For Justin O’Neill, a plain peanut butter and jelly sandwich beats the taste of a dead cow’s flesh. In fact, he maintains a healthy lifestyle without meat at all.

O’Neill, a sophomore in philosophy from Brookfield, has been a vegetarian for two years. He said it is unfair for animal cruelty to meet the needs of humans.

O’Neill finds it appalling that Bovine Growth Hormone is injected into cows to produce more milk, and he is aghast that veal is created by killing young, male cows between 14 and 22 weeks old. Just as shocking is the fact that egg-laying hens are hung upside down from a conveyor belt and cut at the throats.

Advertisement

These discoveries greatly altered his diet.

I realized how the meat is really prepared, he said. It’s not just a couple of cows that a farmer has raised. That keeps me conscious about my diet in general.

O’Neill is helping with the second annual Vegetarian Awareness Week activities from Feb. 8-14. O’Neill, along with the Student Environmental Center and the Ananda Marga Yoga Society, will attempt to raise awareness about the benefits of vegetarianism.

So far, the Vegetarian Awareness Week Coalition has organized a cooking workshop and an Animal Rights Silent March. The remaining events include a guest vegetarian chef, a discussion group and music and theater shows.

O’Neill said some people are misinformed about vegetarianism. By attending several workshops, he said many people even non-vegetarians may become more conscious of the lifestyle.

Like O’Neill, some people may realize the dangers of eating meat or animal products. He does not eat any products that are produced from animals.

A lot of people think a vegetarian diet may make you weaker, anemic or ill, but it won’t, he said. Some people might not know that we all don’t eat tofu and rice cakes. You don’t have to eat a bunch of exotic foods to be a vegetarian.

Advertisement*

The average meat eater gets four times as much protein than they actually need. That can have detrimental effects. Dietitians will tell you that a vegetarian diet is healthier.

A raw ear of corn, raw avocado and a myriad of fruits and vegetables are just a few of the foods that Shawn Taylor, a senior in anthropology from Mt. Vernon, consumes on a daily basis. When he eats meat he feels sick, so he became a vegetarian a year ago to improve his health.

It’s dead flesh no thanks, Taylor said. When I eat meat sometimes I get stomachaches. I figure if I eat this apple maybe my stomach won’t hurt.

I’m trying to give up processed food. I’ll eat a lot of stuff raw. If that’s the way nature gave it to us then I’ll eat it.

But Mevelyn Furness, a junior in business from Peoria, said a vegetarian lifestyle is not the best diet for her. She has tried it before and will never attempt it again.

I’ve thought about it, but it didn’t work, she said. A lot of times all I eat is meat because it fills me up. But there’s not that many vegetables I can see myself eating. It won’t be a meal.

If [vegetarians] like it, I love it. It doesn’t make me any difference. I just won’t offer them any of my sausage pizza.

Eating raw foods as part of his vegetarian diet is Taylor’s contribution to better nature. He said Vegetarian Awareness Week will make people adhere to not only a healthier lifestyle but a better environment.

People are sadly led to believe that they are at gain from eating dead flesh, he said. We’re destroying our rain forests and that’s stupid. Our ecological system is not going to work out if we keep going on like this.

However, the environment’s destruction or animal cruelty has nothing to do with Hayley Stewart’s decision to deplete meat from her diet. Besides, she grew up on a farm and knows that some animals eat refuse and other unhealthy materials such as excrement.

I’m a vegetarian because it’s more healthy than eating hamburgers, Stewart said. I have different cookbooks, so I can make casseroles and easy stuff like spaghetti. I’ll just add some tomato sauce and throw some vegetables in it.

O’Neill agrees it is not difficult to become a vegetarian to better one’s health. Since he has become a vegan, he feels better inside and out except for the time he ate a bag of tortilla chips.

One thing that was so surprising is that while I was eating some Doritos I happened to be reading the label, and they had bacon fat, he said. So I do read the labels now to make sure there are no animal products.

O’Neill said Vegetarian Awareness Week eventually will become an annual event. People are learning more about vegetarianism and are more concerned about their health.

We’re getting a lot of people who are interested in the vegetarian lifestyle, he said. I really feel the need to be involved. It helps me appreciate the value of all life.