HOLY COW-TASTROPHE! The Holy Cow Café in the EMU at the UO is facing pending removal after its contract with the EMU Food Services was not renewed. It will be replaced by Laughing Planet Café in June. The plan to close Holy Cow, the university's sole organic hub for vegetarian and vegan cuisines, has led to public shock and outcry from university staff, students and community members. That echoes the feelings of Holy Cow co-owner and creator Kathee Lavine. "I'm still in shock. They [EMU] have taken us and used us," said Lavine. Along with Anton Ferreira, Lavine started the Holy Cow Café a decade ago when they won the bid for the vegan/vegetarian food spot during the remodeling of the EMU, which included a food court. The 10-year contract for Holy Cow ends this year. At a committee hearing, EMU Food Services director John Costello and a panel, including one university student, unanimously decided to not renew the contract. "Not one of those people on that board are regulars at the Holy Cow. Where was the support? They cannot say our numbers are down. We are up," Lavine said. "It's just about business and all about money." Laughing Planet Café, currently with locations in Portland and one in west Eugene, says it can offer students on the go "nutritious food with fast service as a great alternative." Marketing Director Mary Nichols said, "We are excited to be at the EMU. We always try to go organic if we can. It is a great option to eat healthy, whether vegetarian or not." Laughing Planet won Best Vegetarian Options in the 2007 EW Best of Eugene readers' poll. On the college-heavy networking site Facebook, a group supporting Holy Cow currently has 138 members. Local vegans have been "tofuing" (that's vegan for "spam") fellow students with pleas to save the popular café. A campus group tentatively calling itself the "Holy Cow Crusade" is trying to prevent the loss of Holy Cow on campus. They say it's not about which restaurant is best but about the UO's sustainability goals. One of the organizers, Robert Kirkpatrick, says the EMU should have "more organic and sustainable options, not pit the cafés against each other." Kirkpatrick alleges that during the bidding process the EMU solicited bids from Café Yumm! and Laughing Planet, but that Café Yumm! declined to compete against Holy Cow. Holy Cow Café is contracted to stay until the end of June. Lavine has no plans to take the café elsewhere. She says, "We are fighting this. We will take everything it takes to stay." — Mark Arellano     Oui! C'est Biologique! | An Inconvenient Fruit | Rockin' Hot Food | Holy Cow-Tastrophe! | Break Out of the Same Old, Same Old | Ukrainian Rhapsody | Welcome to Whiteaker | West Side Slice | Go Ga Ga Over Ga Ya | La Vida Local |Food, Not Fads |