Harvard Hosts Vegan Conference

The Harvard Vegan Society Student Group (HVSSG) will host the sixth annual Ivy League Vegan Conference from March 24 to March 26, 2017. Sponsored by vegan meal delivery company Purple Carrot and Whole Foods Market, the conference will welcome 400 attendees from a variety of disciplines to discuss peer-reviewed studies on the health, environmental, and bioethical implications of consuming a plant-based diet. Speakers will include former White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Cass Sunstein, Harvard Medical School professor Walter Willett, and Yale-Griffith Prevention Research Center founding member David Katz. “We take particular pride in having non-vegans in both our speaker lineup and audience,” HVSSG board member Matt Hayek said, “a testament to the growing relevance of veganism and its future role in society.” Last year, Harvard students launched the “Veguary Challenge”—a campaign meant to inspire colleagues to eat less meat during the month of February. Similarly, fellow Ivy League university Yale incorporated the offering of vegan options in school dining halls as a “core value” of the university in 2016.