Dudley Co-op Residents Squabble Over Serving Meat

The Dudley Co-op has had trouble cooperating this summer due to a food fight over the presence of meat in the largely vegetarian housing community.

Students in the 28 member co-op have a spectrum of opinions on the degree to which animal products should be tolerated, with some open to serving meat and others objecting for philosophical, health or hygienic reasons, said David B. Charbonneau, a tutor in the house who is a graduate student in astronomy.

The disagreement is also between students who are living there temporarily for the summer, who tend to be in favor of meat, and those who live there all year, who mostly wish the co-op to remain vegetarian, Charbonneau said.

After a lengthy debate in meetings over a month ago, the co-op elected to buy select lunch meats and tuna fish with co-op money, upsetting some vegetarians--many of whom could not attend the meeting, said Fleur Z. Weinstock '99.

"[Vegetarians would] feel bad if their money were used to buy meat," Charbonneau said. "It was a decision they'd made for a while in their life and [that] they wanted to adhere to."

Co-op leaders recently sent around a survey asking residents for their preferences, but little further action on the issue has been taken, said Katie H. Gibson '99, who is president of the co-op.

Rosslyn Wuchimitch '99 said that many summer residents don't understand the co-op's vegetarian history.

"It's understood that it's a vegetarian house during the year," Wuchimitch said. "A lot of people don't have a good understanding of the history of it."

But Charbonneau said that the co-op has not been strictly vegetarian since its founding in 1958, although it has maintained its "alternative" status.

At the beginning of each term, students discuss what kinds of food to buy with the approximate $35 each member spends on food each week, he said.

Students have always been able to purchase what they want to eat with their own money, even if it is meat, Charbonneau said.

Though the rule is that meat must be kept separately and that separate kitchenware must be used, Weinstock said she still comes in contact with meat when students carelessly leave it out. Weinstock said old meat often disgusts her.

"To me the smell of rotting meat blood is a hell of a lot worse than rotting carrots sitting there," Weinstock said.

Students stressed the need for individual students to take responsibility and for the co-op to function harmoniously.

"At this point most of the summer's gone and it's not really a big deal," Gibson said. "If it's going to be an issue I'd prefer that everybody just got along."

Weinstock said the co-op needs to work on cleanliness in general.

"Definitely most of the time it's a pit," Weinstock said. "There's dirty dishes everywhere, there's dirty pots everywhere."

The philosophy of the co-op is that differences are worked out through compromise until everyone is close to satisfied, Charbonneau said. Even if one person is unhappy, the co-op may make compromises or adjustments, he said.

"We want to come to a point where everyone feels OK," Weinstock said.

On Wednesday night, students in the co-op ate a collection of several salads, including a garden salad, a tofu salad, a noodle salad and a fruit salad, Charbonneau said. Food in the co-op is generally bought from an organic grower.

"Many people that come over for dinner comment that it's much better food than they had in their Harvard dorms," Charbonneau said.