Tawny Mcentire
Free hotdogs as prizes for DAWG Wednesday
DAWG Wednesday is a program at Hillcrest to promote attendance during the first quarter of the school year. Students can score a free hot dog when they get a week of perfect attendance.
This program was created as a fun way for students to be rewarded for going to school. However, every rose has its thorns, and DAWG Wednesday fails to account for the many students at Hillcrest with dietary restrictions for meat. This can cause feelings of disappointment, exclusion, and underrepresentation among such students.
Hence, the administration should take action to integrate meatless options alongside the hot dogs. Building more vegan and vegetarian foods into our school would be one step in creating an inclusive community at Hillcrest. When I found out that Hot Dogs were one of the largest rewards at the school, I felt disappointed and voiceless among my peers. And I wasn’t the only one.
“How come the people who do eat meat get rewarded more than the people who don’t eat meat?” Srivalli Kundoljjala, a vegetarian student, asks. “That’s unjust. It’s unfair. And that’s not what we should promote in a place of education.”
In addition to cultivating equality, adding in meatless alternatives may motivate students to get better attendance. Various recent polls indicate that about 5% of US citizens consider themselves to be vegetarian. Assuming Hillcrest High school has roughly the same statistics, that’s nearly 120 students. If we add a vegetarian alternative, we can expand the appeal of DAWG Wednesday to a great portion of a school. This can help boost Hillcrest’s attendance and standings among others in the state.
While hot dogs are affordable, they can also be extremely unhealthy. According to statistics fromthe World Health Organization, “Just 50 grams of processed meat—the amount in an average hot dog—consumed daily increases colorectal cancer risk by 18%.” By having hot dogs be the only large attendance incentive, Hillcrest is inadvertently promoting this harmful diet.
Privileges, likeDAWG Wednesday, shouldn’t be determined by whether or not students choose to eat fundamentally healthier, safer meals.
Too much meat doesn’t just hurt our bodies, it can hurt our earth. “Meat production has an environmental impact (including land use, eutrophication, energy use, GHG emissions and acidification potential) 100 times greater than a plant-based diet,” states the National Institutes of Health.
By providing alternatives to meat, Hillcrest can establish itself as an environmentally conscious school. Therefore, by implementing vegetarian options for DAWG Wednesday, Hillcrest High School may experience numerous benefits.
You can help promote this movement by spreading the word, contacting administrators, and considering switching to a diet with less meat. Together, we can take this small step towards big benefits for ourselves, our school, and the earth.