Speak Out for Species hosts film festival to raise awareness
February 2, 2009 by BRITTANY FORRESTAL For The Red Black
Filed under Variety
The business of raising cattle for food purposes creates more greenhouse gases than transportation, according to a 2006 U.N. study.
In an attempt to raise awareness about such issues, Speak out for Species (SOS), the University’s animal welfare advocacy group, is hosting a film festival during the upcoming weeks.
Formed in January 2004, SOS hosts the Through Other Eyes film festival every year.
“There are usually over 100 people at each film,” said Claire Rice, SOS’s public relations representative and a first year veterinary student from Decatur.
However, attendance is not limited to students, said Jenny Aszman, a senior from Alpharetta and co-president of SOS, in an email interview. “Members of the Athens community do come out to enjoy these films, too.”
The festival will begin tonight with the documentary “Meat the Truth,” a film that exposes the negative effects the meat industry has on the environment.
“The factory farming industry has a bigger impact than a lot of people know about, and other films, like ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ just glaze over it,” said Rice.
“Some might be surprised to realize that 18 percent of the 30 percent of global greenhouse gases that the U.S. produces are caused by livestock farming-that’s more than all cars, trucks, trains, boats and airplanes added together,” Aszman said.
SOS hopes the film will help viewers become more aware of the impact their diet can have on the environment. With that knowledge, Aszman said she hopes people will begin to make different dietary choices.
“They can decide to reduce the amount of meat they consume or eliminate meat completely from their diet,” she said.
Although the film isn’t intended to cause everyone to drastically alter their diet, SOS members hope the information provided may inspire people to make small daily changes that, over time, can make a difference.
“People do it [go vegan or vegetarian] for different reasons,” Rice said. “Changing your diet is one of the easiest things you can do to help the environment. It’s something you can actually do to change the situation.”
After each film, members of SOS will host a discussion to answer questions and provide information, recipe books and vegetarian and vegan refreshments for attendees.
The remainder of the films, which will show every Monday through Feb. 23, will discuss various animal welfare issues, including Arctic seal hunting, pet overpopulation and shark hunting.
Though this week’s film is focused on dietary choices, SOS members are concerned with a variety of animal welfare issues.
“We welcome all students wherever they are on the food-choice spectrum,” Aszman said.
“You don’t have to be a vegetarian to become involved with SOS,” Rice said, “just have an open mind.”
