By Taylor Gale

Being vegan in college can be tricky, especially if your dining halls do not have vegan options readily available. If there are no veg-friendly options, make your own! That is exactly what I did during my sophomore year at Loyola University of Maryland. I went into college as a vegetarian, but wanted to become vegan. The only problem was that the dining halls offered almost nothing for students who were vegetarian and forget about it if you were vegan! So, I decided to get involved in Student Government Association with the goal in mind of transforming the dining halls. The following year I was elected as Director of Student Affairs, which yep you guessed it, made me in charge of Loyola’s dining halls. The following steps are ways of how to add more vegan foods to your college cafeteria.

Firstly, do your research and find out exactly what vegetarian and vegan dishes, if any, they serve. Typically, college cafeterias have their menus online. Check what days any veggie options are available and what the ingredients are in these dishes. If they serve a decent amount of vegetarian options, you can suggest to veganize the dishes, which can easily be done in most cases. If you cannot find out enough information online or in person, ask to set up a meeting with the dining hall staff. Most times, they are happy to hear students out to learn about their needs and what can be changed within the cafeteria to make the students’ experience better. When you have a meeting with the dining hall staff, go in fully prepared with recipe ideas. You may have a proposal of converting one of the food stations to offer fully vegetarian and vegan items. Lay out what veg options they offer currently to show how much expansion could occur. Be creative when you create recipe ideas!

I cannot stress enough—be empathetic to the food service employees. Oftentimes, graduate students are the ones in charge of managing college dining halls, which means they may not have the knowledge that you as a vegetarian/vegan have. It is very hard to make visible changes within the food sectors and certain decisions may be out of the hands of whom you are meeting with, so remember to be patient and compassionate, always! Treat the staff as you would like to be treated. You can start easy by giving suggestions of how to create a veg-friendly dining experience, such as having the option of Meatless Mondays. If your small suggestions are being received well, later on you can present the idea of converting a whole station, but this is a big request, so work towards it.

A great starting point is to ramp up the salad bar. Firstly, the types of greens offered is important. If they do not have a variety of greens, I suggest asking them to incorporate kale, spinach, arugula, and mixed greens. If your salad does not offer any types of beans, firstly that is just tragic. In a nice way request the dining staff to incorporate various beans! I typically suggest to carry black beans, garbanzo beans, and edamame consistently, as well as offering a bean salad. You can advocate to incorporate the following ingredients: corn, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, bell peppers (red and green), avocado, hummus, pasta salad that has a vinaigrette base, sautéed mushrooms, tofu or vegan chick’n, carrots, seaweed salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, red cabbage, quinoa, roasted squash and sweet potatoes, wild rice, dried fruit, and assortment of nuts—i.e., walnuts, silvered almonds and cashews, etc. For dressings, give them various options. You could propose getting a vegan sweet Thai chili vinaigrette, balsamic, zesty Italian, oil & vinegar, tahini, olive oil, lemon and lime juice, and spicy cashew dressing. Now some of these items will not be a viable option, depending on your dining hall’s space. These are just suggestions to make to the dining hall staff! With these options, having a salad everyday will not become so monotonous.

The sandwich bar line is another great place to start to incorporate more veg options. Similar to the salad suggestions you can recommend: carrots, assorted cooked vegetables, avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers, alfalfa sprouts, hummus, pickles, onions, lettuce, sweet potatoes, olives, peppers, etc.

Loyola utilizes Parkhurst dining’s food services. Parkhurst partners with local farmer’s markets, and offers brands, such as Gardein and Just Mayo to bring tasty foods to campus. You need to find out what foods your school’s distributors carry. If they do not carry the foods that you like, see if they can incorporate other items. You can go directly to the company and see if they are willing to bring their food items into the dining halls, but this may get complicated due to partnership clauses, higher pricing, etc., so I highly recommend asking the dining staff what types of foods are available to you and if those items can expand to other choices, specifically veg-friendly brands of vegan meat. This way you can have vegan chick’n to add some protein and a punch of flavor into your sandwich or wrap. You might be able to get the best brand names, wohooo, fingers crossed!  Do not be surprised if you cannot get them all incorporated into the cafeteria. It never hurts to ask though! You can also suggest to get vegan mayo. Just Mayo and Fabanaise are vegan mayo options I like.

