When it comes to water use :

Myth: Amount of water needed to produce 1 pound of wheat: 25 gallons.
Myth: Amount of water needed to produce 1 pound of beef: 2,500 gallons.

According to statistics compiled by the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Kansas State University, the yield of wheat from irrigated land averages about 3 bushels per acre inch of water (27,168 gallons). So it actually takes 151 gallons of water to produce one pound of wheat – six times more than the amount this claim suggests.

Considering all factors in beef cattle production including direct consumption, irrigation of pastures and crops, and carcass processing, it takes 435 gallons of water to produce a pound of boneless beef, according to the CAST 1999 Animal Agriculture and Global Food Supply Report.

I’d venture to say you’re the one missing information. GHG emissions are hardly the only factor to consider when examining the beef industry’s impact on the environment and public health. Global deforestation, ground water contamination, and air pollution are all serious issues given the scale of industrial meat production. Beyond that, to suggest that people are going to have their nutrition compromised by not eating meat one day a week (the fact that they could get it anywhere outside the dining hall not withstanding) is flat ignorant. Ask almost any physician or nutritionist in the country and they’ll say they recommend cutting down on red meat intake as a general method for disease prevention and overall wellness. The typical meat-eating American university student is not lacking for protein or iron, and one day without beef is only going to improve personal health, drive environmental improvement, and raise awareness in a public education facility about the connection between our consumption and the state of the world.

The chart Good Magazine put together that visually represents how much water is used in the process of producing beef is remarkable. http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/transparency/web/trans0309walkthisway.html

I definitely eat meat, but think it’s a good thing to better understand what it takes to grow all the food we eat. This UCLA program is trying to create awareness. Sounds like a great idea. One day without beef is unlikely to put students at risk of not getting daily dietary requirements.

Beef is a wonderfully nutritious product and there is a lot of research to document that fact. UCLA’s misguided decision is actually putting students at risk of not getting beneficial dietary requirements.

I think it’s a bad thing to take away a student’s right to choose the food they eat too. This is very divisive and just shows a complete lack of care for their students by people with an agenda who want to exert control.