New Club Calls for “Compassionate” Eating Ethics

“Let’s Be Compassionate” club president welcomes all nature lovers

Without being vegan-exclusive, KPU’s new “Let’s Be Compassionate” club aims to unite students with a passion for nature. That includes advocacy for plant-based eating and anti-factory farming efforts, which vegetarians and vegans may find themselves gravitating towards, but omnivores are welcome and encouraged to sign up for membership as well.

Club President Richard Macmillan was initially inspired by the university’s now-defunct Animal Rights Collective, and “wants to honour all of the things that [that group] has done.” Still, he hopes to take the Let’s be Compassionate Club in a new direction, one more focussed on community both in and outside of the realm of animal rights.

“Practically everyone has an animal that they love or an animal issue that speaks to them, or they’re concerned about the environment, or just interested in the health benefits of eating more plants,” says Macmillan.

“I really want to be inclusive. I don’t want to give them the impression that anyone should feel uncomfortable or judged or questioned, because that’s not what makes me feel comfortable and I don’t want to preach that. But at the same time, my hope is that someone who’s interested in an issue like animal cruelty will bring come to the group and we can start a campaign.”

The club is still taking steps towards maturity. Having only been approved by the Kwantlen Student Association over the holidays, it is currently in its embryonic stages, but Macmillan has high hopes for future events and campaigns. Some of his current aspirations are working with the KSA to promote meat-free eating on-campus—potentially by hosting cooking classes or dinners—inviting a vegan bodybuilder to present at KPU, screening documentaries like Cowspiracy, and starting a book club for relevant materials.

Macmillan is also being careful to avoid excessive bias within the club by offering presentations that not only support the aims of plant-based eating, but also disagree with them. One potential method used by organizations such as KDocs in the past is organizing panels discussions, where experts of diverse fields and opinions answer questions from the KPU audience.

“I know there’s always two sides to every story … so I’d like to kind of present varying viewpoints to people and allow them to interpret the information for themselves,” says Macmillan.

Being vegan doesn’t exclusively mean keeping animal products out of your body, and the Let’s Be Compassionate club will address issues such as vegan fashion and beauty as well. Potentially, that could mean working with design students to produce cruelty-free t-shirts for club members and students in the community.

Kwantlen Student Association VP Student Life Natasha Lopes says that “the different types of clubs we get demonstrate the students we have on campus. It represents a want and a need to fill that niche,” which is why the KSA moved to approve the club’s foundation. Lopes plans to connect the Let’s Be Compassionate club with the Sustainability Committee in the future, although that collaboration has not yet been confirmed.

“It’s wonderful to see the fact that clubs are expanding into a different realm, i.e. food and talking about nature and how to eat plant-based diets, which is something the KSA very much endorses,” says Lopes.

The date, time, and location for club meetings is currently undecided, but will be made public as soon as possible.