MSU Mankato Students Demand More Vegan Options

Students Team Up With peta2 to Try to Bring School's Dining Halls Into the 21st Century

For Immediate Release:
April 26, 2010

Contact:
Ryan Huling 757-622-7382

Mankato, Minn. -- If you are a university student these days, it's easy to find top-notch vegetarian and vegan foods--unless you attend Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU). The school's dining services department has not been able to keep up with the increasing demand for vegan options on campus. That's why Ali Garklavs of MSU Animal Rights Concern teamed up with peta2--the world's largest youth animal rights organization--to collect more than 1,800 signatures on a petition to expand students' meal choices. The petition reads, in part, "We have the right to healthy, humane options at every meal. I support vegan-friendly options!"

It's a little surprising that MSU is still flunking out with students who want healthy animal- and Earth-friendly food. According to food-service giant ARAMARK, which serves more than 400 campuses in the U.S. and Canada, nearly one-quarter of all college students want vegan options. For example, students at Wesleyan University--which was named peta2's Most Vegetarian-Friendly College for 2009--can choose from a plethora of delicious vegan options, including veggie chicken red curry with steamed broccolini and organic jasmine rice, three-mushroom vegan ragu with penne pasta, and barbecue seitan. Runner-up Oberlin College has even meat-eaters asking for seconds with its offerings of tempeh and wild mushroom fricassee, Ethiopian vegetable stew, and seitan pepper steak. And the tempeh cacciatore, fried buffalo tofu, vegan scallion mashed potatoes, and barbecue seitan at American University only add to that school's tradition of excellence.

MSU students know that vegan options are better for the environment and animals and help keep off that dreaded "freshman 15." In addition to pushing for additional vegetarian and vegan options on campus, MSU Animal Rights Concern hosts a monthly vegan potluck and special events including movie screenings, dog walking, and tabling at the student union.

"Any way you slice it, MSU fails to satisfy students' hunger for nutritious, humane, and Earth-friendly vegetarian options," says peta2's director, Dan Shannon. "Even though MSU is a major university, when compared to other schools that offer more progressive menus, it's small potatoes."

For more information, please visit peta2.com.