The vegan banana nut muffins and peanut butter cookies on the table seemed like a peace offering.
Chartwells, the U’s food service provider, held a meeting to address the petition submitted by You for Animal Liberation (Y4AL), a U vegan group. Y4AL is advocating for more plant-based-food options and had presented their proposal on Oct. 19.
Reggie Conerly, the resident district manager, began the meeting by outlining the vegan options that currently exist at the Union. Matt Seare, head chef at the PHC Dining Hall, stated 65 percent of the food served is already vegan.
Seare showed Y4AL representatives binders with examples of the options at the dining hall. Some of the vegan choices, such as cookies and soft-serve ice cream, go unnoticed by students maintaining a plant-based diet.
To increase awareness, Chartwells said it intends to utilize labels. Vegan dishes are signified by a blue symbol with two leaves, and vegetarian dishes a single green leaf.
In addition, Chartwells said it is working on expanding the vegan menu. Peter Hodgson, Union head chef, has created a new veggie burger for Grill Nation. Seare is currently negotiating with Hampton Creek, a company that specializes in plant-based foods, to procure eggless eggs for baked goods.
Additionally, Chartwells said if it’s granted space in the new OSH building, there are plans to open a station with exclusively vegan and vegetarian food.
Hoping to help Chartwells extend vegan menu items, Y4AL presented chefs with Vegan in Volume, a cookbook by Nancy Berkoff that specializes in making vegan food for large amounts of people. Natalie Blanton, founder of the group, also offered to advertise Chartwells’ vegan options on Y4AL’s Facebook page.
Jason Wyckoff, the faculty advisor of Y4AL, said even though the group is only a year old, it’s bringing a voice back to the vegan community.
“It’s been a while since there was any vegan group on campus,” Wyckoff said. “Having engaged in activism, our presence increases the demand [for vegan food].”
In the U.S., one in 150 people are vegan, according to the Vegetarian Research Group. That accounts for nearly 300 vegan undergraduate students alone.
Melody Anderson, the marketing manager at Chartwells said, “If we partner together we can move forward with continuous change.”
@emilyinorgandy