University of Nebraska-Lincoln says no to “Meatless Monday” campaign

OMAHA, Neb. — Is even one day without meat too many in Nebraska?

It is for some at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The question splits students in UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, which is home to agriculture as well as environmental programs.

When environmental studies students recently asked the student government for its blessing to spend a little money promoting “Meatless Monday” on campus, they stirred up a big response from their neighbors in ag programs.

Meat production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, the environmental studies students said, and UNL students should be informed about that.

Misleading, the Collegiate Farm Bureau members said. Not in my backyard, the animal science majors said.

Student senators overwhelmingly agreed and voted down the proposal.

“People heard the title of the bill and thought ‘This girl wants to get rid of meat in the dining halls, and she hates Nebraska,’ ” said Hannah Evans, 20, a chemical engineering major from Omaha who proposed the idea.

For the record, Evans said she loves Nebraska. She is a vegetarian, but she doesn’t want to eliminate meat from the cafeteria. Not even on Mondays.

But she did want to make people think about being more environmentally conscious, she said, and about the impact their consumption has on the world around them.

She knows food production is serious business in Nebraska, and she said she never intended to make other students feel disrespected. But her fellow students from farming families saw it like this: She wanted to take their student fees and advocate against their own interests.

“For many of us, our livelihood depends on crop or protein production,” said Spencer Hartman, an agricultural economics major from Imperial, Nebraska, and a student senator who opposed the bill. “To launch a campaign directly in conflict of that, and to use their money to combat their own cause, we didn’t feel that was a just thing to do.”

Ashtyn Shrewsbury, 20, an animal science major from Alliance, Nebraska, grew up raising cattle and already owns her own herd. Even a small measure opposing beef production is a worry to her.

The emissions related to her industry are small compared with transportation emissions, she told the student senators.

“Is it worthwhile to spend funds informing about this versus a car-pool initiative or taking the bus?” Shrewsbury asked.

Evans’ plan, adopted by the student government’s environmental sustainability committee, was to display information on a single Monday in UNL’s dining halls explaining the movement that calls for skipping animal protein once a week in favor of more veggies and other protein sources.

Evans planned a three-sided placard that would extoll the importance of the meat production industry for Nebraskans and their families, explain the greenhouse gases that result, and encourage students to consider their options. UNL’s Dining Services OK’d the language.

Committee Chairman Reed Brodersen, a senior environmental studies major from Lincoln, said he understood the emotions involved. But he was surprised when other students wholeheartedly disputed the idea that the environmental impact of meat production justifies eating less meat.

“In the environmental community, reducing meat consumption is a pretty standard action,” Brodersen said.