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Fake chicken corpses rested atop one another in a bin inside a tent near the Student Union Building. Posters of farm animals doused in mud and blood lined the walls, while a baby pig squealed in a documentary playing on a large screen.
The Glass Wall Exhibit, a nationwide event organized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 2, the student wing of the animal rights organization, visited UNM Tuesday morning. The exhibit went on until the afternoon.
PETA2 College Campaign Associate Director Ryan Huling said his organization brought the event to the University to encourage students to go vegan. Huling said the event reveals animal cruelty common to many farms.
“It pulls back the curtain on the cruelty that animals face,” he said. “Students at UNM will be horrified to learn that cows have their throats slit conscious and chickens are scalded to death for McDonald’s. This is certainly not the industry students would want to support.”
Huling said the exhibit launched at the University of Utah in 2012 “to put students in animals’ shoes in the slaughterhouse.” He said it has since been presented at about 3,000 schools across the United States, including the University of Florida and Yale University.
He said he believes the exhibit is an effective way to alter students’ eating habits.
Food service surveys conducted by PETA2 show that the population of vegan students in the country has risen by 50 percent since 2005, Huling said. He said more accommodating campus dining environments around the country affected the increase.
“Once students learn that animals are tortured … and killed for food, they look for vegan food that’s available,” he said. “It’s never been easier to eat good food without supporting cruelty to animals.”
Huling said that contrary to popular belief, going vegan “costs as much (as) if not less (than)” normal on-campus eating habits. He said college foods such as pizza have vegan versions that cost about as much, and students can buy grains instead of meat.
And vegans are healthier, Huling added. He said that according to data from the American Dietetic Association, vegans live an average of seven years longer than meat-eaters. He said vegans also have lower risks of cancer, diabetes and stroke.
But UNM graduate student Emily Simons said she did not go vegan to get healthy.
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“I’m an ethical vegan; it’s not at all dietary,” she said. “In fact, you can call me a junk food vegan. I did it solely because everything that’s living deserves respect. I don’t know why anyone would see that kind of stuff and not be concerned.”
Simons said it wasn’t difficult for her to stop eating meat. She said she encourages students to go vegan, if only for the sake of their health.
“I eat all the same stuff as when I was a kid,” she said. “I just make it vegan, which actually makes it a lot healthier as well. So if you’re not doing it for animals, at least do it for yourself.”
Although she said she converted to veganism after entering a similar tent in Philadelphia, Simons said she is pessimistic that the exhibit will change dining habits of students at UNM.
“They don’t want to know what their food is about,” she said. “They want to just keep eating it, and not think about it.”
Freshman Jesus Cortez said the exhibit was enlightening. He said students should learn to eat in a “balanced” way.
“I love meat; we’re born predators,” he said. “We’re going to eat meat no matter what. But there’s a humane way to do it.”
However,a Cortez said he could never go vegan.
“I’ll probably go head to McDonald’s and eat something,” he said after exiting the exhibit.
Huling said the exhibit will visit 25 schools around the country throughout the fall semester. He said it will head to the University of North Colorado after UNM.
Huling said he is optimistic about the initiative. He said he encourages students to “look behind closed doors” and go vegan.
“Students don’t want to support cruelty to animals,” he said. “If somebody wouldn’t torture a dog, they shouldn’t pay somebody to torture a pig for them.”
