Goodbye, meat. Hello, tofu.

Students curious to try homemade vegan cookies or meatless sausages will have their chance today on the UA Mall.

The Students Organized for Animal Rights will serve a free vegan lunch from 11:45 a.m. until the food runs out.

The meal, held to coincide with Earth Day, is part of an event called “”Meat Out,”” SOAR’s biggest event held annually to encourage people to kick their meat habit, even for just a day.

SOAR is a club on campus that believes animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on or use for entertainment.

“”The idea of the event is to introduce students and visitors to vegan food,”” said club president Ashley Welsh. “”Many people have misconceptions about vegan food. We like to show everyone vegan food does taste great and is readily available.””

The term “”vegan”” is derived from vegetarian, denoting a diet that excludes meat.

Vegans do not eat any animal byproducts, including dairy and meat. A main reason for veganism is to end cruelty to animals, but others do it to maintain a healthy diet.

The lunch will include homemade vegan cookies, rice pilaf, meatless sausage, veggie hot dogs and meatballs.

Rachel Arney, a sophomore majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology, joined SOAR and went vegan in October, after having been a vegetarian since she was in seventh grade.

“”If I was not going to buy the meat, I wasn’t going to buy the dairy, either,”” she said. “”It is really inhumane.””

The club will feature an information table to show the reasons for choosing a vegan diet or cutting down on meat consumption.

As part of the donation committee, Arney went around to local grocery stores and restaurants and gathered donations and gift cards for the event.

“”Everyone should come out because the food is free and it tastes great,”” Arney said.

Welsh said last year’s event “”was a little on the small side,”” but that the club expects as many as 400 people this year.

The “”Meat Out”” event is a national program of the Farm Animal Rights Movement.