Remember complex carbs are your friends. Eating various grains and starches, such as sweet potatoes and brown rice are perfect for retaining a healthy vegan diet. It is so effortless to incorporate these types of foods as sides or entrées within the dining halls! Just make sure to explain to them that there cannot be any dairy, specifically milk or cheese, honey, eggs, or any other animal product within these dishes.

For protein options, you can suggest offering veggie burgers, which can be made in so many different and simple ways! Steamed veggies, quinoa, tofu, tempeh, seitan, and any beans, nuts, or seeds are great sources of protein for vegans. Let the dining staff know this so that they are able to provide a protein sufficient meal for every vegan and nonvegan on campus.

Nowadays, dining halls have become increasingly veg-friendly—e.g., offering dairy substitutes such as, soy or almond milk. If your school does not offer this, make sure to bring it to their attention, so that you can have cereals and non-dairy substitutes in your coffee.

If your dining hall does not have a fruit stand, stop whatever you are doing and ensure that they get one! The classics should always be available to students—i.e., apples, bananas, and oranges. I would recommend setting up partnerships with local vendors and farmer markets so that the dining halls can buy fruits and vegetables that are in season. This is a great way to support the local community as well as promote a more sustainable and environmentally friendly diet.

In Loyola University of Maryland’s dining halls, where I currently attend, there is a bagel and bread section with an assortment of spreads. This is a quick and easy option for students on the go. Ask them what vegan breads and bagels are currently available. If none, advocate for bringing some in. For spreads, you can ask to have peanut butter, vegan jams and jellies, and maybe even vegan butter and cream cheeses, but again this will depend on your school’s budgeting and ability to partner with name brands.

Oftentimes, people assume that vegans do not have sweets, which is so false. Nowadays, there are so many dessert options for vegans.An easy place to start would be at the ice cream station, assuming that there is one. Sorbet is typically vegan, but check and make sure what flavors are vegan before you recommend any. Store brand names, such as Ben & Jerry’s and Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss, offer nondairy ice cream. See if this is a viable option for your cafeteria.

Remember that changing the dining halls is a long process. Be patient and calm when conversing with the staff. It is also important to not be timid. Be concise with your words and go into those meetings with an outlined plan of what you would like to say and get accomplished. Be confident, professional, and kind. This is the key to getting what you want across to the staff.

Yes, the staff may turn down most or some of your veg ideas/options, but any step in the right direction makes a world of a difference in the long run. You are not only making the dining halls better for yourself, but you are helping out other vegan and vegetarian current and incoming students!

From my experience, the payoff is well worth conducting research and multiple meetings! I am now a senior at Loyola and was able to comfortably convert to being vegan once I became in charge of the dining halls during my sophomore year. I had countless meetings with the managers, students, faculty, and the rest of the dining staff to figure out what Loyola’s community wanted to eat on a daily basis. It took a lot of convincing to bring vegan meats and other vegan substitutes to campus. At first, the staff looked at me funny and laughed in my face, because they simply had no clue what veganism meant. It was such a foreign concept to most of the individuals I met with, but I remained persistent, calm, educated the staff on what a vegan diet entails, and backed up the need for veg options by showing them how many students did not eat meat on campus. Although Loyola is not vegan heaven, the staff have made many efforts to help accommodate veg and nonveg students.

For recipe ideas, check out our recipe guides at: https://www.vrg.org/links/Recipes.htm

and https://www.vrg.org/fsupdate/index.htm

To learn more about ideas for college food service, see https://www.vrg.org/teen/#college