{"id":16372,"date":"2020-11-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=16372"},"modified":"2020-10-16T13:26:46","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T17:26:46","slug":"what-vegan-food-should-your-college-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2020\/11\/02\/what-vegan-food-should-your-college-have\/","title":{"rendered":"What Vegan Food Should YOUR College Have?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"194\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/hopkins_saladbar_DSC2873-300x194.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/hopkins_saladbar_DSC2873-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/hopkins_saladbar_DSC2873-768x497.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/hopkins_saladbar_DSC2873-1024x663.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/hopkins_saladbar_DSC2873.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption>Photo from JHU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By Julia\nStanitski VRG Intern<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\nthis day and age, college food services need to provide food options for people\nof all dietary restrictions, including a vegan diet. We decided to ask high-schoolers\n(or recent high school graduates) what vegan foods they want to see at their\nfuture colleges. We also asked current college students\u2019 opinions on what their\nfavorite vegan foods at their school are. All of these students we questioned\nare interns here at the Vegetarian Resource Group. The information below can be\nvery useful to colleges looking to expand their offerings of on- and off-campus\nvegan options, and also to college activists working on adding vegan offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We asked the younger students, <strong>\u201c<em>What vegan foods\ndo you want to see at your future college?<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u201cI would like to see some protein options\nlike beans, peas, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, etc. &#8211; I think a lot of places that\noffer vegan options mainly offer produce, and even though that\u2019s a huge part of\na plant-based diet, it would definitely be nice to be able to have a\nwell-rounded plant-based diet on campus. Also, dairy alternatives like soy,\noat, or almond milk, because coffee in college is a must!\u201d<ul><li>Aiman, John Hopkins\n University (has not been\non-campus yet)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>I feel like colleges really\nlimit their vegan foods to pasta and salads and such, but there is so much more\nthey could offer, especially as more and more people are going vegan. As a high\nschool senior,&nbsp;I often think about what vegan&nbsp;options will be readily\navailable on campus.&nbsp;I think it would be great for colleges to diversify\ntheir vegan options, adding some international options. I&#8217;m a huge fan of\nbowls, any type of bowl \u2013 a vegan fried rice bowl with some tofu or a vegan\nsoba noodle bowl would be awesome to see. Recently, I&#8217;ve been enjoying wraps as\nwell \u2013 so wraps with&nbsp;veggies and tofu could make a great lunch. It would\nalso be nice if colleges extended the options of vegan proteins. As important\nas tofu is to my diet, I would still love to see some other protein sources \u2013 this\ncould be roasted chickpeas, curry lentils, tempeh, etc.&nbsp;In addition to\nvegan meals, I would love to see colleges offering a vegan dessert \u2013 could be\nvegan brownies, cookies, or even a pastry would be great!<ul><li>Clarissa, High School Senior<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cI would love to see vegan baked goods on\ncollege campuses. Things such as vegan muffins, pastries&nbsp;and desserts&#8230;\u201d<ul><li>Audrey, University of Alaska\n  Anchorage (has not been on campus yet)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cHere are some of my general thoughts about\nwhat kinds of vegan food I would like to have in college!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;\nhealthy vegan options (so not just potatoes, pasta, rice)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;\nI love fruit and vegetables in almost any form<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;\nfaux meat or meat substitutes would be a nice form of protein to have\navailable. I know some schools may offer veggie burgers or tofu too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;\nlegumes are my main protein source usually so that would be awesome to have\navailable in college! (Examples are pinto beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas,\netc.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;\nvegan breakfast foods hopefully include cereals or vegan breads&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;\nlastly, I know a lot of schools have salad bars available so that would also be\na great go-to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, I just hope that schools\nare accommodating and considerate. \ud83d\ude42 I know several of the schools I\u2019m\napplying to have veggie houses or co-operatives where everyone in that dorm\nworks together to cook vegan foods. I love that idea!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Lucia, High School Senior<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, we asked the college students, <strong>\u201c<em>What are\nyour favorite foods at your college currently? What do you wish your college\nhad regarding vegan food?