Duke and UNC-Asheville in the Running for ‘Favorite Vegan-Friendly College’

peta2 Launches Contest as the Number of Vegan Students Soars

For Immediate Release:
February 13, 2015

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7832

Interest in vegan dining is skyrocketing on college campuses across the country, and to recognize schools that are rising to meet the surging demand for tasty, animal-friendly entrées, peta2, PETA’s youth division, has just launched its 2015 Favorite Vegan-Friendly Colleges contest. This year’s challenge leaves the choice of winners entirely in the hands of voters—a tough decision with 16 large schools and 16 small schools in the mix—but Duke University and the University of North Carolina (UNC)–Asheville have a chance to take home the win. Voters can cast ballots for their top picks once during each contest round on peta2.com.

Returning from last year’s contest, Duke University—with its vegan portobello Sloppy Joe sliders—is giving the competition a run for its money, while UNC-Asheville offers a wide variety of Southern vegan fare.

“Schools like Duke University and UNC-Asheville are setting the bar for vegan eating on campus,” says peta2 Director Marta Holmberg. “peta2—with the assistance of voters everywhere—is recognizing a few of the many schools that are helping students protect the environment, save animals’ lives, and step up their own health for a tough year of hitting the books.”

Besides being turned off by the massive suffering of animals raised and killed for food—as documented by PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—students cite other good reasons for choosing vegan meals. According to the United Nations, raising animals for food is “a top contributor to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” It found that the meat industry causes environmental problems, including land degradation, water shortages, pollution, and loss of biodiversity.

The contest began on February 11, and voting for the first round ends on February 18. Winners of each round will be determined by the number of votes received, and students will be able to vote once per round for their favorite school.

For more information, please visit peta2.com.