By Dan Shannon

On Monday, October 4th, members of the Wesleyan Animal Rights Network and E3 met with Aramark representatives to discuss possible changes to be made within Aramark’s services. Issues such as waste concerns, recycling, and vegan/vegetarian options were discussed. Both WARN and E3 raised the concern that almost none of the food served on campus is labeled as either vegetarian, vegan, or neither, making it very difficult for students who are vegetarian and/or vegan to know what they can and cannot eat. Aramark seemed to agree that this was an important concern, and agreed to have all of the food served on campus labeled as vegetarian, vegan, or neither by Monday, October 18th. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Members of WARN and E3 checked Mocon, Summerfields, the Kosher Kitchen, and the Campus Center on this date, and very few items were labeled.

Consequently, WARN and E3 have created a petition asking Aramark to meet with these requests. We would like to get as many signatures as possible on this petition to show Aramark that a large portion of the student body is highly concerned with having food labeled as vegetarian/vegan. We hope that Aramark will react more inclined to make changes if there is a large amount of student support for those changes.

The issue of food labeling is a serious one. Many of the foods served in our dining facilities have ingredients that are not obvious or noticeable that make them non-vegetarian or vegan. For example: the dough at Itza Pizza contains lard; the pasta at Mocon contains eggs; the Spanish rice at Summerfields contains chicken stock. Many students who are vegetarian/vegan have no way of knowing that these ingredients are used and eat these items, unwittingly violating their own beliefs.

This matter concerns all Wesleyan students, even those who are not vegetarian/vegan. Once again, a Wesleyan institution is showing its

complete disregard for student concerns, and proving that in reality

student option does not matter at Wesleyan. In the case of Aramark this is particularly serious. Because Aramark holds a monopoly over food services on campus, it is impossible for students to show their disapproval of Aramark’s tactics by boycotting or other methods of consumer action. We are forced to give our money to Aramark by Wesleyan, yet they apparently have no obligation to listen to our concerns.

Show your disapproval of Aramark’s refusal to listen to student opinion by signing the Aramark Labeling Petition in front of the Campus Center during lunch time every day this week. For further information contact Dan Shannon at x6123 or dshannon01@wesleyan.edu.

Shannon is a member of the class of 2001.