UDUBHUSKIES

So, I am a senior in high school right now. So, when I am a freshman in college, I will be living on campus, and might have to have a meal plan. Now, I've gone on to other websites and they've talked about how the vegetables are doused in butter and oil. I'm lactose intolerant, and a vegetarian, so almost a vegan. I know I could get a vegan meal plan, but I'm just wondering if this really holds true at most places.

b@r!um

I went to a residential college where almost everyone was required to be on an unlimited meal plan for all 4 years, and the dining halls tried to be very accommodating of special needs. We also had a significant number of vegan students who survived in the dining halls.

Available at every lunch and dinner were a fully-stocked salad bar, a sandwich bar (with vegan cheese), pasta with marinara sauce, and cereal (with regular milk, lactose-free milk, soy milk and rice milk). The college also served at least one vegetarian entree at every meal, which was sometimes vegan and sometimes not. At dinner we also had a few frying pans where students could make their own stir-frys with veggies from the salad station.

b@r!um

Do most schools really have meal plans specifically for vegan students? I had never heard of that before.

Davidabb84

Yes. Most schools can now accommodate special diets and allergies.

Generally, large schools = more food options. Whether it's better is hit or miss. I managed to try the school food at every visit I went too. The best food I had was at a small LAC, but the three colleges (one wasn't a visit, but I'm counting it) at which I found the food absolute repugnant were also LACs. Also, (I was surprised at this), the larger schools I went too tended to have more healthy options.

I've never heard of salad bars having vegetables doused in butter or oil, so you could always go there. Nutrition information may also be available at your school's food services website. Your dorm may have a kitchen. It might not be a lot but you could make some of your food in their.

TracyJackson

You can get a meal plan and eat whatever you wanted to eat. There's a ton of options and just pick the ones you want...and leave the rest alone. In most places, if you live on campus, you are required to get a meal plan.

Ask your school for more infos...

sseamom

I assume you're hoping to go to UW, which has more dining options by far than any of the colleges my D looked at. There is no meal plan per se but a range of options you choose from the many restaurant/cafes around campus. See here: https://www.hfs.washington.edu/dining/residential/

Also, Seattle is very vegetarian friendly and there are a number of off-campus vegetarian and vegan, even raw food restaurants around town, and several are located close to UW. Really, you should be fine.

AUGirl

Isn't there something about having to be ADA compliant?

I know a girl who was allergic to peanuts and the school (which required meal plans) was forced to not only allow the girl to opt out of the meal plan, but to also give her on-campus housing that was apartment style so she could cook her own food.

Since you're lactose intolerant, perhaps that could apply to you.

I really don't know much of what I'm talking about, but it might be something to look into.

icedragon

It is ADA complient, however, at most the school could do would be to provide non-dairy items.

TheVet

most schools do accomdate

MissManda42

Try e-mailing the housing department or dining department if they have a separate address. They will either be able to assist you or will point you in the right direction. Some larger universities have dietitians that work with the dining department and will work with students with special diets due to medical or personal reasons.

To be honest, I've never heard of veggies being covered in butter and/or oil unless its one of those dishes that calls for it. Usually they're just raw or plain.

RoxSox

Yeah, there should usually be some sort of option. Worst case scenario, there should be a salad/fruit bar open pretty much all the time. If it's a big school there will most likely be plenty of options.

For what it's worth, I never really noticed the veggies being covered in butter/oil either. There would maybe be like one veggie being served on any given day that might have, but there were always lots of healthy options (salad, packaged sandwiches, fruit, cereal). They also always posted a complete list of ingredients on every single thing being served and noted if something was vegetarian/vegan.

Writer1992

This girl in my dorm last year was allergic to EVERYTHING. Well, not everything but you catch my drift. Somehow, she had it arranged with the cooks/chefs at our cafeteria that she would get custom-made plates of food a couple times a day that she could safely eat. I'm sure she had to talk to somebody to have this arranged and it probably sucked having to plan every trip to the cafeteria but it seemed to work out fine for her.

rebeccar

Does your school have kosher options? If so, look for things marked "pareve" or "parve"-- this means there's absolutely no dairy or meat in it, supervised meticulously by a rabbinical authority. They might contain eggs, but from what you've said, I don't think it'd be problematic for you.

Just trying to expand your options . At my school, at least, they're really good about kosher, vegetarian, vegan, and halal choices.

cty4ever

I'l go with rebeccar, even if you can't get a vegan meal plan, a kosher one would suit your needs. However, veggies aren't generally smothered in oil or butter, and every college I know of has soy milk at least.

MyPaperBleedsInk

Interesting.... our school just served the vegan/vegetarian food in the dining hall available to everyone on the meal plans. And most of the veggies/fruit dishes were quite health-ily made. To the point where I didn't like them, because I hate steamed vegetables.
I actually think at our school there was a lack of butter, salt, etc. Didn't even realize it until I went home and noticed that I could stand having as much butter/salt on my usual food.