Every year, seniors at Olympian High School in Chula Vista take on a social justice cause as a community leadership development project. The class of 2018 chose farm sanctuaries.
The annual project includes reading a book on their cause. This year’s book is "Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food" by Gene Baur. The author visited the school on Wednesday. He said he hopes his visit inspires students to take the lead in changing the way people view and treat farm animals.
“Most of us grow up eating animal foods that come from factory farms without thinking about it and so we unwittingly support this horrible system. So, paying attention to that and making mindful choices is ultimately what I hope to see happen and I think at this school it’s been amazing to talk to the students who are thinking deeply and inspired to do good things,” Baur said.
One of those students is Jesus Gallegos-Munoz, a senior headed to NYU in the fall.
“As students, we have a role in our community to help them...specifically animals. Even though they are not people they have rights and it is inhumane if they are not treated adequately as we are,” Gallegos-Munoz said.
The students plan to raise money for Baur’s nonprofit Farm Sanctuary, where hundreds of abused animals are rescued and cared for.
