The most basic argument against meat and dairy production is it’s extremely inefficient. Because there is a large net-loss with any energy transfer, feeding animals — rather than eating plant-based food ourselves — is wasteful. We need agriculture to sustain our populations, but by reducing the livestock industry we exponentially reduce the amount of agriculture and grazing land.

Making meat is also a leading cause of pollution. The UN study reports that overall, the livestock sector “has an enormous impact on water use, water quality, hydrology, and aquatic ecosystems.” In the United States, 55 percent of erosion is attributable to farm animal business. The report also discusses the output of CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia and other chemicals from livestock activity. It’s easy to beat up on the auto industries for not having tougher standards in their vehicles; all the blame is shifted to big, bad corporations. But the livestock sector is a larger contributor to global warming than transportation.

Confronted with snippets of this data (the full report is available online), MSU students wanted to help. In just three days, Students Promoting Animal Rights received more than 3,100 signatures from students who want more “veg” options in the dining halls for the environmental benefits.

The total undergraduate population of MSU is roughly 35,700, making 3,100 signatures roughly 11.5 percent of undergraduates. This is a sizable portion not only in its own right, but also considering vegetarians are a sizable minority. Therefore, most of those who signed were not even vegetarian themselves — they just liked the idea of eating more vegetarian food.

Vegan food contains no animal by-products. In short, that means no flesh, milk ingredients, eggs or gelatin. Vegan does not mean lettuce and a block of tofu sitting in a gray puddle, despite what some cafeteria staff in my old dorm may think. Most any food can be made vegan by simply substituting certain ingredients, and then everyone can enjoy it.

All cafeterias do have some form of alternative food, but in most halls this is limited to hummus, tabbouli and salad — all tasty items, but nowhere near sufficient variety to eat every day and be healthy. A modest but sufficient improvement would be to offer one hot vegan entrée in every cafeteria at every meal. Currently, an assortment of vegan options are offered on a “residential zone” basis, but students shouldn’t have to travel to different buildings through snow and rain just to get adequate food, especially when living in the dorms is required for incoming freshmen and vegan food is not only eaten by vegans.

Other universities are already on the forefront of these efforts. New York University offers weekly Vegetarian Nights and a monthly all-vegan meal. A lot of colleges clearly label foods as “vegan” rather than the ambiguous “vegetarian.”

Not to be forgotten is the cruelty inherent to the factory-farm industry, which is found constantly in undercover investigations by activists. A video compiled by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and released on CNN in September depicted pigs being beaten by an employee with metal rods. Castration, cutting off pigs’ tails and slamming baby piglets on concrete to kill them, all without anesthesia, is standard industry practice.

Vegans and vegetarians are required to live in the dorms, livestock farming is a “major stressor on many ecosystems as a whole,” and MSU students have clearly identified their desire for more green options. Let’s make a real push to keep MSU Spartan green with one hot vegan entrée per meal in every dining hall.

Drew Robert Winter is a State News columnist and president of Students Promoting Animal Rights, or SPAR. Reach him at winterdr@msu.edu.