Monmouth Area Vegetarian Society Hosts “Peaceable Kingdom” Documentary Screening
On Sunday, December 2, the Monmouth Area Vegetarian Society (MAVS) held their last event for the semester which was a screening of the documentary, “Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home” in Magill Commons.
Professor Mary Harris is the director of the organization. According to their Facebook page, MAVS “is a non-profit, non-sectarian educational organization that is open to the Monmouth University community and outside community.”
Their mission statement, according to their Facebook page, says that “MAVS is dedicated to providing educational resources for informing the public about the advantages of a vegetarian diet and nutritional information, including recipes that will support and facilitate the adoption and healthful enjoyment of a vegetarian diet.”
Their events not only give an opportunity for perspective vegetarians to learn first-hand about the delights of good vegetarian cooking and to get to know and interact with experienced vegetarians, but also give an opportunity for enriched understanding, mutual support, and shared fellowship for practicing vegetarians by providing opportunities for community outreach and community service in the interest of good health, environmental protection, and compassionate living.
Prior to the production of the film, there was a study done of 32 people who recently went vegan. Of the 32, five former farmers who gave up their ways really made an impression.
The film is about these five people and their stories. The documentary showed how farm animals are treated and how the farmers began to get emotional about the situation and start to feel guilty about how they were being treated. This is what led them to cease their farming.
MAVS events are always free and open to the public. “This event is one that we have really been looking forward to and we are so happy to see new faces,” said Harris.
Harris advertises for these events through means of e-mail for the students and the members of MAVS. Many people from the Monmouth County area come out to support MAVS and try new foods.
Along with the film, there was a vegan potluck. Each guest invited was to bring a vegan dish with him or her and an index card of the recipe. “It’s really cool because you get the opportunity to try things you normally would not try,” said Harris.
Some of the foods that were featured were vegan chocolate chip cookies, smashed chickpea and avocado salad sandwiches, and buttermilk squash macaroni and cheese.
Harris is really determined to get students involved so she offered her classes extra credit if they attended. Christine Scherr, senior business major, is one of her students. “I came because I wanted to get the extra credit, but also because I love Professor Harris,” said Scherr.
Most of the members of MAVS are vegetarian or vegan, but not all of the students who attended are. Raquel Warehime, sophomore psychology major, is already a vegetarian, so she is used to the food and enjoys it. “I’ve been a vegetarian for four and a half years now, and I don’t miss meat at all. I love vegetarian food,” said Warehime.
On the other hand, Jackie Leming, sophomore health studies major, is not a vegetarian. Leming tried a vegetarian dish for the first time at this event and was not nervous at all. “I’m always open to trying new foods, but I was surprised that I actually liked it,” said Leming.
