How to be a Dorm Room Vegetarian or Vegan

Dining Hall Choices, Healthy Snacks, and Other Veggie Savvy Ideas

Apr 7, 2009

Do your homework to find out if a college or university is vegetarian or vegan friendly. Check out the dining halls, dorm kitchen options, and community resources.

Can a vegetarian or vegan student live comfortably in a dorm room, and find enough to eat in the campus dining hall? Fortunately, vegetarianism is much more common than it used to be, and many colleges and universities know how to accommodate students who choose to eat lower on the food chain. Here are some tips to help you live a vegetarian or vegan dorm room life.

Research Vegetarian-Friendly Colleges and Universities

When looking for a vegetarian-friendly school, find out if there are an abundance of vegetarian or vegan offerings in the cafeteria. It's also helpful to find out if there are vegetarian-friendly stores and restaurants nearby. If the school has some kind of vegetarian club, that's a very good sign.

Investigate the veggie-friendliness of a campus before you make the commitment to a school. At some colleges and universities, vegetarianism is so common that no one will think twice when you reach for that tofu taco. At other schools, you might be perceived as a cultural oddity.

Vegetarian and Vegan Dining Hall Options

Since dorm life eating is so centered around the campus dining hall, your life will obviously be easier if lots of veggie options are available. Scope out the cafeteria situation and find out what to expect. Ideally, there should be a separate section devoted to vegetarian and vegan selections, or at least a regular rotating menu of veggie items.

Unfortunately, not everyone is vegetarian savvy, so be aware that something called "vegetarian" might not really be. Watch out for food with "hidden meat" content such as chicken broth or gelatin. Because of food allergies, it's become more common for some cafeterias to list all the ingredients in foods, or at least to have that information available.

Dorm Kitchen Options

If the dining hall options aren't great, and even if they are, you may want to prepare some of your own foods in the dorm kitchen. Find out what's available before choosing a school, and if some dorms have better kitchens than others, request a dorm with a decent one.

For the most part, all you really need are a stove, a microwave, and a sink. You can store pots, pans, utensils, and other cooking basics in your room, and you can invest in a dorm room refrigerator.

Vegetarian and Vegan Dorm Room Snacks

Keep a selection of healthy and satisfying vegetarian or vegan snacks in your room. It's a good idea to have some snacks with protein around, in case the dining hall veggie options are low on non-meat protein alternatives. Here are some dorm room snack suggestions:

Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants and Stores

Another resource to check out is the availability and affordability of local vegetarian stores and restaurants. Co-ops are a great source of vegetarian and vegan food. You should also check out the vegetarian selection at local grocery stores. Fortunately, college campuses tend to have a population of vegetarians, so if there are just a few vegetarian resources in town, they just might be near campus.

Vegetarians on Campus

Vegetarianism has become a common lifestyle choice, especially for young people, and many college campuses reflect this. Do your research to find yourself a reasonably veggie-friendly school with good cafeteria choices, dorm kitchen options, and vegetarian stores and restaurants. Be prepared with a room full of vegetarian or vegan snacks and kitchen basics for preparing your own simple foods. With a little effort, there's no reason why you can't go meat-free throughout your college years.

The copyright of the article How to be a Dorm Room Vegetarian or Vegan in Student Housing is owned by Naomi Rockler-Gladen. Permission to republish How to be a Dorm Room Vegetarian or Vegan in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.