Comments on: What Do Vegetarian College Students Do for Food?

By: Lviing, Learning, Eating

Lviing, Learning, Eating — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:16:19 +0000

I’m a vegetarian college student starting a blog of my (budget) food adventures in LA. Check it out!

By: Savvy Veg

Savvy Veg — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:57:03 +0000

Hi Erica, please see the comment from Katie, 4/16/10 about getting snacks to fill in the gaps in the meal plan. You say you can’t afford any extra food, but things like fruit, trail mix, granola, cereal bars, yogurt, carrot sticks, sunflower seeds, almonds won’t break the bank and will help fill in those nutritional and calorie gaps. Also, discard your food likes & dislikes, and follow her suggestion about analyzing the dining hall offerings and picking the absolute most nutritious items they offer. E.G. ALL the veggies and fruit, esp. raw, ANYTHING whole grain, like whole grain bread or cereals, ANY carb that’s not pasta or potatoes (like rice), ANY legumes, nuts or seeds (maybe in the salad bar). Most people gain weight in their first year at college. It’s quite an achievement to lose 30 lb! I’m sure your parents don’t want you to suffer from malnutrition, also common in college students, and would pay for a good vitamin supplement. Rainbow Light makes a good food based supplement for women.

By: Erica

Erica — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 06:03:35 +0000

Hi I am a vegetarian college student about to begin my second year at school. I lost 30 pounds last year because I could literally find NOTHING to eat. I’ve been desperately trying to read up on advice but every piece of advice is sooooo frustrating. At my school we are required to live on campus our freshman and sophomore years and we must pay for a meal plan. That being said I have NO money to spend on extra food. And when I do spend money on food my parents get upset (with good reason) because we are paying so much for the meal plan. I know exactly what I should be eating because I am somewhat of a health nut it’s just that I have to access to those foods. Because my school is a small private university options are very very limited. Also, it’s a social thing to go to meals. Grabbing dinner with friends is a way to take a break from studying and connect with people. I don’t want to have to skip spending time with friends so I can stay in my little room and try to concoct something somewhat nutritious in my microwave. That’s no fun and makes you seem like a snob. I am so nervous for going back to school and would absolutely love some sound advice.

By: Savvy Veg

Savvy Veg — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:26:34 +0000

Hi Kirsten, I’m from Canada too, and I always seem to be missing something! :-) Generally, unless communal kitchens are provided in the dorms, cooking opportunities are limited for students who live on campus. They aren’t allowed to cook in their dorm rooms except maybe to store a few things in a tiny fridge and use a microwave. Often they are required to sign up for a meal plan and eat in the dining hall, at least in first year. My kids either lived at home, and commuted, or shared apartments with other students. But they still didn’t do much cooking!

By: Kirsten

Kirsten — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:35:41 +0000

I’m from Canada so I might be missing something, but why can’t the students cook for themselves? Is it mandatory to be on the school’s meal plan or something?

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:55:02 +0000

I am currently a vegetarian college student, and while living on campus, I experienced the same thing. All I had to eat for a whole semester was spaghetti or rice. Though there were not a lot of options, I began to supplement my diet with fruits and nuts, which I purchased on my own and kept in my dorm.

Also, I would ask upper class friends if I could use their kitchens, and cook enough of a meal to last a few days. I would then keep the leftovers in my mini-fridge until I needed more! If you switch between friends and recipes, this is actually quite a good arrangement. My friends got a delicious meal, and I was able to keep my vegetarian lifestyle!

It was very frustrating to have to pay for a meal plan that I was not using as much as some students, but it was something my parents and I felt strongly that we needed to do. Hope this works out for you!

By: Annette

Annette — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:04:08 +0000

While I live a vegan lifestyle, both of my kids were eating mostly vegetarian foods at home. Their colleges, Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, and Saint Leo University in Saint Leo Florida do a good job of providing non-meat options. In fact, at Saint Leo, the dining hall person actually told my daughter to let her know what sorts of things she would like to eat. I couldn’t be happier with both of those schools. In addition, most students eventually find out that eating out breaks the monotony. Check out the town for healthy veg foods as well and above all, let your voice be heard!

By: Indie

Indie — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:01:24 +0000

When I was in college, I worked in the cafeteria and my roomate was a vegetarian due to a medical condition (she couldn't digest meat). At first she was unsucessful in getting them to provide adequate food. What I explained to her is that the cooks in the cafeteria have no idea what vegetarians eat and do not know where to start. So my roomate met with the cafeteria manager AND the head cook and very specifically outlined what sorts of things they needed to provide for her.

She was able to demand this because she had a medical condition and they could not require her to buy the food if they couldn't provide for her medical condition. What I would suggest to this mother is that they have their physcian write a note for the daughter specifying what type of diet she needs to be on. This became a medical issue when the food they provided caused her to lose an undue amount of weight. I've used this method as a way to get my children out of the state required milk at daycare. Of course its not right that you have to resort to this sort of thing, but it does work.