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vegan meal plan @ college


vegling
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coming up on 4 months vegan here, and i've hit a little wrinkle. i was assured by my university that there would be plenty of vegan options to choose from when it came to eating on campus. i suppose when the said "plenty of options" they were referring to naked salad, fruit, and occasionally, hummus. so far i've been making trips the the local health food store and eating in my dorm. i called dining services and, long story short, i have a meeting set up with the executive head chef guy to set up a custom meal thing. i have my doubts about it actually working out, but i'm willing to give it a shot. i'm used to eating a lot of pre-cooked stuff that just requires heating, like courage burgers, various faux meats, and of course, veggies. i don't know what kinds of things i should ask for, considering i don't cook very much, or know much about cooking, for that matter. any input would be greatly appreciated. i want to continue to actually enjoy eating vegan, and at the same time, maintain a healthy balance as far as nutrients go.

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If you can...stomach as much of the salad bar as you can and whatever occasional vegan meal option they may have. You can also "borrow" some of the fruits. As for what I did for extra food(I had no kitchen...just a mini fridge and microwave) I bought loaves of bread and made PBJ pretty regularly. Luckily my school even had natural peanut butter so I could take some of that with me too. You can also buy baked tofu for sandwiches. Wraps and burritos are another thing you can make. For snacks I had cereal all the time, and I ate my share of pretzels too.

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veganpotter, were you a VCU student? i've got several friends who go there (i live in VB) and they said that off-campus there are plenty of vegan options, but on campus stuff generally sucks.

 

anyway, what i'm actually trying to do is figure out what to tell the chef guy i want him to prepare. if they would just refund my meal plan money, i'd be happy to buy my own food, but i think hell will freeze over before they agree to that.

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Go in and be positive. Most of the cafeteria folks are eager to please. You are making headway and are doing a service to all of those who don't want to focus on eating meat for every meal or at all. You are the person who will help bring more change to the lunch room. I feel though that as great as buffet vegan food is, the usefulness of the cafeteria becomes apparent in the later years of schooling.

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First and foremost.. welcome to america.. the land of meat.. he he.. I faced a similar issue when I moved to the United States.

 

I bumped into a guy at local Whole Foods who said he went VEGAN in college because he could not stand the kind of meat they had in the Cafetaria.

 

Go figure.

 

Anyways - I'd ask them to focus on more BEANS, LENTILS, GARBANZOS & some EDAMAME, GRILLED VEGGIES etc.

 

I am sure they can do that without breaking a budget. I would not hope that they will add more expensive FARE for you, but try to get them to get the BASICS done. Something more REALISTIC that happens CONSISTENTLY than IDEAL VEGAN food that may not happen as CONSISTENTLY.

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veganpotter, were you a VCU student? i've got several friends who go there (i live in VB) and they said that off-campus there are plenty of vegan options, but on campus stuff generally sucks.

 

anyway, what i'm actually trying to do is figure out what to tell the chef guy i want him to prepare. if they would just refund my meal plan money, i'd be happy to buy my own food, but i think hell will freeze over before they agree to that.[/quote]

 

Write to the "university authorities" who manage EQUAL privileges etc. Tell them that the CAFE people are TRYING to talk to you to accomodate to your needs at this point. DO THIS ASAP.

 

Later, if they dont bend then take it to the top - At all TIMES ...praising the CAFE people that you APPRECIATE their efforts but they were not a fit with what you were told / expected.

 

KILL THEM WITH YOUR NICENESS BUT FIRMNESS.

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veganpotter, were you a VCU student? i've got several friends who go there (i live in VB) and they said that off-campus there are plenty of vegan options, but on campus stuff generally sucks.

 

anyway, what i'm actually trying to do is figure out what to tell the chef guy i want him to prepare. if they would just refund my meal plan money, i'd be happy to buy my own food, but i think hell will freeze over before they agree to that.

 

They are nuts. I didn't have a meal plan but I tried to get a guest pass whenever I could from my friends(yes at VCU). Its not the best food in the world but its gotta be some of the best college vegan food around. I honestly think if I were still an omni...most of the food I would have gotten would have been from the vegan section. As for off campus its also great. There are 3 very close places for middle eastern(maybe 3 blocks away from eachother and pretty much right on campus), a vegan place, a veggie, place, and probably 3 places with things labeled vegan on the menu...its very cool.

As for them not refunding money just complain a lot. If you tell them they're being unfair and prejudiced they'll refund you. Just say if you were a Muslim or Jewish and you didn't want food being cooked in such proximity to non-halal or kosher foods they'd refund you in a second. Plain and simply they'd do it because they don't wanna be taken to court.

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