In his Thursday column, Nate Rushing truly misrepresented UF’s new Meatless Monday campaign.
First, he grazes over a very important logistical detail — Meatless Monday only applies to UF’s two dining halls and was designed this way to continue to allow freedom of choice. If students would like to choose to eat meat on Monday, they can visit Subway or Panda Express for any of their meat-filled main entrees, as UF’s installment of the Asian fast-food restaurant does not offer a vegetarian main entrée. And if a student is feeling daring, he or she has the freedom of choice to grab a slice of pizza at Papa John’s topped with, I believe, five varieties of flesh.
In regard to the personal freedoms that have allegedly been so unjustly taken, Meatless Monday allows the population of vegetarian and vegan Gators a better variety and does not stop omnivores from making the decision to try any number of the other food locations on campus if they simply cannot stomach their spaghetti without some meatballs.
Rushing could stand to do some fact checking of some of his other statements. Slaughterhouses, where the majority of American meat animals are producted, feed their animals corn, not grass, and they keep them in small spaces so tiny they often cannot move around so the animals build fat faster. A truly healthy cow is fed exclusively on grass. The hamburger on most dinner plates or within fast-food wrappers was likely not fed much grass at all.
According to the Worldwatch Institute, animal agriculture accounts for more than half of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Much of this comes from transportation alone. UF’s Meatless Monday campaign is meant to be part of UF’s dedication to sustainability. Clearly, a reduction in meat consumption aligns with those goals.
Editor's note: The letter refers to this column.
