Being a vegetarian is great. I’m not even saying that sarcastically. I enjoyed being a vegetarian for many years until my options for food were cut dramatically when I found out I couldn’t eat gluten. I had to leave Southern’s meal plan last year because there just wasn’t enough for me to eat unless I just wanted to cycle through salads and/or haystacks.
Both of these options are great, but they aren’t enough. Choosing healthy options in college is tough, but it could be easier. We go to an Adventist university, but we don’t really follow the health message. It may be vegetarian, but if you’re going to be vegetarian, you don’t really need to substitute with the artificial meats. Isn’t the whole point of being a vegetarian to not eat meat?
Look, I’m not saying you need to have boring food in the cafeteria to follow the health message. Natural, plant-based food can and should be absolutely delicious, but it should also be nutritious. Southern’s cafeteria and eateries use excess sugar, fat and dairy that we don’t need.
This is a call for reform. We have the opportunity to really give students a healthy start by providing options that capitalize on what is good for the body.
If we had food that made the students’ bodies feel good, wouldn’t they be more interested in eating in the cafeteria? I’m not even saying it has to be vegan all the time, but we do need to start thinking about how to maximize the culinary influence that the places we eat have on our student population’s health, weight and overall well-being.