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As most students are making plans for their five-day Thanksgiving weekend, about 10 students are working to make sure turkeys are also enjoying the weekend.
On Friday, students from the Body of Animal Rights Campaigners gathered in front of the Student Union and set up a barn. Sophomore Rick Kump said, "Today we are letting people know that while they enjoy their happy holiday next week, the entire lives of the birds - and all animals - raised and killed for food are anything but happy."
The five-year vegan added, "Our main thing was to educate people what animals - specifically turkeys - go through before they meet your plate."
Kump said that the barn, which was set up on the Student Union stage from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., "was a great attention-grabber," and attracted people to pick up the information about animal cruelty.
Dave Holbert, the president of BARC, said that although some students shrugged off the information, saying they were meat-eaters, "we mainly got a positive response."
Holbert said that about 45 million turkeys are killed just for Thanksgiving every year, and that they are not currently protected under humane methods of slaughter laws.
"Because they're not mammals, and because they are smaller," most people don't consider giving poultry rights, Holbert, 20, said. Currently, according to the Humane Society, 95 percent of land animals killed for consumption are poultry - but they aren't covered under humane laws.
At the display, BARC had a petition to get that law changed. Vice president of BARC, Sara Beniamino, said that about 40 people signed the petition on Friday. "We table every Wednesday [outside of the Student Union], so we'll have it there, and other people in Orlando are passing it around."
The display also had information on how turkeys go from farms to slaughterhouses, vegan recipes and videos showing an inspection of a turkey farm in Minnesota.
"We hope that more people make more informed decisions on what they're eating this holiday," Holbert said.
Beniamino, an anthropology major, said that the group is planning on putting the display back up before Christmas. "About 22 million turkeys are killed for Christmas, so obviously that's another target," she said. "We're going to try to make it an annual thing."
The group didn't just advocate not eating turkey over the holidays. They offered alternatives.
Holbert suggested meat alternatives Tofurky and Unturkey; both products are available at Whole Foods.
On the non-meat products, Holbert said, "I had some the other day at a vegetarian Thanksgiving ... I like the Tofurky deli slices, those are really good."
Beniamino has been a vegetarian for six years, and plans her Thanksgivings by way of though the Web site http://vegweb.com. "They have a whole Thanksgiving section," she said. Last year, she made vegetarian pot pie.
Kump, who became a vegetarian when writing a paper on animal rights for English class ("before I finished it, I knew I couldn't continue to eat meat") said he was going to celebrate Thanksgiving "just like the Pilgrims" - with fruits, vegetables and nuts.
"I just hope that with the knowledge of what the animals go through and knowledge of the options, people will think about what they eat," Holbert said.
Kump added, "We only ask that people think about what - or who - they plan to eat, and consider all the alternatives."
For information on BARC, Kump recommends that students visit their Web site, http://www.barcdontbite.com, where a list of vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants are listed. One restaurant that continually came up in conversation was The Garden Cafe, on West Colonial Drive. The Chinese restaurant is almost entirely vegan "and is kind of a hang-out for vegetarians," Kump said.
He also encouraged students to pick up a free Vegetarian Starter Kit from the green bin now in front of the Student Union. The kit includes information and recipes for students interested in becoming vegetarians.
Holbert encouraged others to join the group. "Even if they still eat meat ... we do advocate the vegan diet, but we're not going to force it on anyone to join us."
The group also focuses on other animal rights issues, including its previous campaign against Amendment Four, which allows two Florida counties to vote on whether to allow slot machines at dog tracks.
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