Top-Five Colleges for Vegetarian College Students
A few schools are not only making good food…they’re making great vegetarian food
With budget cuts and alternative college programs such as the adoption of online universities monopolizing the higher education debate, the discussion of college diets has been put on the back burner.
Dorm food has never promised delicious options. In general, college barely promises edible options for vegetarian college students. But today, a few notable schools are not only making good food…they’re making great vegetarian food.
If you’re considering your options as a vegetarian college student after high school, here are five schools that made PETA’s list of best colleges to attend meat-free.
Indiana University, Bloomington
Indiana University, a huge university in the Midwest, with over 42,000 students enjoying clearly marked vegetarian options in school cafeterias. Although sloppy joes have been traditionally reserved for the dietary decadent, the cafeteria’s faux-meat sloppy joes offer a pleasant escape for any die-hard vegetarian college student. As a dessert option, the school even offers vegan sugar cookies for their vegan students.
Humboldt State University
Humboldt has a long history of vegetarianism in its student body. In the 1970s, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi*, a famous holy man known for teaching transcendental meditation, lectured at the school for a month at a time to 3000 of his followers. The cafeteria cooked vegetarian meals for his students, and in the upcoming year, adopted the recipes into their regular scheduling.
This public school in northern California offers vegetarian, wheat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan food to cover the gamut of dietary needs for its students, and strives to maintain at least 50% local sourcing on their produce. And it seems to be working: the number of vegetarian college students at Humboldt increases by as much as 15% between the beginning of freshman year and the end.
*Savvy Veg Footnote: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi went on to found a small private consiousness based university, Maharishi University of Management, in Fairfield IA, which serves organic 100% vegetarian food in its cafeteria.
University of Puget Sound
For those interested in smaller schools than Humboldt or Indiana University, the University of Puget Sound, with 2,500 students, has an entire menu section dedicated to their vegetarian students. Their dining halls carry options ranging from African vegetable curry to vegan barbecue riblets to spicy sweet potato bean burritos.
Yale University
Yale has a thriving vegetarian community on campus, with groups like the Yale College Vegetarian Society holding meetings and events to support a vegetarian diet. This Ivy League university recently instituted meatless Mondays, which is exactly what it sounds like: on Mondays, the dining halls serve only vegetarian options.
Yale Dining’s director of residential options, Regenia Phillips, has supported keeping vegan options, like portabella fajitas and chana masala, in the school cafeteria, even amidst complaints from non-vegan students about the school providing meatfree options.
University of California at Berkeley
This campus, best known for student intelligence and sixties activism, is an easy pick for a top vegetarian friendly campus. The dining halls post weekly menus in advance so vegetarian students know what safe choices they can be sure of. The dining commons serve vegan pizza with soy cheese, vegan lemon poppyseed cake, and the salad, cereal, and sandwich bars fill in any other vegetarian needs.
So there you have it! If you’re a vegetarian considering your undergraduate options, be sure to choose a school that meets your dietary needs in the cafeteria.
Guest blogger Elaine Hirsch is a jack-of-all-interests, from education and history to medicine and videogames. She is currently working as a writer for various education-related websites and writing about relevant education-related issues.
Tags: college, college food, college vegetarian, Elaine Hirsch, vegetarian college student, vegetarian food
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It’s so nice to see vegetarian choices becoming more mainstream. When I was in college,the only meatless choices were salads.
Maybe it the word gets around, more colleges will get on board. After all everyone can benefit from some meatless meals, even if they are not strictly speaking vegetarian or vegan!