With U of T introducing its new Veggie Mondays program, some cafeterias on campus will start offering discounted vegetarian and vegan options on Mondays.
This is an important step forward for the health of the students, because animal protein has been linked to cancer, heart disease, and obesity — see the excellent film on this, Forks Over Knives. Humans can easily get necessary protein, iron, calcium, and other nutrients from whole-food plant-based sources.
Moreover, according to a United Nations report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” industrial animal agriculture is a major cause of climate change, global water shortages, water pollution, biodiversity loss, and soil erosion. Not eating animal products is the single best thing you can do to reduce your ecological footprint.
The new program, called “Veggie Mondays,” is a commendable step, but also a very small and cautious step, because a “meat alternative” will still be served. It would be better if meat were fully eliminated for at least one day per week, or for one meal per day on every day of the week. Right now, meat is present at every meal and the onus is on students to choose.
Ideally, there should also be clearly marked and discounted vegan options at every meal and at every food outlet on campus, seven days a week. Food Services can set a higher standard.
I have been told that Food Services does not have “the right” to take meat away from students. But does the university not have a moral responsibility to refrain from serving products that are harmful? According to numerous medical studies, animal flesh — and, in particular, red meat and processed meat — is carcinogenic, and eating a whole-food plant-based diet greatly reduces the risk of cancer and heart disease. Food providers do not have to wait for laws to change, they can act now.
If we are talking about rights, eating animals violates human rights indirectly. First, all future generations are gravely at risk due to climate change and water stress, caused in large part by factory farming; second, livestock consume a disproportionate amount of resources, contributing to world hunger and famine; third, factory farms are breeding grounds for deadly pandemic diseases, representing a global health risk. Factory farms should be outlawed for these reasons — instead, governments currently subsidize them.
Additionally, eating animals violates their basic rights. Eating a cow, pig, or chicken means paying men to enslave and kill them. “Meat” is a bland euphemism for a dead body. The right to live and be free from violence is basic to all sentient beings. An animal that might be killed for meat has the desire to live, as we all do. Compared to their basic rights, our “right” to taste their flesh is trivial. Like racism or sexism, discrimination based on species is a moral cancer that corrupts the soul of our society. Our food choices are in fact profound moral choices.
Animal exploitation robs us of our humanity, it destroys the environment that we all depend on, it causes terrible diseases, it contributes to world hunger, it is a global health risk, and it robs both human and non-human animals of their liberty and their lives — all unnecessarily.
If we wish to live in a just, good, and compassionate society — one that is truly sustainable and respects the rights of all — the most effective thing any of us can do is stop eating animals, including eggs and dairy, because those industries contribute to limitless animal cruelty and death. If done correctly, veganism is the healthiest food choice as well.
I hope students will take this seriously and press for more vegan options on campus and consider joining the Meatless Monday student committee, or the U of T Animal Rights Club. Above all, take the time to learn about healthy vegan foods and begin to make responsible food choices that do not entail animal slavery.
Paul York is a PhD candidate in the Centre for the Study of Religion, co-founder of the U of T Animal Rights Club, and a member of the Meatless Monday committee on campus. He can be reached at [email protected].
