PETA spokesman extols upsides to going vegan

January 31, 2007

Dartmouth? By JR Santo, The Dartmouth Staff Published on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 People should abandon their meat-eating habits and embrace veganism as a social movement with far-reaching consequences, advocated Bruce Friedrich to a 60-person audience Monday in Collis Common Ground. The director of vegan campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Friedrich explained that as a young boy from a traditional Midwestern background, he would not have been able to imagine life as a vegan. "I grew up as a young boy in Minnesota, played football, and couldn't imagine life without meat," he said. Friedrich changed his mind, however, after he connected veganism with social justice. According to Friedrich, 95 percent of oats, 90 percent of corn and more than 70 percent of everything grown in the United States goes to feed the 10 billion farm animals Americans eat each year. Explaining that animals must be fed 20 calories of food in order to get one calorie of meat, Friedrich criticized meat producers for wasteful consumption. "We don't need meat in order to survive," he said. "The protein myth is something that the meat industry sold us years ago." Vegans have a stricter diet than vegetarians, as they do not eat meat, fish or dairy products. Friedrich identified beans and rice, for example, as sufficient sources of complex carbohydrates and fiber. He cited the Time Magazine "Visions of the 21st Century" issue, which claims the United States will become vegan out of necessity because we cannot possibly sustain our current consumption of meat. In efforts to keep up with America's high demand for meat, the meat industry mechanizes the killing of chickens, which constitute 95 percent of the farm animals killed, but no law prevents their abuse. As portrayed in a video Friedrich presented, live chickens are hung from a track by their legs, as a blade positioned along the track cuts their throats before they enter a boiling chamber that removes their feathers. The imperfect method however occasionally allows chickens to be boiled alive. Many audience members reacted to this video with compassion, but others did not see the direct link to an absolute rejection of all animal products. "I don't understand frankly why humans shouldn't eat meat, but I definitely think that we should treat the animals more ethically," Jacob Fainzilberg '09 said. While Friedrich thought that primitive hunter-gatherer relationships were justifiable,

he criticized the modern meat industry for unnatural practices that create a far-removed consumer. Mass production of meat harms the environment, animals, and meat-lovers' health, he said. "We deny animals everything that is natural for them. Also, eating meat contributes to heart disease," Friedrich said. The food industry commonly gives animals chemicals and antibiotics to accelerate their growth. These chemicals and drugs keep chickens, pigs, and fish alive, since they might otherwise die prematurely in their cramped cages. Friedrich also argued that the meat industry pollutes the environment by using its resources inefficiently. However, Friedrich acknowledged that he himself flew in a plane to the Manchester airport, which also pollutes the environment. But Friedrich said he weighs this harm of pollution against the more-important benefit of spreading his message about veganism, animal welfare

and regard for the environment around us. "I wish more people would come to see these things because the government controls our awareness on issues like this," said Melissa Brailey, a member of the audience visiting Hanover for the weekend. The vegan movement has received substantial media attention with Hollywood figures attracting publicity. A glossy "Vegetarian Starter Kit" handed out at the event highlights the support of Hollywood celebrity vegetarians such as Clint Eastwood, Alec Baldwin, Alyssa Milano and Tobey Maguire. Claiming one million members, PETA is the largest animal-rights advocacy group in the world. Its attention-grabbing and unconventional advertisements continue to attract publicity. The event was sponsored by the Dartmouth Animal Welfare Group, the Dartmouth Ethics Institute, Collis Governing Board and the Rockefeller Center.Peter H

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