Last quarter, I wrote an op-ed for the Daily on how being pro-choice and passive about it did little good to anyone – how indeed, this particular crime of omission on the part of social liberals has enabled the spread of harmful and misleading anti-choice rhetoric. I was asking, basically, that at Stanford, at least, the silent majority stand up and own their position, for the sake of social justice.

In this piece, I am attempting the opposite: I am asking a minority to own their position and stop enabling the harmful practices of the majority. According to estimates from Stanford Dining, vegetarians make up about 15 percent of the Stanford population, and vegans an even smaller percentage. We are a small but diverse group. And we pop up in unexpected places – your computer science TA, that IHUM kid, your problem set buddy might be veg*n (vegan or vegetarian) without you even knowing it. But why should this be the case?

Obviously, veg*nism does not create some sort of “dark mark” à la Voldemort in its subscribers, so we tend to pass fairly easily, though occasionally people find us out. They figure out that our plate is constantly full of lentils, grains, vegetables, fruits, dressings and nuts, but nothing animal-based. They become curious. They ask why. They ask about where you get your protein, and what you’d do in a survival situation and (gasp) what you eat at Thanksgiving. And too often, I think, we are overly hasty in changing the subject. What perfect activist moments wasted! Here we have peers primed to hear about how the ills of meat and dairy production really do affect the planet and their lives. In other words, they’re asking for it. Why not capitalize on the situation? Let’s use those moments to really push Stanford students to think critically about a choice they make at least three times a day.

But goodness, we do not want to offend anyone. Food is a personal choice, right? Oh, if only we made our food choices in a vacuum. Sadly, this is not the case. Food is highly politicized and manipulated before it reaches our plates. Food, especially meat, has a back-story that we usually do not want to hear – one involving factory farming, workers’ rights abuses and overwhelming environmental damage. Informing someone about the benefits of veg*nism does not have to be an inherently condescending act. Consider: if your peers asked you if they should buy Priuses or Hummers, would you tell them they should go with the zippier car? If they asked if they should buy sweatshop or sweat-free t-shirts, would you tell them to buy the ones that fit better? Finally, if someone asked you whether they should eat a meal that wasted thousands of gallons more water, acres of rainforest and pounds of carbon dioxide, while also contributing to immigrants’ and workers’ rights abuses on a large scale, or a meal that did not have such an alarming impact, what would you say?

I contend that by framing food as a purely personal issue, by divorcing it of the context we require for making informed choices, we do a real disservice to our peers. Factory farming, slaughterhouse accidents and climate change are not fun subjects to bring up, but someone has to speak the truth. Whether you are veg*n or not, knowing the impact of your food and acting upon that information is a huge part of being a responsible, global citizen. And for all you veg*n readers, advocacy is then next rational step – go for it.

Janani Balasubramanian ‘12