This year, several students have come together in order to spread the word about vegetarianism and improve the vegetarian environment at South by creating Veggie Club.

Junior Zack Bauer, Veggie Club member, feels that although Veggie Club is brand new to South, it is becoming an asset to the school.

“We’re steadily getting more members every week, and I think as it progresses it becomes more established because we get more people involved,” Bauer said.

Junior Nick Moses, Veggie Club creator and organizer, feels that there is a broad range of members that Veggie Club is hoping to attract this year.

“The ideal type of member would be somebody who is open minded, maybe doesn’t know anything about vegetarianism […] and [somebody] who is willing to give something a chance,” Moses said.

According to Moses, Veggie Club has goals that it would like to establish in order to improve the vegetarian atmosphere of South.

“In terms of short-term, local goals, some of the things we’d really like to do are to bring a legitimate animal product–free option to the cafeteria, because really, there isn’t one,” Moses said.

Bauer said that one long-term goal of Veggie Club is to inform people about vegetarianism in order to launch a school-wide Vegan Challenge later in the school year.

“If Americans didn’t eat meat for [one day a week] every year, it would be like taking a million cars off the road,” Bauer said. “We want to make a vegan challenge where people try to be vegan or vegetarian for a week.”

Moses feels that vegetarianism is one of the most effective ways of making a difference in the world. He also feels that Veggie Club has helped to make this message more clear.

“I’ve been vegetarian for over a year, and I’ve been vegan for about nine months, and to me, the reason why I’m vegan is because I see it as being the biggest, most effective single step a person can take [towards] making an actual difference in the world,” Moses said. “It makes a big difference in animal rights, it makes a big difference in my own personal health and it makes a huge difference in terms of the environment.”

Junior Janna Lyhus, another Veggie Club member, agrees that Veggie Club is also a way to spread the word about vegetarianism or similar lifestyles.

“I went pescatarian last April, and it’s just such an awesome way of living [… ] I would like to share that with people,” Lythus said. “I really like Veggie Club because it’s a lot of people who are interested in making their lives better.”