<e vegans happy with the food options at Carleton? This year, like in years past, Carleton did not make People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal’s (PETA’s) list of most vegan-friendly colleges.
The reason why Carleton did not make the PETA list is that Carleton students did not nominate Carleton for the list. Anna Larson ’15, Co-President of Food Truth and a vegan, said, “to be considered, a college has to nominate itself and promote the contest. Carleton students didn’t do that this year, so we weren’t in the running.”
Many vegan students think dining services provides good vegetarian options. Larson said, “I think that Bon Appetit is aware that many students are interested in vegetarian and vegan food. I think they provide good options, but there could be improvements.”
Other students think that vegan options are more lacking. Josie Bealle ’16, a vegan, said, “in terms of vegan dining options at Carleton, there are good days and bad days. There is always vegan food, but sometimes it may not be good or it may be difficult to find something with protein.”
According to PETA, Carleton did not make the list due to lack of good vegan options but to other college’s offering even more vegan options. Kenneth Montville, College Campaigns Assistant for PETA, said “while Carleton didn’t make it onto the list this year it isn’t necessarily because the university is lacking in any way. To the contrary it is because so many other schools are moving so quickly.”
Bealle said, “Carleton does have some vegan food, but I’m guessing its competitors like Oberlin and Vassar outshine it in this department.” Montville compared Carleton’s vegan options to colleges that have opened entirely vegan dining halls, an option unappealing to most Carleton students.
Dining services consistently works to improve vegan options at Carleton. Jennifer Pope, the Dining Services Manager, said, “I think we have a good selection of vegan items daily. The chefs are working on providing more vegan options at breakfast, as that is a comment we have heard this fall.”
Overall, dining services responds to what Carleton students want. Pope said, “our guests ‘vote with their forks.’ If we make an entrée and we do not serve very much of it, we take it out of the menu rotation. If we make an entrée that we go through more portions [of] we will menu that more often.”