For people interested in prolonging their lives by eating various cancer-preventing fruits and vegetables, Dr. Michael Greger, a vegan physician, will be speaking in Olscamp Room 101 tonight at 8:00.

Greger, who swears by vegetarianism as the way to a healthy life, was booked last year by Veg 4 Life, a campus organization of vegetarians and vegans.

The Valentine’s Day date of the speech is entirely coincidental, but Veg 4 Life President Julian Huerta, a fifth-year senior and vegan, said it makes sense.

“It’s a great way to show your body some love, to learn how to take care of it really well,” Huerta said.

While he agreed to speak at the University for free, Greger requested reimbursement for his travel expenses, which Veg 4 Life agreed to pay. The Environmental Action Group is also sponsoring the event and the Nutrition Department is providing Greger’s guest apartment.

Greger will also accept any donations he is offered tonight.

The speech is titled, “How to Prevent Cancer Before it Starts: The Superfoods,” and is one of Greger’s several stock speeches that he uses in his current nationwide tour.

According to Huerta, Veg 4 Life chose this speech because it deals with a topic many people can relate to.

“Cancer is such a prevalent issue in our society,” Huerta said. “I think that you could probably ask anybody on campus and just about everybody would either know somebody who has had cancer or had it themselves. So I think it is really relevant to everybody.”

He added that while cancer is widespread, it can also be prevented, and some foods have been proven to be particularly effective in cancer prevention. These “superfoods” are what Greger will be detailing in tonight’s speech.

“I’m really excited,” Huerta said. “It sounds like it’s going to be a really entertaining and informative event.”

Tonight’s speech marks the first major event planned and sponsored by Veg 4 Life, which was formed last spring. The group, which currently has about eight active members, gathers for weekly meetings every Thursday evening at 6:00 at Squeaker’s Café and Health Food Store, a vegan restaurant in Bowling Green. There, Veg 4 Life members are treated to vegan food at a 20 percent discount.

“Students normally get a 10 percent discount, but Julian arranged for us to get another 10 percent off, and the meals are bursarable, so it’s just really convenient,” said freshman Aaron Urbanski, a member of Veg 4 Life.

According to Huerta, the goal of Veg 4 Life is to bring vegetarians and vegans together.

“Our main goals are basically, at this point, to establish a sense of community for vegetarians, so they can meet each other, have a place to talk about vegetarian issues and also have the opportunity to act as a support group for new vegetarians,” Huerta said.

According to Urbanski, Veg 4 Life has done just that. Urbanski became a vegetarian last semester, and after receiving an e-mail from Veg 4 Life, decided to attend a Thursday evening dinner. Since then, he has attended dinners routinely, enjoying the company of other members as well as what he calls, “really good” vegan food.

According to Huerta, Veg 4 Life plans to bring more speakers to the University in the future. In the meantime, the organization will continue to have weekly dinners at Squeaker’s Café and Health Food Store.

Editor’s Note: For more information about Veg 4 Life and links to information about vegetarianism and veganism, go to www.bgsu.edu/studentlife/organizations/veg4life/.