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Sign of the Times: Vegetarianism Embraced by University Students, Staff and Faculty

By San Jose News Group (Originally in English)

[Palo Alto] On Thursday, May 18, Golden Year 3 (2006), a vegan festival called VegFest was held at Stanford University. This special event was organized by Animal Rights on the Farm (ARF), a student organization dedicated to the ethical treatment of animals in today’s world. (“The Farm” is a nickname for Stanford University; Master gave a public lecture there in 1991.) ARF addresses issues ranging from animal testing to vegan and vegetarian lifestyles. On this campus many students are interested in advocating for animal rights.

To promote the vegan diet, part of VegFest 2006 featured the free distribution of vegan food and snacks to several thousand students, staff and faculty during the lunch period at White Plaza, a central and outdoor location on campus. Weeks prior to the event, ARF requested the participation of a number of local vegetarian restaurants. The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association Vegetarian House in San Jose was one of the restaurants that agreed to offer vegan food for this good cause. Another vegetarian restaurant, Tofoo Com Chay, owned by a fellow practitioner, also contributed.

Representing the Vegetarian House and Tofoo Com Chay at the Stanford VegFest 2006 were some brothers and sisters from the San Jose Center. We helped hand out vegan food along with the Alternative Living flyers to the many people who attended. Some were very interested in our vegan dishes and even signed up to attend a monthly vegetarian cooking class. One person commented, “Where did you get this delicious veggie BBQ beef that tastes so good?” Stanford University community members readily accepted the Alternative Living flyers; in fact, some even came up and asked for them. We mentioned the benefits of being vegetarian and were frequently met with agreeing nods or understanding smiles.

We also talked to some students and gained interesting insights. Stanford University has six co-ops where students live together in a communal fashion. In these co-ops, students organize themselves to perform all the tasks to keep the house, grounds and everything else running. This includes landscaping, paying rent and utilities, preparing food, and cleaning. Some students we interviewed live in a co-op called Columbae ♥♥♥♥♥, which was formed in 1970. It is a “student-run, consensus-governed, vegetarian cooperative house located in the heart of the Stanford University campus and dedicated to social change through nonviolent action.”

We surveyed a number of students who told us that they were taking classes in environmentalism, and knew that being vegetarian would be good for the planet and the environment. They were also well informed about animal rights and factory farming.

We also had a sign-up sheet to survey how people would feel about having vegetarian restaurants in airports. Many students happily signed their names in support of this idea. After all, it behooves governments and businesses to heed the interest of their vegetarian citizens, whose population is undoubtedly growing.

After VegFest, ARF also followed up the next day with a talk by two Stanford professors, Dr. Robert C. Jones ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and Dr. Chris Bobonich from the Department of Philosophy. Professor Bobonich ♥♥♥♥♥♥ began by speaking about ethical reasons for being a vegetarian, which included the moral choice to minimize pain and suffering in others. Professor Jones then spoke about nutritional and environmental factors.

Regarding two questions that are often asked of vegans: 1. Where do you get your protein? and, 2. How do you get calcium if you don't drink cow's milk? Dr. Jones said we get sick more because of too much protein and too many fats. He stated that protein deficiency in a Western diet is hardly an issue and that it's quite easy to meet the recommended daily allowance of 50 grams of protein with a vegetarian diet. He also explained that we get more absorbable calcium from vegetables than from cow’s milk.

Dr. Jones related that as of 2004, there were 11 billion animals killed for human consumption every year, just in the United States alone. He also described the torturous conditions of animals in factory farming and said there are explicit photographs showing the type of cruel treatment to which we have been subjecting these animals. He didn’t want to show those horrible photographs at the lecture, but said people could e-mail him if they wished to see.

Both speakers were very engaging, knowledgeable and articulate, but above all, they showed deep concern for the pain and suffering of animals, and the Stanford staff and students present at the talk seemed supportive of the rationale for choosing a vegetarian diet. It was touching to see that a prestigious American university is graced with such intelligent and compassionate people. They in turn are instrumental in effecting positive and beneficial changes in their community, nation and the world.

Vegetarianism has become the sign of the times more and more obvious each day as the spiritual consciousness of all beings in the world has risen tremendously. All this is the result of God’s blessings!

References:
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/calcium.php
http://www.upc-online.org/slaughter/2000slaughter_stats.html
http://www.veganoutreach.org/articles/chart.html
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/protein.php