Students in the Veggie Club at Ohio State come together twice a month to share passions, activism, and a satisfying, meatless meal.
The group of vegetarians was started by Caitlin Baiduc last year after she attended a fireside chat through OSU’s Honors and Scholars program on animal rights and welfare. Shocked at the amount of people without convictions about animal testing, she was inspired to start the Veggie Club.
Since last year, the group has continued to grow. Their mission statement is three-fold: to promote awareness of vegetarianism, create social ties among members, and participate in community service together.
“It’s people that come from vegetarianism from all sides, people in it for the animal rights area, environmental reasons, health reasons,” said original member Alyssa Dole, a sophomore majoring in animal science. “We are in our second year now and have definitely grown a lot since when we first started.”
The group meets twice a month, once for a general meeting and once for a social gathering. The general meetings host discussion on topics pertaining to vegetarianism, as well as event planning.
“A lot of my friends aren’t vegetarian. They don’t understand, and that particular topic is very exciting for me,” said Erin Clark, senior club member majoring in zoology. “We have had discussions on different outlooks of vegetarianism. … We’ve had debates on being vegetarian verses vegan, we’ve talked more about environmental or health aspects of it.”
Social gatherings offer opportunities to check out vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Columbus. Previous dinners have been held at Northstar Café, Aladdin’s, Benevolence, North Market, and Dragonfly. Their next social dinner is 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22 at Northstar Café.
Members also participate in community service projects together as often as once a week. Food Not Bombs is an organization that collects leftover vegetarian food from local restaurants and serves it for free to the needy.
“People show up and we talk to them and we think it’s a great thing because nobody pays for the food, it is supporting vegetarianism, and it’s really rewarding,” said Joshua Ekroth, first-year graduate student majoring in artificial intelligence. “Nobody’s being oppressed in this situation and we get a free meal as well.” Club members also volunteer with Cat Welfare, a cat animal shelter.
The group is planning a “Dinner and Dialogue” event to be held in the spring. Anyone who is interested in vegetarianism is invited to attend.
“We are absolutely open to people who are not vegetarians coming and listening and sharing their thoughts,” Clark said. “Healthy debate and exchange of ideas is fully welcome and appreciated.”
Dole said many people don’t understand vegetarianism, and the club’s goal is to help people understand and respect their decision.
“You see things differently, like through a new lens,” Ekroth said. “You go through this process of understanding what it is you eat and where it comes from and you realize you have control over a lot of things. You don’t have to eat the same diet that’s been taught to you. It goes to show that you can change the world in a lot of small ways.”
Lindsay Minnema can be reached at [email protected].
