Liberty Dining Offers a Variety of Options for Vegetarian Students
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Students eliminate meat and animal products from their diet for a variety of reasons. Whether it be health purposes, environmental sustainability, or animal welfare concerns, Liberty dining has taken steps to meet plant-based students needs, and students have taken notice.
“We have seen a national rise in plant-based dining and the same can be said for our campus,” says Liberty University’s campus dietitian Rachel Sanders.
Regardless of where they are dining on campus, students can be sure to find vegetarian, vegan, and plant-based eating options.
Vanessa Dash, a sophomore at Liberty, switched to a vegetarian diet three years ago due to the passion her sister portrayed for plant-based eating.
“Order anything and they can pretty much make it vegetarian,” Dash said.
Dash commended Liberty’s Reber-Thomas dining options, citing Fuego as her favorite location because it offers equal vegetarian options across the board.
Sophomore Jenna Keckler is very passionate about the damage industries are doing on the environment and how simple alterations to your diet can make a different. Keckler has been plant-based for just over a year, and understands that the diet offers numerous health benefits, including lowering cholesterol and the risk of chronic disease.
“[Liberty Dining is] super straight up with the nutrition facts. It’s easy to tell what’s vegan and what’s not,” Keckler said.
Sanders suggests vegetarian and vegan students check out the Skip the Beef pamphlet released by Liberty’s Dining, which details vegetarian options provided at every dining location on campus and helpful nutrition information.
“It’s our job to deliver quality food services for everyone. If there are holes, be an advocate for yourself and speak up and let us know what it is,” Sanders said.
Keckler said the rumors about following a vegetarian diet are not true.
“Don’t believe the lie that your options are limited and you never feel full, or you have to live on salad,” Keckler said, “Changing your diet to vegan is a process so ease into it. Start with meatless Mondays and don’t be hard on yourself.”
Anyone interested in a plant-based or vegetarian lifestyle is not without options at Liberty. The falafel at Garbanzo, the lemongrass tofu at Star Ginger, and the spicy bean burger at Hey Cow are all great options for anyone looking to eliminate meat.
“Just give it a shot. People say ‘I can never do that’ but you can. There are more options than you think,” Dash said.
Brookelynn Dinkler is a Feature Reporter.