By Whitney Gray, VRG Intern

Georgia College is a small liberal arts college located in
Milledgeville, Georgia. As to be expected in an area where even the
healthiest of foods are drenched in butter, I have known Georgia
College’s dining hall to do much of the same. While the dining hall and
surrounding restaurants on or near the campus can be very vegetarian
friendly, it can leave a vegan wondering if there are any vegan options
that can be created. Fortunately with a little creativity, eating on
campus can be not only possible, but filling as well.

Vegan options at Georgia College’s dining hall, which is called The Max,
are few but I’m happy to have found that it has expanded since my
freshman year of attendance. What’s even more convenient is that now,
students can visit https://georgiacollege.sodexomyway.com and not only
view the menu for the upcoming week, but the menu also specifically
labels vegetarian options with a “V” and vegan options with a “VG.”

The Max is split up into several sections. You have the deli where you
can build a sandwich like at Subway, entrées that would be considered a
comforting home cooked meal, the grill for a typical burger with fries,
international where they serve cuisines from different cultures and
countries from day to day, daily pizza and pasta, and then a salad bar
with a daily soup. Not much of the menu is labeled vegan, but often the
entrée section will have sides like summer squash or steamed brown rice.
At the bottom of each day’s menu, there’s a small entirely
vegetarian/vegan section that usually showcases dishes with lentils or
wheat berries and also hummus, potato dishes, and other vegetable
medleys. Of course, you can go to the salad bar as well. It has typical
toppings that you might find at any buffet salad bar. Vegan students can
fill up on steamed veggies, different grain and bean mixes, and salads.
It might not be as exciting as a meal you can make at home, but the
vegan options actually can be built into a meal of whole vegan foods
that will help you get through the day.

When venturing outside of the dining hall, Georgia College’s campus
provides a few restaurants: Chick-fil-A, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Subway,
and Books and Brew. Of course with eating out it’s hard to be sure of
every ingredient and condition the food was cooked in, so you’ll have to
decide for yourself if you’re comfortable eating there or not.

Chick-fil-A and Subway sit side by side in a small dining area. Some
snacks are available for purchase such as Miss Vickie’s kettle chips and
Lay’s chips. You just have to check the labels to make sure there are no
animal products, but the plain flavors I’ve had were fine. There are
also fruit cups and juices. At Chick-fil-A, students can grab some fries
as a snack and head over to Subway and create a veggie delight sandwich
or salad. At Subway, you can pile on veggies and avocado to create a
filling meal. One of my favorite treats in the morning was to go to
Einstein’s and get a cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter or you can
choose from hummus and fruit preserves and any of the other bagels
without milk, honey, or dairy. A quick internet search will tell you
what you can choose from. Books and Brew was also a favorite morning
stop of mine. They have a great selection of Tazo brand teas and you can
even make it into a latte with soy milk. They also have fruit and chips
on sale as well as pb&j sandwiches.

There’s even more options when venturing to the downtown Milledgeville
area that’s located right next to the main campus. Just across the
street you will find Barberitos where I have purchased many of my
lunches throughout my college career. For a vegan, any place designed to
build your own meal is a life saver. You can build a burrito, burrito
bowl, salad, tacos, or just get some chips and salsa. They have brown
and white rice, black and pinto beans labeled vegan friendly on the
site, tofu, various veggies, salsa, and guacamole. I spoke with a
Barberitos representative hoping to confirm that the beans are vegan and
she said that they were and are cooked in water, salt, and spices. One
other surprising gem was the campus bookstore which offers plenty of
vegan labeled snack bars, cookies, chips, and drinks.

While Georgia College isn’t exactly a vegan Mecca, I still found it easy
to be vegan for the few years I lived on this campus. Vegan meals aren’t
specifically showcased, but they are definitely accessible when you look
into what’s actually offered, even if you have to piece a meal together.
Snacks are also available for when you bring your own meal but need
something extra. I had no issue keeping it vegan, even in a small
southern town.

Check out these allergen and ingredient guides to check for animal
products at these chains:

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Healthful-Lifestyle
http://www.einsteinbros.com/images/docs/EBB_Nutrition.pdf
http://www.subway.com/en-us/menunutrition/nutrition
http://www.barberitos.com/food_allergens

The contents of this article, website, and our other publications,
including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal
medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified
health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient
information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure
about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and
mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a
product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or
confirmation on your own.