UH students want change in the dining halls
Plant-based students are asking for more dining options around campus
With the idea of conscious eating rapidly expanding within college-aged circles, students weigh in on how the University of Houston can incorporate more plant-based options into the university’s dining facilities.
Focusing on a diet that implements significantly cutting back animal-based food consumption or eliminating it altogether, plant-based diets are becoming increasingly popular due to its exposure online and accessibility to meat alternatives in supermarkets.
Though the accessibility for plant-based options seems to flourish outside of campus, some students at UH seem to think this may not provide the same accessibility to students compared to customers at supermarkets.
Christian Montelongo, a UH junior who has been on a plant-based diet for the past three years, feels his options at the dining facilities on campus are limited to only a few different restaurants within the student center.
“I feel like here at UH we don’t have that many options when it comes to plant-based eating,” Montelongo says.
“There’s a couple things you can substitute here and there at some places, but I think probably Freshii and Smoothie King are the only places that cater to plant-based eating.”
Additionally, Jonathan Marti, a UH sophomore who became plant-based over the past seven months, elects not to eat when he is on campus, but when he does, he eats something very small and convenient.
“When I’m on campus I usually don’t eat. I’m only there for a couple of hours so I just wait until I get home and make my own food,” Marti says.
“When I do, I normally just get some chips. Something that’s pretty quick if I’m hungry.”
Though Marti may decide on occasion to buy chips from the Student Center Market to satisfy a craving, he outlines some dining establishments outside of the Student Center that offer different options for plant-based individuals.
“I do go to the Mai’s food truck sometimes,” says Marti. “I also go to Pink’s Pizza. They have options for me there as well.”
With the landscape of popular diet trends and lifestyle changes rapidly developing within Generation Z, these individuals seem to favor a diet rich with plant-based foods.
According to research conducted by American food service vendor Aramark Corporation, over 70 percent of their 800-person study claimed that they identified as adhering to a plant-based diet.
With over two-thirds of the study representing a community that opts out of eating animals, corporations such as Aramark are beginning to provide additional options to the dining facilities in the Universities that they service.
One thing that students describe is that they do not believe that University dining services are giving them enough options that pertain to their plant-forward lifestyle.
Montelongo notes that he hasn’t noticed any options being added by the administration to dining locations around campus but says that Asian fast-food restaurant Panda Express, located in Student Center South, has changed their recipe to satisfy persons with dietary restrictions.
“The only thing I can think of is Panda Express changing the things that they put in their noodles,” says Montelongo. “But, that’s just a chain thing.”
Marti notes that the campus’ lack of plant-based options within their dining facilities.
“I have not noticed any additional changes in the campus for plant-based diet eaters,” Marti says.
As these students struggle to find convenient options for eating on campus, they have offered different ideas for the UH administration to implement to make dining easier for the rest of the plant-based population on campus.
“I feel that the University can implement more options for people that are plant-based just by allocating aside some funds and try to open up some more restaurants that are a bit more expansive in their choices so that we can actually have an option to eat anything other than just a bagel and a smoothie,” says Montelongo.
Marti feels that the administration can update the menus at their dining facilities to better cater to certain dietary needs.
“The University can change by implementing funds for maybe not just new restaurants but the places that we already have include options for us,” Marti says.
According to research on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on their “Vegan Report Card”, 267 campuses across the United States were labeled as vegan-friendly based on student ratings.
The University of Houston’s current grade on PETA’s Vegan Report Card is a B+ with an 88 percent student satisfaction rating.
