STAFF EDIT: Consider more vegan options

Veganism is becoming an ever popular dietary preference in the United States, and many Boston University vegans say that Dining Services, which oversees the food served in dining halls and in Late Night Cafés, is simply not rising to meet that demand fast enough. The most common complaint is that vegan options in dining halls are simply not varied enough that if Dining Services put in just a bit more creativity and effort, its staffers would realize that there are a lot of options even in the narrow spectrum of vegan food preparation.

While Dining Services must draw the line somewhere as to how specifically it can feasibly cater to student dietary needs, it is clear that more of an effort must be made to vary the vegan cuisine served. Simply pointing students to the salad bar or the rice bowl in the hopes that they will concoct their own meals is not fair. At the same time, no segment of BU’s collective dining preferences will ever be fully satisfied. But both Dining Services and Boston University policy makers alike should consider a few changes that would ease the unavoidable conflict.

First, BU should stop requiring students in dormitory-style residences to have a dining plan. Vegans in dorm-style residences then would not have to spend a set amount of money on eating in dining halls; they could use it to explore other dining options.

Second, Dining Services officials could attack their own seeming lack of creativity by realizing that many employees do not know the difference between what is vegan food and what is not. There are many common misconceptions about vegan food preparation that are certainly not obvious, even compared to vegetarian food preparation. Dining Services Director Joshua Hubbard told The Daily Free Press that dining services relies on its employees to point student eaters to vegan options in the dining hall. If Dining Services took the time to train its employees in exactly what is vegan and what is not, they would probably find some more ideas through their own teaching.

BU should consider tailoring specific dining halls or sections of dining halls to all-vegan entrees, at least in a more direct manner than placing them discreetly in corners of dining halls and hoping students will be able to find them with or without the help of potentially unknowledgable employees. While it is certainly a lot of work to tailor specific meals to meet the demands of minority diet preferences, BU Dining Services could certainly do more than throwing a few, unvaried options out there and hoping it all just works itself out.