Pierce Students Urged to Eat Organic Foods

Wearing masks depicting cloned sheep and dumping grain and corn on the center lawn of Pierce College, environmentalists and vegetarians staged a quiet protest Monday, hoping to increase public awareness of genetically engineered foods.

The gathering was part of a regular lunchtime event sponsored by Pierce College’s Students Advocating Vegetarian Ethics or SAVE, a vegetarian club in its second semester on campus. Club officials said that the environmentalists’ message of eating only pure, organically grown foods was a perfect fit for the club.

“There are three reasons a person would be a vegetarian--animal rights, personal health or environmental health,” said club co-president Amy Hood. “Across the board, genetically engineered foods are disrespectful to all three.”

The event also was scheduled in conjunction with a week of protests and demonstrations held by 400 groups nationwide to commemorate Earth Day, calling attention to the need for labeling foods containing the genetically engineered food products.