?Meatless Monday? Raises Campus Controversy

In an event that is already generating conversation around campus, Moulton and Thorne Dining Halls will not be serving meat during dinner on Monday, February 21. “Meatless Monday,” sponsored by the Bowdoin College Democrats (BCD) and other campus groups, is intended to raise awareness about the health and environmental impacts of eating meat.

“I think the value of the event is that it has environmental importance, impacts an individuals’ health?and there’s also a moral dimension to it which we don’t talk about very much,” said BCD Co-President Katy Shaw ’11.

BCD introduced the idea for “Meatless Monday” to Dining Services in early December.

“Meatless Monday’ is a national initiative which the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health started,” said Ben Richmond ’13, a member of BCD who helped to coordinate the event.

“We heard about the event through friends in other schools…and we wanted to start it here as well,” he said.

As an alternative to meat, Dining Service will provide additional items with high-protein content, such as eggs, beans and tofu. Moulton will also be serving an entrée with cashew nuts as a protein source.

“It’s not a stretch for us to come up with a vegetarian menu because we have so many vegetarian options anyway,” said Director of Dining Service Mary McAteer Kennedy.

“The chefs who write the menus just took a look at their vegetarian offerings and tried to come up with menus that they felt would be strong enough to have widespread appeal without the meat,” she added.

While the event has garnered support from both student organizations and sports teams, several students found themselves defending “Meatless Monday” from criticism that the event is undemocratic.

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