MU competes for best vegetarian school
PETA named MU in its yearly contest of vegetarian-friendly colleges.
Published Oct. 30, 2008
Colleges across the nation are finding themselves deep in the race for a championship. Instead of football, MU is in contention as the most vegetarian-friendly university in North America.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the world's leading animal-rights group, listed MU as one of its 32 finalists in its yearly Most Vegetarian-Friendly Colleges contest.
"We wanted to highlight the schools that have gone above and beyond like the University of Missouri," PETA spokesman Ryan Huling said.
Huling said there has been a strong movement across campuses for healthier choices in dining halls, adding that according to his group, one in four students now practice a vegetarian lifestyle.
To accommodate this fresh crop of students, MU provides vegetarian variations of some meaty American classics such as veggie burgers and or vegetarian sloppy joes. Other vegetarian dishes featured at MU dining halls include gazpacho sandwiches and vegetarian fruit pies.
Practicing vegetarian Kyle McDonald is satisfied with MU's dining halls.
"There's always an option in the dining halls and I like that," he said.
Even meat-eating students agree MU dining halls offer plenty of options for vegetarians.
"I would say the dining halls here provide the ability for vegetarians to eat meatless items at their own will," non-vegetarian Chris Stachiw said.
MU dining halls also consider student feedback to improve their menus, which PETA finds commendable.
"They listen to students," Huling said. "Which is something to be admired."
Other than to combat the infamous "Mizzou 22," MU's vegetarians have more than one reason for choosing to eat greener.
"It's mostly a political thing," McDonald said.
Although some people become vegetarians for personal wellbeing, others choose this lifestyle to better the world as well. Huling said eating green is a great way to help the world.
"According to the (United Nations), animal agriculture contributes more to global warming more than cars, trains and planes combined," Huling said.
Many students also engage in vegetarianism as a protest against what they say is inhumane methods of killing livestock by the animal agriculture industry. Huling mentions slitting the throats of cows and pigs while still being alive and ripping the beaks out of chickens as some of these execution methods.
"Students see the cruelty to animals and that's an industry they don't want to support," he said.
McDonald confirms Huling's statement with his own reason for becoming a vegetarian.
"It's mostly based around the treatment of animals and like slaughterhouses and stuff like that," he said.
McDonald did research about the killing techniques of animal agriculture industry, and what he found disgusted him.
"It's kind of gross," he said.
Other universities selected as finalists include the University of Texas, Northwestern University and the University of Montana. The winner will be decided by popular vote and announced by PETA in November.
