Raiders Against Animal Cruelty, a student organization that works to educate the MTSU campus about the number of cruelties that animals face in today’s society, is hosting a week of free events with a goal to let students know how they can improve their health.
The events planned are for Veg Week Nov. 9 to 13, and the RAAC is encouraging students to participate in the “Veg Pledge” by trying a meatless diet for the week.
“Veg Week is about raising awareness for all the different reasons to be a vegetarian,” said Kenny Torrella, senior recording industry major and member of RAAC. “Whether it’s to prevent animal cruelty, to improve your health or to help the environment, vegetarianism is a simple choice that has a far reaching effect on many issues.”
This is the second year RAAC has held their Veg Week, and this year and Torrella said they have planned many more events that they hope will engage and educate students on the benefits of choosing a vegetarian or vegan diet.
“A lot of people don’t really think about where their food comes from,” said Jenna Puckett, senior liberal studies major and member of RAAC. “Whether it’s meat or vegetables, they should think about where it comes from and the effect it has on not only their own health, but the health and welfare of other animals and the environments they live in.”
Veg Week kicks off Monday with a free vegetarian chili cook-off from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on the Keathley University Center Knoll, and a screening of the documentary “Earthlings” at 7:30 p.m. in John Braggs Mass Communications Room 104.
“It’s a great documentary that outlines all the different ways that animals are exploited in our society,” Torrella said. “You don’t realize how many things come from animal products, and since we have a hundred million people in our country, that’s an astronomical number of animals being killed.”
On Tuesday, RAAC is promoting the 18th Annual Tennessee Undergraduate Social Science Symposium’s screening of the award-winning documentary “Food, Inc.” at 4 p.m. in the Tennessee Room located in the James Union Building. Mark Bittman, author and columnist for the New York Times, will be giving a discussion after the screening at 6 p.m.
RAAC will have a bake sale on the KUC Knoll from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and cooking demos from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Ellington Human Science Building Room 107.
“We are just going to talk about the basics and show how to make a couple of quick and easy vegetarian meals,” Torrella said.
Thursday, the organization will be screening “A Diet For All Reasons,” a documentary that presents evidence on why people should practice plant-based diets, at 7 p.m. in the Business Aerospace Building Room S324.
“Dr. Michael Klaper was a traditional doctor who came to realize that his patients who had clogged arteries, high cholesterol and were on the verge of heart attacks were experiencing these problems because their diets were high in dairy and meat,” Torrella said.
Veg Week will conclude with a potluck and acoustic show at 7 p.m. at Megachurch House, 1102 North Academy St. Torrella said attendees are encouraged to bring a vegetarian or vegan dish or snack.
“We are just asking that people try going vegetarian or vegan with us for this one week,” Torrella said. “Or, even just explore healthier diets that consist of less meat and dairy products.”
Puckett said she thinks the week will be successful because it allows students to have fun and get involved without feeling intimidated by such a strong issue being presented.
“The term success can be a relative term,” Puckett said. “Even if just one person decides to stick to a vegetarian diet, then that’s successful.”
RAAC encourages students to take “Veg Pledge”
Published: Monday, November 9, 2009
Updated: Monday, November 9, 2009
2 comments
Kenny Torrella
For more information visit mtsuraac.org or the Facebook event by searching "MTSU Veg Week." Also, I'm sure this wasn't the writers' fault, but I know there are 300 million people in America, not 100 million, don't know why I was quoted saying that. Probably seems silly that I feel the need to correct that, but I just wanted to clear it up, which makes the number of animals killed for food, clothing, and so forth even more astronomical!
JC
Check out this uplifting and inspiring video on why people choose vegan: http://veganvideo.org/
