University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, July 6, 1988
5
Vegetable nibbling preferred by many for a healthier diet
Lawrence has many fresh pickings for local vegetarians
By Monica Hayde
Kansan staff writer
In the United States, where fast food is king and the hamburger is as much a part of national identity as the flag, few people question the practice of eating meat.
Children grow up with Ronald McDonald, and a thick steak is often considered a treat. But Lawrence vegetarians say a meatless diet is not only healthier, it is more politically and economically sound.
Greg Brun, Lawrence sophomore, said that as many as 11 million people in the United States were vegetarians, and that the numbers were growing.
"It's easier in Lawrence than in most towns, I would think," he said. "There are some good restaurants in town that serve vegetarian dishes."
And Lawrence is not a bad place to be a vegetarian, he said.
Brun wrote a comic book-style pamphlet, called MEATS: Meaningful Encounter at the Supermarket, that explained the virtues of a meatless diet. In it, Brun says that physiologically, humans are more close to animals, unlike eating animals, than to carnivores, flesh-eating animals.
Using animals for meat resulted in too much land use, misallocation of food, world starvation and the waste of energy. he said.
Brun said that meat consumption was unhealthy and that a well-balanced, protein-rich diet could be maintained without meat.
Jenny Nieblaum, Lawrence senior, has been a vegetarian for five years. She said that her brother encouraged her to stop eating meat and other
animal products because she felt tired and unhealthy.
"The food that I consume now is helping to balance my body and bring it into a more healthy state by building up my immune system, which helps me to fight off infections more easily," she said.
Niebaum said that people were beginning to become more health-conscious and were eating better, though not only vegetarian food. People are not becoming health-conscious voluntarily, she added.
"There are more people getting strokes and heart attacks and cancer and people are realizing that drugs are not the answer, that modern medicine is not the answer, that diet is the answer.
"I think Lawrence is a good place to be a vegetarian because the community mercantile supplies many food items for vegetarians, and they have organic vegetables, too, for people who are even concerned about pesticides," Neibaum said.
"Now, we have a wider customer base, a lot more diversity," she said.
The Community Mercantile Co-op, 700 Maine St., is the only grocery in Lawrence that caters to vegetarians, said member K Douglas.
She said that business had increased during the past two years. Dougherty attributed the increase to more knowledge about health and diet.
Dougherty said that in the past, many people seeking different ways of living shopped at the co-op.
Brun has been a vegetarian for six years. He said society did not encourage vegetarianism, although such a diet sayed energy and was healthier
tract was too long to effectively metabolize the large amounts of cholesterol and fat that was found in most meats.
Also, the large amounts of hormones, chemicals and antibiotics in meat make it unsafe and unhealthy for consumption, he said.
Research has shown that the practice of using grain to feed cattle is wasteful, Brun said. About half the harvested U.S.acreage is used to feed animals that will be slaughtered. If that land were used for the production of vegetarian foods, the planet could support a population of more than 20 billion.
"As it is now, we are already producing enough food for everyone on the planet, but it is being allocated efficiently," he said. "According to information compiled by the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture), over 90 percent of all grain produced in America is used for feeding livestock."
And only one pound of beef is produced for every 16 pounds of grain. Brun said.
Lenoir Ekdahl, residence hall food service director, said that vegetarian menus in the residence halls were expanding every year.
"Now we are finding it has increased in popularity with everyone, not just the people who have declared themselves vegetarians."
he saved energy and was healthier.
Brun said that the human digestive
Ekdahl said that vegetarian casseler and stir-fry dishes were popu-
"We've had to re-educate our cooks," she said. "They think they need meat in everything for seasoning."
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