A definitive guide to becoming veggie at Lancs uni

With the rising issue of climate change and natural hazard that happened in 2020, the recent trend of turning to a vegetarian has been raised. It may be hard to convert to a vegetarian when you are used to eating all kinds of meat and all of your fave recipies have meat in them.

However, after finding that doing veganuary in Lancs was actually pretty easy, we have developed a definitive guide to transitioning to veggie at Lancs uni. We've got the tips, tricks and top shops for your weekly shop. Thanks us later.

Tip one: Motivate yourself! You can do it!

To start off with, motivation. Your close friends are essential in motivating you for a night out, get them to change their tune, it is essential that you have some influence from your close friends to motivate you to start eating only vegetables instead of meat. Imagine them chanting "EAT LEAVES!" down the corridor of your flat.

Having flatmates that are vegetarian also results in a severe amount of peer pressure. Their facts and tips can really keep you motivated, and your flat can live in perfect harmony free of meat products.

Tip two: Go pescatarian first!

Do you know that you can start with being a pescatarian? Becoming pescatarian is a cheat code into a meat-free diet. By cutting out read meat but allowing yourself to eat fish, you can see that you are capable of cutting things out. After that, you can decide whether you have the abilities to commit to the veggie lifestyle. It isn’t actually that difficult to change your habit of eating, you just have to try for just a little bit.

Tip three: Check out the vegan options on campus, they are pretty good

In terms of food of choices, we did a brief look around campus and town to check out the vegan options. In Lancaster, there is so much choice for a veggie/vegan diet. You're spoilt for choice really, which makes going veggie in Lancaster a lot easier. Here's a guide of what we found.

Tip four: Ease in with your recipes

When it comes to recipes and what can be on the menu, ease in, relax, take your time with it. Cheese and garlic bread can be your best friends without a doubt, they are easy to get and not too expensive.

Cheese on beans or potatoes, a student fave and accessible everywhere. Pasta with tomato sauce and loads of spinach in it with cheese, an enjoyable fancy meal. Treat yourself.

Lastly, if you don't know where to shop. We got you.

Central

Central, despite the fact that it is slightly more expensive comparing to other stores, it is generous to us vegetarians. They have got vegan burgers, vegan pizzas and high value garlic breads for 99p, you cannot complain.

The vegetable burger in Central is worth shouting about. The crunchy outer skin and those peppers, carrots, sweet corns and potatoes in the filling. Have one with some vegetables or sweet potato chips aside will make you full and satisfied.

Spar

Spar, on the other side, also do those vegan burgers with the same brand but with a larger variety of vegetables and fresh fruits. As opposed to that, their downside is that its location isn’t the best for those students who lives down the South West campus. Needless to say, both Spar and Central has their own pros and cons and it still depends on yourself for your convenience.

Sainsbury's

Town wise, the most popular supermarket has to be Sainsbury's, with its lovely direct bus from campus to the front of the store. Sainsbury’s provides nearly half an aisle specialized for vegetarians and sells a variety of frozen vegan burgers which gives those vegetarian a comfortable shopping experience. Another advantage of it is that they are way more bigger than Lidl and provides a variety of vegetables, fruits, vegan burgers and a whole aisle of frozen food for you to shop.

Lidl

Our student saviour, Lidl. Despite the fact that it doesn’t cost a lot for weekly shopping, all I can say is that there is a lack of choice when it comes to vegetables. There is a small aisle divided half into fruits and the other half into vegetables.

One vegan student told the Tab: “Lidl is so not vegan friendly, I would go there more often if they were.”

Having investigated their frozen food section and their selection for vegan choices, it is limited. So, whilst Lidl has its strength in prices, it does not provide plenty of choice.

Uni is the perfect time to try out new things and you might find it quite interesting to see if you can do it. You might feel better in yourself, and have fun sharing your recipes with your flatmates. So whether you're already veggie, or came here because you're pondering it: Well done and good luck. You're doing your bit.