This school year Newtown High School (NHS) has a new group of young trailblazers who are working to make a positive impact in the lives of people, animals, and the environment through their activism.

The members call their coalition Friends Not Food, as it focuses on promoting animal-friendly lifestyle choices, such as veganism.

Friends Not Food originated as a subcommittee of the high school’s established Student Government program, but its appeal to people outside the organization has caused it to grow and welcome all NHS students.

Currently the group consists of more than half a dozen students — some of whom identify as vegan, meaning they do not eat any animal products; vegetarian, who do not eat meat, but consume dairy, eggs, and honey; pescatarian, who do not eat meat, except fish; and those who are dedicated to moving toward a more plant-based diet.

Friends Not Food members acknowledge that having a plant-based diet has positive benefits for the environment, animals, and humankind.

The group’s teacher advisor, Larry Saladin, not only supports the students’ initiatives but lives by the ethics they promote, as well.

“I have been vegan for about a year and I’ve never felt better,” Mr Saladin told The Newtown Bee.

While Mr Saladin provides members with resources and guidance, Friends Not Food is led by NHS student Kate Shirk.

“Kate is a freshman and … is a very active vegan activist,” Mr Saladin said.

She has spearheaded the group’s most recent project, a slideshow presentation about global environmental and sustainability issues that could see positive change if people supported plant-based lifestyles.

‘Call To Action’

During the group’s meeting on January 27, Kate went slide by slide, detailing the statistics she found through her research.

One of the most staggering figures pertained to land use for food.

“On one-and-a-half acres of land in one year raising cattle, you can produce 375 pounds of food, whereas if you plant one-and-a-half acres of plants, you can grow 37,000 pounds [of food],” Kate said.

She also explained her reasoning for how she portrayed the information visually to be the most compelling to audiences. Images of actual animals in slaughterhouse environments were used, as well as photos of the current Australian fires.

“Every single day we have a choice to either support injustice, torture, and global warming or we can choose to oppose it,” the slideshow concluded.

Her fellow members then collaborated to find the most effective way of getting their message across.

Friends Not Food anticipate giving their presentation to NHS faculty this March, with the hope that they will then be allowed to share it with students in other classes this spring.

“The call to action is important,” Mr Saladin said. “We want people to really try this. Even if they try it for a week.”

The mission of the group is to not only educate themselves and others, but also to put these ideas into practice.

Looking toward the springtime, members says they hope Friends Not Food can go on field trips to volunteer at local farm sanctuaries, get more vegetarian and vegan options in the school cafeterias, and talk with state representatives about making legislative change.

The Friends Not Food group meets every Monday after school in room B264. New members are welcome. Students do not have to be vegan to join, but they must have an interest in learning more about it.

For more information about global environmental issues that Friends Not Food is passionate about bringing awareness to, visit Kate Shirk’s Freshman Seminar website at http://bit.ly/37vkGr6.

What Inspired You To Switch To A Plant-Based Diet?

Sarah Marsh: “I was in philosophy with Mr Saladin and we watched clips from [the Netflix documentary] Dominion. It made me want to cry.”

Kate Shirk: “I was vegetarian for a while and then I saw an Instagram page about how dairy and eggs were just as bad. I had never known that.”

Olivia Guizzo: “Both my parents went vegetarian and then got married, so [my sister and I] kind of grew up vegetarian.”

Elise Beier: “I think a lot of it was the environmental impact. I’ve been a vegetarian for two years. Now I’ve gotten more interested in the animal part of it.”

Vivien Vaughn: “For me, I wanted to go vegetarian for a while and finally asked my parents if I could try it for a bit. At first they were kind of opposed, because they had to change what we were doing. But then it stuck and now they are vegetarian.”