For years ASU has been second best to UofA. Now, the students of ASU wan to be just as good. They want an “A’ for vegan dining.
According to the students, ASU barely snagged a “C” on the Vegan Report Card created by peta2, PETA’s youth division. Universities with all-vegan dining halls include the University of Arizona, the University of Colorado–Boulder, and the University of South Florida—offer all-vegan dining stations.
So, peta2 Campus Representative Katherine Gross has set out to gather 1,000 signatures from her peers in support of opening an all-vegan dining hall on campus—a move that would automatically bump the school’s grade up to an “A,” and issued a press release. The petition, which calls for an all-vegan dining hall for “health, the environment, and animals,” already includes more than 700 signatures, according to the release.
“Today’s most progressive colleges are meeting the skyrocketing demand for vegan food, and the students’ campaign asks Arizona State University to join them at the top of the class,” says peta2 Director Marta Holmberg. “An all-vegan dining hall would ensure that students in Tempe can always find a delicious, healthy, and humane meal.”
Interestingly, peta2 cites a finding by food-service provider Bon Appétit, that according to peta2, claims that the number of college students who identify as vegetarian has risen by more than 50 percent nationwide since 2005 and the number of vegan students has more than doubled in the same period. According to the peta2 press release, students cite a variety of reasons for choosing vegan meals, from reducing their carbon footprints to sparing animals immense suffering on factory farms, in slaughterhouses, and on the decks of fishing boats. Other students appreciate the health benefits—according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vegans are less prone to developing heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.