Do you feel
students at UT
should have the right to
choose an eco-friendly, tasty
and healthy plant-based meal
OFFERED BY dining services,
at no extra
cost?
UT students should have the right to more
green, sustainable, healthy, and delicious meals.
“What starts here changes the world” is the motto of the University of Texas.
So where are the greener, tastier, and healthier meal options on campus?!
There are very good reasons why the market for green,
plant-based food will increase 451 percent.1
Don’t let UT be left behind!
Tasty Plant-Based Tacos and Butternut
Squash Will Save the Planet
A report published in The Lancet 2 (a peer-reviewed medical journal) found that
shifting diets toward plant-based foods and away from animal products is
essential for our planet.
The report stated, “vegan and vegetarian diets were associated with the
greatest reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions.”
A University of Oxford study 3 concluded that plant-based foods reduce carbon footprint,
water consumption and farmland requirements by up to 76%.
Rohan Mehta
Pre-Med Program
“Raising animals for meat is a tragic waste of water. To produce just 1 pound of beef requires over 2,400 gallons of water.
It’s not just water being wasted, it’s also valuable land. Nations are bulldozing incredible areas of land (including tropical rainforests!) to make space to raise animals to slaughter for food.
Millions of TONS of fish are being captured each year. This is NOT sustainable. For every pound of fish caught, 5X that of other sea animals are also caught in the net. And these are tossed away.
Protect Earth’s land, water supply, and oceans by eating a plant-based diet!
Kim A. Williams, MD
Previous president of the American College of Cardiology Kim A. Williams, MD is a vegan.
He says: “There are two kinds of cardiologists: vegans, and those who haven’t read the data.”
The University of Texas ITSELF encourages us
to eat healthy on their website
(the first 24 foods listed are plant-based!!) 4
but it doesn’t actually serve a variety of healthy
plant-based foods
in the school’s dining halls and cafes.
Bandele Okelana, MD
Resident at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin explains:
“People on healthy plant-based diets enjoy lower body weight, decreased incidence of cancer, lower A1C levels to prevent diabetes, and a significant reduction of mortality risk from ischemic heart disease.”
all favor plant-based meals
Why?
Because they are packed with high quality
protein, vitamins, minerals,
fiber, and antioxidants
and are proven to prevent and
reverse heart disease, diabetes,
obesity and more!
Lactose intolerance prevents certain folks from properly digesting dairy and results in pain, cramps, bloating, diarrhea and throwing up.
ProCon (a non-profit associated with Encyclopedia Britannica) says that the NIH found that lactose-intolerance affects 75% to 90% of Asians, Black people, Native Americans, Mediterraneans, and Jewish people. 9
Kennedy Hawkins
Nutrition Major
“I don’t think it’s fair that so much of the food on campus causes me nausea, cramps and bloating.”
These days, dairy just isn’t a necessary ingredient. I don’t mind if other students want to consume dairy and fall sick.
I just want a decent selection of food that won’t make me sick.
Alyssa Lumpee
Marketing Major
UT Students Against Animal Cruelty member Alyssa reminds us, “The animals you are eating lived in body-shaking fear. They were terrorized.
They were snatched away from their families and forced to have a childhood in filth. They watched their fellow innocent inmates slaughtered. Each day could be their last.
And death wasn’t swift. They were mutilated. There are no painkillers. (Anyone who has had a pet knows animals feel pain!) Many animals are actually aware of what’s happening while they’re tossed like trash into boiling water as they scream.
Sorry, not sorry, but “humane meat” is a myth. Animals on organic and “free-range” farms often are mistreated just the same. Birds have their beaks ripped off by machines. Mammals are castrated.
If you’ve ever loved a dog, or cat, or parakeet, or any animal, think about what you’re doing by supporting the animal food industry. Animal cruelty will end when we stop buying it!
As Gandhi said, ‘If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.’”
Many other students simply
want the right to choose a
vegan or healthy meal as a
part of our existing meal plan.
Many other students simply
want the right to choose a
vegan or healthy meal as a
part of our existing meal plan.
![](https://utstudentsdeservebetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Chicken.png")
Each chicken lives on one piece of paper
It’s so crowded, they can barely move.
They can’t sleep properly because they’re
getting trampled from the crowd.
Chickens in the wild live an average of 8 years of freedom.
Chickens for food consumption average just 1.5 months before being slaughtered. That’s just 1.5% of their natural life!
It’d be like a human who was killed at 1 years old. When you eat chicken, you’re eating a baby chicken that was forced to live in filth, was never near its parents, and was electrocuted alive.
Infographic source 11
Evan Schwartz, PHD
UT Alumini
“I loved my experience at UT! It hurts me to see the University fall behind the times with regards to food culture.
The number of Americans who identify as vegan has grown by 3,000% over the past decade and a half. And I’m one of them!
My conscience doesn’t allow me to donate to UT until they make serious strides towards protecting animals and promoting healthier eating for students.” 12
Don’t Mess with Texas!
To truly be a leading University in the areas of healthcare, the environment, and nutrition technology, UT must add quality plant-based meals around campus.
These groups of students wanting to be green, healthy, and ethical should not be left out!
And UT shouldn’t allow itself to be left out of the biggest global food movement of the 21st century!
Do you feel students at UT should have the right to choose a plant-based meal offered by dining services, at no extra cost?
If yes, add your name!
Our Important Goal
We want at least 50% of all entrees, side-dishes, dessert, and meal options in all University of Texas in Austin campus-operated dining facilities to be plant-based within the next two years i.e. no later than January 1, 2024.
Sources:
1. Bloomberg Intelligence – Plant-based foods poised for explosive growth https://share.getcloudapp.com/qGuJgpxR
2. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31788-4/fulltext
3. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2018-06-01-new-estimates-environmental-cost-food
4. https://healthyhorns.utexas.edu/n_balanceddiet.html
5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19562864/
6. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/how-does-plant-forward-eating-benefit-your-health
7. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm
8. https://onlybuyvegan.com/vegan-infographics/
9. https://milk.procon.org/lactose-intolerance-by-country/
10. https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/doctors-call-dietary-guidelines-ditch-dairy-fight-racial-health-disparities
11. https://thehumaneleague.org/article/broiler-chickens
12. https://www.livekindly.co/number-vegans-us-jumped-3000/
13. https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/water-scarcity#:~:text=Billions%20of%20People%20Lack%20Water,may%20be%20facing%20water%20shortages.
14. https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/basics/zoonotic-diseases.html
15. https://thebeet.com/kelloggs-plant-based/
16. https://thebeet.com/3d-printed-salmon/
17. https://nocamels.com/2022/06/vegan-food-tech-fest-israel-startups/
University of Texas, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and American Heart Association logos are trademarks of their respective owners.