Contest includes Fredonia for Most Vegetarian-Friendly

UPDATED: November 7, 2008

Fredonia, N.Y. — November 3, 2008 — Is SUNY Fredonia truly a “food heaven” for vegetarians?

That’s the proposition SUNY Fredonia students will help decide when they cast votes in the “Most Vegetarian-Friendly College Contest.”

Balloting is underway at 32 colleges and universities across the nation in the first round of the competition sponsored by PETA2, the world’s largest youth animal rights organization and an offshoot of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Having a nomination on the table, so to speak, signifies that SUNY Fredonia has bountiful vegan and vegetarian selections provided on campus by FSA Dining Services. The only other SUNY institution entered in the competition is SUNY Purchase.

“We’re pretty excited. It was nice to be nominated, especially considering some of the other schools that have been nominated,” said Dean Messina, assistant to the director of dining services.

Indeed, SUNY Fredonia joins an impressive list of hopefuls for the overall PETA2 award that includes, among others, Boston College, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, American University, Penn State, Georgetown University and Ohio University. SUNY Fredonia’s opponents in the first round are the University of Rhode Island, Brandeis University and Northwestern University.

PETA2 learned of FSA’s growing animal-friendly menu through Fredonia Voices for Animals, a student-run organization.

Dr. Christina Jarvis, associate professor of English and a member of the university’s Sustainability Committee, is excited about the nomination. All food served during the university’s Earth Week program last spring was vegetarian, and most items were vegan, she said. “Eating low on the food chain saves enormous amounts of energy and arable land,” Dr. Jarvis said. “Eating corn-fed beef or chicken wastes 90 percent of the food energy that could be obtained from eating corn directly.”

She also noted that eating less meat is one easy way that students, faculty and staff members, and Americans in general can be more sustainable in their daily lives.

The Marketplace at Erie is the home of SUNY Fredonia’s growing vegan and vegetarian menu. Its stir-fry action station has gone 100 percent vegan, with mock chicken and beef strips. An organic salad bar has been added to the delight of vegetarians, who in most cases don’t eat meat, as well as vegan patrons, who choose to avoid all food derived from animals in any way, such as eggs or milk, Mr. Messina explained.

Several new vegan/vegetarian offerings have also been added to Cranston Marché and Centre Point Lounge, the two other FSA-run dining facilities on campus.

Students place votes through the PETA2 website. The deadline for ballots to be submitted in the first round is Thursday, Nov. 6.