LETTER: Thanks for the Attention

To the editors:

I would like to thank the staff of The Harvard Crimson for continuing to keep the topics of veganism and animal rights in the headlines ("Feminist Calls for Veganism," Apr. 29, 2010). This school year alone, your newspaper has printed no less than five separate articles documenting the shift in the student population toward a meatless diet. From potluck dinner reviews to a story on the high-profile "Is Eating Animals Ethical?" debate last fall with People for Ethical Treatment of Animals Vice President Bruce Friedrich, the prevalence of these discussions on veganism and animal rights underscores a larger nationwide trend in what is widely understood to be one of the most food-conscious and ecologically focused graduating classes in history.

As the Crimson editorial staff wrote last September, "Factory farming is being recognized as an important health and environmental concern, and many have realized the potentially negative effects of meat consumption on climate change" ("Rethinking Meat," Sep. 16, 2010). Harvard students are equally horrified when they discover that the abuse that farmed animals face in today's industrial meat production—including being castrated without being given any painkillers and having their throats cut while they're still conscious—would warrant cruelty-to-animals charges if the cats or dogs who share our homes were the victims.

Thankfully, as a result of efforts by the campus group Harvard College Vegetarian Society, Harvard is several steps ahead of the curve on this growing social-justice issue. Whether students are enjoying Meatless Mondays in Lowell House or reading a vegetarian/vegan starter kit outside of the Science Center, veganism is mainstream at Harvard, and it shows no sign of slowing down its progress.

DREW R. WINTER

Apr. 29, 2010

Drew R. Winter is a College Campaigns Assistant at peta2.com.