According to the opinion article by Nick Grey two weeks ago, vegans are people harboring such "an extreme hatred for humanity" that they violate their biological needs and suppress their natural abilities so that humans will become subservient to animals. However, vegans are not self-loathing, anti-social freaks that only eat berries and roots while squatting naked over a mud pit. In reality, vegans and vegetarians are people like Leonardo da Vinci, Gandhi, Paul McCartney and Steve Martin - people who understand the moral, health and environmental rewards of an animal-free diet.

The moral basis for animal rights has its historical roots in the fight against slavery and the oppression of women; just as racism and sexism deny a person her rights due to her skin color or sex, "speciesism" denies an animal her rights simply because she is not human. But what do we mean by "animal rights?" Certainly chickens and pigs should not be granted the right to vote, but they do have the right not to be raised in filthy cages, fattened with hormones, beaten regularly and slaughtered for human consumption. Why? Because just as black men and women suffered in cotton fields and Nike workers suffer in sweatshops, animals suffer in modern factory farms. If anyone doubts that animals can suffer as acutely as humans, please consult an Intro to Biology textbook or view a tape of a pig squealing and convulsing while being skinned alive, fully conscious. Animals, who desire nothing more than romping around outside in their natural state, surely demand the right not to suffer abuse in modern factory farms -treated as flesh producing machines- simply to fulfill petty human taste preferences.

Although some people will argue that eating meat and other animal products is necessary to maintain health, this claim is false. Unlike many predators, humans­especially with our profound ability to manipulate our environment­may thrive without harming or killing other animals for food. But vegans and vegetarians do more than survive: Carl Lewis, Martina Navratilova, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others have achieved success as athletes and body builders without consuming animal flesh. In fact, plant-based diets decrease the risk of cancer, kidney stones, osteoporosis and heart disease, causing vegans to live healthier, longer lives than their omnivorous counterparts.

In addition to saving the lives of animals raised for slaughter and improving their own health, vegans also protect plants and free-roaming animals around the world. Concentrated animal feeding operations pollute more than any other activity in the United States producing 130 times more excrement than the entire human population - 86,600 pounds per second to be exact. Furthermore, at a rate of 125,000 square miles a year, deforestation for cattle pasture places millions of species on the brink of extinction. Because each vegan saves an acre of forest every year, one can recycle and carpool, but the best way to protect the environment is to adopt a vegan diet.

While the idea of strict veganism may seem a bit overwhelming to students looking to prevent suffering, improve their health or save the environment, animal products can easily be eliminated from one's diet gradually. The Northfield Animal Rights Front (NARF) is currently working to establish permanent vegan sections in the cafeteria so that students may experiment with veganism freely. These new sections will boast delicious foods, ranging from blueberry muffins to soy yogurt and grilled vegetable fajitas. With no additional time or effort -just a change of consciousness- anyone at St. Olaf can enjoy a plant-based diet.