Green Corner
Animal Rights Club meets on Sunday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Academy Center’s Club Room B and welcomes anyone curious about ethics, environmentalism or animals. The club hosts discussions of issues both on and off campus and is excited about its plans for this year. These plans include two “VegFests,” which are plant-based meals in Wetherell with music and tablecloths. This fall, VegFest will take place on Nov. 10 in Wetherell for dinner, so make sure to invite your friends if you are interested in trying out some delicious vegetarian options!
“Our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide and the like to spew into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry.”
Along with the ethical reasons, there are also a lot of environmental reasons to try out a vegetarian meal. The Wall Street Journal estimates that producing just one quarter-pound hamburger requires 1300 gallons of water. The Scientific American states “Our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide and the like to spew into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry.” The animal agriculture industries waste huge quantities of water and produces greenhouse gases, so this meal will be saving the environment too. So bring your friends to VegFest to enjoy some delicious, animal-friendly, and eco-friendly dishes, such as a vegetarian shepherd’s pie made with a soy crumble instead of meat and focaccia-style barbecue Gardeine pizza. Additionally, there will be artisan bread baskets on every table along with desserts such as Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors, sorbet and possibly a chocolate avocado pudding. For drinks, we will be featuring a sparkling pomegranate punch fountain. Be sure to come early so that you can sample all the popular dishes before they run out, as it was a huge success last year.
Animal Rights Club is also trying to schedule a visit to a local farm sanctuary called Live and Let Live, so that we can get a chance to interact with some animals such as cute pigs, cows, chickens and more. We are likely to go on a Sunday afternoon. If you are interested in going, please let us know so that we can give you more details about the trip.
Another one of Animal Rights Club’s projects this year will be setting up a workshop for Climate Action Day. Last year, the club hosted a screening of the movie “Cowspiracy,” which highlighted the environmental impact of the farm industry. The screening was followed by a panel discussion in which viewers could ask questions about the film and vegetarianism in general. This year, Animal Rights Club is seeking to host another informative workshop to educate the community on the impact livestock have on the environment.
Of course, you do not have to be a vegetarian or vegan to come to the meetings or get involved. Animal Rights Club welcomes people from all backgrounds and welcomes discussion on issues that affect animals. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact one of the co-heads, Anna Clark ’19 (acclark1@exeter.edu) or Emmett Shell ’18 (eshell@exeter.edu) to be added to the email list and informed about any upcoming animal rights-related events. We hope to see you at one of our meetings soon!