed down last week – and will therefore not be going to prison for the time being. Schuhbeck himself issued a statement: “Should the written grounds support the regional court’s ruling, I will ask my lawyers to withdraw the appeal if in doubt. Until then, I will not relent in my efforts to make amends for the damage to the best of my ability“, said the TV chef.

As a court spokesperson explained, once the sentence becomes final and binding, it would in principle be served at Landsberg am Lech prison. Another prominent figure also served time there for tax evasion: the former president of FC Bayern Munich, Uli Hoeness, according to Der Spiegel.

Alfons Schuhbeck will likely spend several years confined to a restricted space, without the freedom of a self-determined life. In contrast to the convicted tax evader Schuhbeck, nearly 800 million innocent animals are locked up in the tightest of quarters in Germany every year: in agricultural livestock farming, defenceless living beings are systematically exploited, deprived of their freedom, and killed. We would like to encourage Mr Schuhbeck to use his time in prison to put himself in their position. After all, he has long enjoyed processing these sentient beings for his dishes. At the end of his imprisonment, freedom will await him — while so-called ‘livestock’ are mercilessly slaughtered. The thought of being locked up does not appear to appeal to Mr Schuhbeck. He should therefore show empathy for suffering animals by cooking and eating exclusively vegan in the future. As a head start into a life free of animal suffering and friendly to the climate, we have sent him our vegan cookbook. He could suggest that purely plant-based meals be cooked for inmates going forward. Should the celebrity chef himself work in the prison kitchen, he could get straight to recreating our delicious recipes. He will, in all likelihood, have plenty of time to do so.

Bettina Eick, PETA’s specialist advisor on nutrition

His conviction has already had professional consequences: Schuhbeck’s career as a television chef is on hold for the time being. After Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) pulled programmes featuring him from its schedule, ZDF also announced it would no longer have him appear on the show «Die Küchenschlacht» for the foreseeable future.