Virginia Tech has one of the best dining programs in the country, according to The Princeton Review but thats not surprising for anyone who eats at the dining hall on a regular basis.

There are many options that the dining halls have to offer but how easy is it to find options that are suitable for a vegan or vegetarian diet? Im not a vegan or a vegetarian myself, but I swapped out eating my normal pizza, chicken fingers or sandwich at the dining halls for a few days to see how easy it would be to find vegan options to eat for three meals a day.

So, how did eating vegan and/or vegetarian on campus go? It was difficult.

Owens

I went to Owens for lunch one day to find that there were not many options there for a vegan to eat.

If you are a vegetarian, the Farm and Fields veggie burger is a good option at Owens, but the bun is made with milk. If vegans want to eat the veggie burger, they can ask for it without the bun and toppings.

Lotsa Pasta has gluten-free pasta made with soy that is a healthier choice for vegans and vegetarians as opposed to regular pasta and, of course, there is white rice, steamed broccoli or a salad at the Carvery. The choices for vegans were pretty limited here at Owens, and they are certainly not the most exciting foods that vegans want to eat on a daily basis.

I was disappointed to see that there were not any soy patties or dishes made with tofu at any of the nine stations in Owens.

Squires

I went over to Squires to see if APB had better options, but still not much luck.

Some soups at ABP in Squires are vegan friendly, including the 12 veggie and the vegetarian chili. There are many vegetarian options at ABP, but it is mostly carb-based items such as breads, bagels and pastries.

D2

D2 has a vegetarian station that serves veggie nuggets, but unfortunately they have eggs in them so they are not an option for vegans.

Pan Asia serves an asian vegetable stir fry that is made with soy, which is suitable for vegans, but there are not many other options at the all-you-can-eat dining hall.

The interior of D2 on Virginia Tech campus, Sept. 20, 2016.

West End

Vegans and vegetarians can eat at the salad bar in West End, but not much else fits within the limits of their diets.

The veggie burger bun does not contain milk, but if vegans want to be safe, they can request a lettuce wrap instead of the whole wheat bun option or vegetarians can order a grilled cheese at the sandwich shop next to Wrap World.

Turner

Most bagels at Bruegger's are vegan, and students can get them topped with hummus, peanut butter or jelly.

Students can also purchase salads and then go down the stairs to Fire Grill to purchase some oven-roasted potatoes as a side.

Front entrance to Lavery Hall on Sept. 20, 2016.

Still, I was finding very few options to fill my empty stomach on a vegan diet.

I found that our dining halls are much more vegetarian friendly than vegan friendly but still not as much as they should be.

Having more vegan options in the dining halls would help out many students who eat vegan diets. According to The Guardian, plant-based diets are becoming more common among young people.

Emily Baklajian is a sophomore who has been maintaining a vegan diet for six years.

Last year I really didnt use my meal plan at all because there were not many options for me, Baklajian said. I would mostly buy food from Kroger and make meals in my room. If I would eat on campus, it would normally be a salad from Turner with tofu.

I was finding most of the pre-made foods at dining halls were not vegan friendly. Most of the options I had were to make my own meals, salads, some grab-and-go items or fruit.

As healthy as students want to sound, eating salads every day is not fun for anyone.

When trying to find vegan options, I mostly ate salads because I could not find much else that I thought would be filling enough. As healthy as students want to sound, eating salads every day is not fun for anyone.

Adding in meals like cooked or roasted vegetables, and more grains like quinoa, beans, barley and lentils would be better for vegan eaters, Baklajian said.

Dining services offers hundreds of options for our meals, why cant more of those hundreds of options be vegan friendly?

If students wish to look up the nutritional information for dining hall foods, they can access the information on the dining service website.

Excerpt from:

Vegan options difficult to come by in dining halls - Virginia Tech Collegiate Times