I walk into the dining commons with Luke Baker, a sophomore sociology and theatre major who is also a vegan on campus. Today, I’m following him around to see what sorts of things vegans can eat in the d.c. We start at Simply3’s, whose main protein is roasted pork loin. Baker cannot eat the main dish, but they do have lentil stew as a side. “The lentil stew comes through right when I need it, and honestly, praise God… Shoutout Simply3, once or twice a week they’ll have some sort of bean stew. [I eat] a lot of rice and beans,” Baker says. Next, we pass by the salad bar. “Oftentimes the salads, being that they’re all in one big bar, will have cheese, meat and eggs in the stuff that’s supposed to be vegan, and so you can’t always count on that,” Baker says. We pass by the wrap station. “The sandwich station is a wash, always. Online, they say they have vegan stuff, but I’ve asked about it and no one knows.” The main line has rice and assorted veggies–but the only protein is, once again, meat. The grill station has meat burgers, but students on a meatless diet can get impossible burgers by request. “On a weekly basis, I’m consuming anywhere from 7-10 impossible burgers and a lot of french fries. Which is obviously not great for health reasons… the lion’s share of my protein and caloric intake is from the grill–shoutout to Bryan,” Baker tells me, saying hello to the grill chef Bryan, and we keep moving to the pasta area. The usual pasta dish with meat today is an asian noodle dish and spring rolls without egg. Baker is overjoyed. He immediately loads his plate with five spring rolls and a separate dish with noodles. The vegan has gotten enough to eat for dinner–this time.
The vegan diet avoids all animal products, including meat, dairy, eggs, seafood, etc. Some more strict observers may refuse to wear leather or eat honey. People choose to become vegan for a wide variety of reasons, including ethical and moral concerns, religious observance or for personal health. While some may scoff at the notion that following a vegan diet contributes to health, newer research suggests there is substance to those claims. According to Harvard Health, those who follow a plant-based diet are 23% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes and 35% less likely to develop prostate cancer. However, Harvard Health also asserts vegans must ensure they get the proper protein, vitamin B12, calcium and iron. Careful planning of a vegan diet is of the utmost importance–it can either be a great boon to personal health, or an obstacle, depending on the options available.
Although not many students at Eastern are vegan, there are a few. Christian Lengkeek is a senior who is a part-time vegan. “I attempt to be a vegan for two days a week, Wednesday and Friday, and for two sets of forty days, before Christmas and before Easter. This is the pattern of fasting that is encouraged and taught in the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is the church I belong to. This practice of ‘vegan fasting’ comes from early Christianity and has been historically carried on by Christians in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, as well as in some parts of Africa. At its heart, fasting is a practice which is supposed to bring one closer to God. Removing the most delicious and hearty food from one’s diet gives one a chance to both rely upon God and to focus on prayer and charity. But further, closeness with God is not equivalent to abstaining from good food. Instead, fasting is supposed to train one to enjoy good food without abusing it, and through doing so, enter more fully into reality,” Lengkeek said, when asked about why he partakes in a vegan diet.
Katherine Thomas is another Orthodox Christian on campus. “I’ve often been told that if you can’t discipline how you nourish your body, you will find it much harder to discipline yourself in what you take in and keep out of your soul,” Thomas says about vegan fasting. “Fasting works your willpower muscles to strengthen you overall towards making good decisions in every area of life… it should often be a community endeavor. Having a regiment of fasting that the whole Church obeys unites the body of Christ.”
Baker is a vegan for different reasons. One of the main reasons is for his personal dietary health. “It’s not even about the merits of being vegan as much as it is the merits of watching what I’m eating,” Baker said, and launched into a story about how before going vegan, he would frequently overeat. Being vegan makes him more intentional about what he’s putting in his body.
Baker is also vegan because of ethical concerns. “Obviously, animals are not as important as humans, but they’re cool. They feel pain, they feel emotions, they’re very nice. I wouldn’t eat a dog, but pigs are smarter than dogs, and we eat pigs all the time… The lines seem very artificially drawn in a lot of circumstances. The ethics behind farming in general are pretty rough–we rely a lot on underpaid migrant workers. The less agriculture, the better… it takes 600 gallons [of water] to make one hamburger,” Baker said. This statistic seemed inflated, so I did a little fact checking after the interview, and found Baker was actually under-exaggerating. LA Times reports it takes 660 gallons of water for a ⅓ pound hamburger, and one pound of beef requires 1,799 gallons. Meanwhile, a pound of rice requires 449 gallons of water, a pound of corn requires 108 gallons of water and a pound of soybeans requires 216 gallons.
Vegans are here on campus, and they are not going away. What could Sodexo do to improve their dietary experience while at Eastern? Baker recalls the beginning of the year, where “plant-based takeovers” were more frequent at various stations. “Once a day they would have an explicitly plant-based meal at one of the stations. I really wish they could do that all the time,” Baker said. He also placed a big emphasis on website accuracy. “The website often just lies about what’s available. I’ll go to the d.c. like ‘oh okay, there will be plant-based carnitas.’ More times than not, it’s just completely false information,” Baker said. In general, more vegan options would be welcomed. “Everyone can eat vegan food, but not everyone can eat meat,” Baker pointed out.
Sources
Molli Sider-Rose 
Katherine Thomas 
Eva Whited