What it’s really like being a vegan at Tech

Virginia Tech dining services consistently ranks among the top programs in the country, and for most, being an on-campus resident with a mandatory meal plan is a piece of cake. Vegans, on the other hand, find their options fairly limited and are still searching the D2 dessert line for a piece of vegan cake. (Was that not the dairy-free cheesiest line you’ve ever read? Ok, I’ll stop.)

Vegans, in addition to eating vegetarian, choose not to include any other animal byproducts (dairy, eggs, honey, etc.) in their diets. A study conducted in 2012 found that 2.5% of people in the U.S. identified as “vegan”, more than doubling the 1% just 3 years previous in 2009.

Google searches of the term “vegan” since 2004

The graphic above illustrates world-wide Google searches of the term “vegan” and suggests that this trend is continuing. So what dining halls do vegans frequent when trying to grab a bite on campus? I decided to ask some vegans where they go for plant-based nourishment.

Morgan Gallagher

“Turner’s Place definitely,” said Morgan Gallagher, a sophomore Environmental Science and French double major. “Jamba if you ask without honey or yogurt, and Qdoba you can get a veggie. I literally ate Qdoba every day last semester.”

“Probably Turner’s” answered Maia Dupes as well, a freshman Civil Engineering major, minoring in Green Engineering and Chemistry. “Jamba Juice, I think the salads are Turner’s are the best, and Qdoba too.”

Sophomore Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise major Molly Parker says, “I eat at D2 a lot because I feel like they have a lot of variety and you can pick and choose things from different places and kind of create your own meal. They also have the designated vegetarian spot which has a lot of vegan food there. They definitely have a lot of simple food items, but if you’re looking for more elaborate dishes I feel like that can be harder to find…I’m happy eating just kind of simple foods, healthier foods, so for me, I enjoy that.”

The salad bar at Owen’s Food Court

Responses also included Owens food court as a decent vegan spot for its salad bar, La Cantina for Mexican food, and Lotsa Pasta for its vegan marina sauce (West End’s marina sauce contains dairy). Virginia Tech dining services offers an easy to use online resource of most of the food it offers at it’s dining halls and their ingredients.

Morgan, Maia and Molly are all part of the Veg Club at Virginia Tech. The club tries to act a resource for people who are already vegan/vegetarian, or those interested in the idea, through offering support by connecting people who have similar beliefs. They have promoted plant-based eating at Virginia Tech’s earth week event, as well as the health and wellness fair, and look to be more active on campus in the future.

Maia Dupes

Maia and Molly are both on-campus residents and are required to purchase meal plans through Virginia Tech. When asked if it’s feasible for a vegan to eat purely off of what Virginia Tech offers on its dining plan, Maia responded, “I’m sure they can, I guess it depends on your taste… I wouldn’t say it’s not possible”

“You would only be able to have a couple items at each dining hall… It’s definitely possible, but it really depends on how dedicated of a person it is trying to be vegan,” Molly said.

“You would eat the same thing every day. I would get sick of it, I did get sick of it,” she said, remembering her past semesters being obligated to purchase a dining plan.

So what if vegans have to writhe a little bit if they want to avoid eating animal products? Why should Virginia Tech care?

“I think they should care because more students are being attracted to the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, whether it’s for the planet or for their health…Even though we’re a state school and we’re heavily funded by agriculture, I think we should at least cater to our students,” said Morgan.

“Personally, I feel like I’m paying tuition, and I’m an out-of-state student, so they should at least provide me with adequate food… maybe they’d realize it would be cheaper in the long run…and it’s healthier for their students,” said Maia.

Sean Bernard is a graduating Industrial Systems engineer who has pretty much stopped eating from VT dining services since going vegan last fall. He thinks offering more vegan options “could really be (Virginia Tech’s) next step…They have the opportunity to open people’s eyes to (veganism)…You can look up how many meals containing meat they serve a day, it’s in the order of tens of thousands, and if they reduced that by even a percentage then they’d be doing a lot of good things.”

According to Molly, “In order for Virginia Tech to, ‘Invent the Future,’ they should be looking at these trends…there are quite a bit of health and environmental implications, and I think it is the most sustainable diet.”

Along with following our aphorism Molly mentions of “Inventing the Future”, a vegan diet is in line with our motto of “Ut Prosim,” that we may serve.

That we may serve future generations by handing down an inhabitable planet. One that is not polluted and depleted of it’s resources but instead allows opportunity for our successors to thrive.

That we may serve the billions of animals slaughtered for food every year by showing kindness and compassion towards them as opposed to using them as commodities.

That we may serve those around us and ourselves by fostering a healthier, happier culture of longer lives and less disease.

When contacting Virginia Tech dining services for this article regarding any plans to increase vegan offerings due to rising vegan trends, they responded with no specific plans, adding, “When we make changes to our menu offerings, we base those decisions on the desires of our students… Surveys over the years have shown that only about 1% of our student population identifies as vegan.”