<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u201cMy favorite vegan food on campus would be the Impossible Burger. It tastes great, and has a good amount of protein, which is often harder to find in vegan food. In terms of what I wish my college had, I would say more meat alternatives. As a vegetarian, I have not eaten meat my entire life, and often, I am curious as to what it tastes like. With more &#8220;Beyond Meat&#8221; options available, bringing more of those options to campus would be preferable.\u201d<ul><li>Rithvik, age 20, John  Hopkins University<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cMy favorite vegan food at Loyola is the sweet potato sushi at Cold Spring Sushi on campus and regarding vegan food I wish there were more vegan options at Iggy&#8217;s Market, which is a place on campus that is similar to a convenience store where you can buy all sorts of snacks, frozen foods, ice cream, drinks, and more.\u201d<ul><li>Katelynn, age 20, Loyola University Maryland<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cI think with college dining the overriding concerns should be cost and ease, so I would for the most part not go for fake meat\/fake cheese and instead would emphasize things like chickpeas and lentils with vegetables (soups, curries, pasta sauces, stews) and bean chili with baked potatoes\u2026 Also, college is a time when many people are most open to trying new ideas, new lifestyles etc., so another reason to not try to ape a traditional American diet but with fake meat dairy, and instead focus on Indian and Thai style curries (without ghee, meat or paneer), vegan Pho, Ethiopian, etc.\u201d<ul><li>Simon, Postdoc at Johns Hopkins University<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cMy favorite vegan food at my college is kung pao tofu. I wish they had a bigger grocery store and more affordable prices for basic vegan items like rice and beans.\u201d<ul><li>Gabriella, age 22, University  of Minnesota<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cWhen I bought vegan foods, my preferred options were vegan baguettes made with a combination of vegetables and hummus.\u00a0What do you wish your college had? Vegan desserts and more options for regular foods in the menu. We have a free-meat Monday (so there is already some promotion of vegetarian diets), but more inviting vegan dishes could be prepared. Just this year the\u00a0 Vegan Association was funded.\u201d<ul><li>Odette, age 30, Wageningen University (The Netherlands)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, adding more options of vegan food at universities\nand college campuses is important to these students. The high-schoolers\nmentioned the importance of having a lot of protein options available \u2013 like\nbeans, tempeh, and tofu. They also mentioned the need for a well-rounded diet,\nnot JUST produce. People who follow vegan diets do not just eat fruits and\nvegetables 24\/7, so vegan snacks, non-dairy milks, vegan desserts, and more of\nthe processed items would be nice to have. Clarissa, a high school senior,\nmentioned that having more international dishes would be great, like a soba\nnoodle bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; From the college\nstudents, we received an array of answers. The protein options were brought up\nagain \u2013 meat alternatives can be very helpful for vegans and vegetarians alike.\nRithvik, who attends John\n Hopkins University,\nmentioned his love of the Impossible Burger on-campus, but still wish more\nvegan meats were an option! It was also stated that there should be more vegan\nitems at the smaller convenience stores at colleges, which would include small\nsnacks, frozen meals, and ice cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All in all, colleges\nshould make a wide variety of vegan food and meals available to their students.\nThis not only accommodates to the vegan students (and will attract them to\ncertain colleges over others) but will also allow non-vegans to try these\nhealthy choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For information on other college food, see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/teen\/#college\">https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/teen\/#college<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/fsupdate\/index.htm#College\">https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/fsupdate\/index.htm#College<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For info on VRG internships, go to: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/student\/index.php\">https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/student\/index.php<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The contents of this posting, our website, and our other\npublications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide\npersonal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified\nhealth professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from\ncompany statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info\ncan change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use\nyour best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do\nfurther research or confirmation on your own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Julia Stanitski VRG Intern In this day and age, college food services need to provide food options for people of all dietary restrictions, including a vegan diet. We decided to ask high-schoolers (or recent high school graduates) what vegan foods they want to see at their future colleges. We also asked current college students\u2019 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16374,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16372\/revisions\/16374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}