Students polish off vegan plates

In the past, meatless foods have been a tough sell in Newport-Mesa. Judy Wheeler, the kitchen supervisor at Estancia High School, said she couldn't recall ever getting a request for vegan food. Teresa McCarthy, the head cook at Corona del Mar High School, said her cafeteria used to offer vegetarian burgers but discontinued them due to lack of business. The school started making them again recently at students' requests.

"It kind of goes in waves," McCarthy said. "Sometimes stuff will get really popular, and then after a while, it kind of dies out."

Veganism as a way of life

Coyne, in her fourth year at Newport Harbor, wants to make sure that veganism is more than a fad.

The granddaughter of Indiana farmers who raised cows to be butchered, Coyne founded Compassion In Action last spring with less than half a dozen students. This fall, she plans to teach one fewer class and devote her extra time to turning the club into a nonprofit.

Coyne has campaigned to raise awareness of animal abuse, appearing on Global Talk Radio and contributing a chapter to the book "People Promoting and People Opposing Animal Rights: In Their Own Words."

Coyne's message has found a few receptive ears around Newport-Mesa. Kelly DeBusk, a health teacher at Costa Mesa High School, hopes to open a chapter of Compassion In Action at her school; she converted to vegetarianism a few months ago.

Corona del Mar High's animal rights club recently held a Vegetarian Week on campus, screening movies and distributing free soy meat and cookbooks.

Senior Melyssa Griffin, who founded the club in 2005, said nearly 100 students participated in the event. Afterward, she and her fellow officers asked them to fill out questionnaires, then posted some of the answers on Tuesday.

"I think that vegetarianism should definitely be something that everyone should learn more about," read one comment, which the club members taped outside the school's kitchen. "Especially the horrible conditions that animals go through."

Replied another student: "I used to eat an insane amount of meat, and it was so easy giving it up."