October is World Vegetarian Month, and Milwaukee Area Resources for Vegetarianism (MARV) will mark the occasion with several discussions about eating a plant-based diet. Talks are free and open to the public, starting between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to the following schedule of dates and locations.

October 3, McGovern Senior Center, 4500 West Custer Avenue

October 9, Washington Senior Center, 4420 West Vliet Street

October 10, Kelly Senior Center, 6100 South Lake Drive

October 18, Rose Senior Center, 3045 North Martin Luther King Drive

October 24, Wilson Senior Center, 2601 West Howard Avenue

Other MARV events include a potluck dinner, which is held the first Sunday of each month, at the Friends’ Meeting House, in Riverwest.

MARV encourages people to move towards eating more plants and less animal-based food for many reasons. The organization states that a wellplanned vegetarian diet improves health and decreases the risk of many serious diseases. A diet not dependent on farming animals, the group maintains, conserves water and decreases air and water pollution and carbon emissions compared to a diet heavy in animal products. Raising plants rather than animals produces more food from the same amount of land, MARV notes. Finally, the group proclaims that eating plants is more compassionate to animals that would endure factory-farming practices in order to become food.

For more information, call 414-962-2703 or visit MARVeg.org.