I have a lot of favorite quotations I’ve read through the years. Some are great for inspiration, others provide a laugh and others just make me think. But there’s one in particular that always, for me at least, seems to rise above the rest in the abundance of potential Facebook-favorite quotations. Margaret Mead, famed anthropologist and author, once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Well, Gators, the late Ms. Mead would be proud of all of us. For we have, indeed, changed civilization.
And then there’s poet Maya Angelou. This walking, breathing, quoting machine once said, “You may not think you’ll be heard. Speak anyway.” Well, Gators, we spoke. And we’ve been heard.
During the past six months, we’ve amassed a successful campaign for Meat-Free Mondays in UF’s two dining halls, which was no small feat. UF is the largest land-grant college in the southeastern United States, and no one thought we’d be heard. When I first brought this campaign to the forefront early in the fall semester, I was told we’d be laughed at. And perhaps we were. Perhaps we’re still being laughed at by a few. But we’ve made change, Gators. We’ve made a change that will positively impact our bodies, our planet, our fellow starving men and women across the globe and the 27 billion animals who are unnecessarily slaughtered every year to be put on our plates. And that’s what I call a legacy.
We collected a sizable army along the way to work with Gator Dining Services in helping our food provider at the nation’s sixth-largest university become more ethical, sustainable and nutritious. We collected the public support of UF’s very own Office of Sustainability, GatorWell, Gators for a Sustainable Campus and Animal Activists of Alachua to help Gator Dining Services along the way in making this positive change in having a vegetarian menu just one day a week in only two dining halls on campus.
And we gathered support from the big guns, too. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Humane Society of the United States and the Earth Day Network also sent support to Gainesville and offered to help Gator Dining Services make this long-lasting positive change for a Meat-Free Monday. But most importantly, we collected the support from all of you.
Over the course of four days at the end of the fall semester, we gathered more than 2,000 petition signatures spanning more than 150 pages from concerned UF students and faculty who realize the importance of leaving meat off their plates just one day a week. And when the United Nations recently identified factory farming as one of the leading contributors to global warming, it’s no surprise so many of you gladly added your name to the list of supporters.
With Gator Dining Services successfully encouraging and advertising for a Meat-Free Monday at Fresh Food Company and Gator Corner Dining Center, UF joins the list of more than 30 universities across the nation that are choosing to leave flesh off the menu on Mondays, including Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, the University of North Florida, the University of Central Florida and even the University of Mississippi.
But we still have a lot of work to do in helping Gator Dining Services continue to improve its work in becoming the premier dining facilitator in the state. We have a lot of work to be done in helping our dining halls become more ethical, more sustainable and more nutritious.
Both dining halls on campus still serve meat on Monday; many could even say they serve more meat on Mondays than any other day upon looking at the online menu. It’s up to all of us to help Gator Dining Services realize we care about the 27 billion animals who are slaughtered every year in America. It’s up to every single one of us to help Gator Dining Services realize we care about the 60 million starving people who could be saved if every American left meat off his or her plate just 10 percent of the time.
Send our dining officials a friendly e-mail to let them know you support their efforts to become better. Your suggestions on how we can constantly improve mean just as much as anyone else’s. Join our Meat-Free Monday at the University of Florida Facebook group to stay updated on our work.
It only seems right to pick one last quotation to close. And it only seems right to pick one from one of our world’s greatest leaders of change because that’s what we’re doing here, Gators, and as Gandhi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Jared Misner is the campaign organizer for The Campaign for a Meat-Free Monday at UF.
