Dining in a vegetarian desert

BY NOELLE ALKHAWAJA | FEBRUARY 17, 2015 5:00 AM

Despite attempts to offer a variety of options at the dining halls, vegetarian students may find themselves at a disadvantage, both health-wise and financially.

I could not survive just eating vegetarian options that were on the menu, University of Iowa senior and vegetarian Chance Lacina said. It seemed like it was just spaghetti or cheese pizza every day.

In the last year, University Housing and Dining has tried to find new menu items and dishes to serve to students.

I would say that we are always looking for different things to serve, said Jill Irvin, the director of University Dining. Its very possible that we have added some vegetarian menu items for this past academic year.

Some options arent openly available and have to be requested at the counter, such as veggie burgers.

According to a 2012 Gallup Poll, around 5 percent of people identify as vegetarian in the United States.

However, dining officials find it challenging to put out menu items with appeal, Irvin said.

The issue at hand, she said, is the difficulty for directors and kitchen staff to prepare healthy, yet tasty, foods in a way that also appeals to students.

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Dining in a vegetarian desert