Minnesota State University Reporter

Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Campus News

What do singer/songwriter Paul McCartney, actress Drew Barrymore, rapper Dr. Dre and Plato have in common? They're vegetarians.

In a survey of 41 students and faculty members conducted last month by Students for Organic Options at Minnesota State, 32 percent said they were vegan, vegetarian or organic eaters. Students and faculty are encouraged by Students for Organic Options to wear green today in an effort to create organic, vegan and vegetarian food awareness on campus.

The American Dietetic Association says that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.

Registered MSU dietitian Rebecca Gruenes said that vegetarians need to watch intake of certain nutrients such as protein, calcium, vitamin B12, iron and zinc ,since they are mainly found in meat and milk products.

"These are [nutrients] that certainly even someone who is eating meat can be deficient in too, but they are important to pay attention to," she said. Gruenes also recommends taking a multivitamin.

Just a few of the health benefits highlighted in the "Eating Vegetarian" handout available at Student Health Services are lower rates of heart disease, less likelihood of high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, lower rates of some types of cancer and a possible lower rate of adult-onset diabetes. The American Dietetic Association also says that studies indicate lower rates of morbidity and mortality, lower incidence of hypertension and lower incidence of lung and colorectal cancer.

"There are certainly some good benefits of having a vegetarian diet," Gruenes said.

MSU mass communications major Jenny Sodomka said that for her, abstaining from meat leaves more room for a more balanced diet of fruits and vegetables.

"Also, I'm probably not getting cancer from all the pesticides," she said. Sodomka cited ethical reasons for becoming a vegetarian.

"It just seems like the most compassionate thing to do. Eating meat isn't necessary," she said.

Brad Freihoefer, senior women's studies and philosophy major and vegetarian of four years, cited health reasons, animal rights issues and factory farming as reasons for becoming a vegetarian.

"Most of factory farming is done in a pretty brutal way," he said.

According to GoVeg.org, while "on the range," cows may receive inadequate veterinary care, and as a result may suffer or die from infection and injury, cattle in feedlots are fed a very unnatural diet to fatten them up. This diet causes chronic digestive pain. According to a study published in the Journal of Animal Science, this diet also causes potentially fatal liver abscesses in as many as 32 percent of cattle raised for beef.

General Manager of Dining Services at MSU, William Harvey, said that Sodexho and MSU Campus Dining Services gets its meat products through various national contracts with large meat processors such as Tyson Foods, IVP, Koch Poultry and Hormel, among others.

Produce is purchased from a company out of the cities, said Harvey, which buys its produce from all over the country. MSU Campus Dining Services does not currently provide any organic produce.

"At this time we have not had a large request for organic produce, so we have not been purchasing that," said Harvey. Harvey added he has only received two requests for vegetarian or organic options on campus since he has been employed at MSU.

"I'm not a vegetarian or strictly organic consumer, but I do try to make natural and organic food choices whenever possible," said Elizabeth Harsma, a second year graduate student. "I continue to eat on the salad because it's convenient, but a lot of times the salads will be wilted or the vegetables will be soggy…As far as fresh made choices, they're not that good."

Sophomore Marie Balano is not a vegetarian. She lives on campus and eats there twice a day. She said she doesn't notice whether there are enough vegetarian options, but has tried the vegetarian food and thought it was good.

Junior Ana Gonzalez said she thinks there are enough vegetarian options on campus, however the quality of the options is lacking.

"I think that starting with the salad bar, the vegetables need to be fresher, and it's always tofu. That's all they have. I think it needs a lot more variety," she said.

Senior Stacy Brand has been working with university dining for four years in the Gage cafeteria, and said many students may not know what foods are vegetarian, such as lasagna.

"I do feel that from last year to this year there are a lot more options now that Sodexho has stabilized, we have more to offer," she said. "The company has only been here two years, so I think there are still a lot of things to improve and we're working towards it."

She added that when vegetarian options are offered, some students turn their noses up or give funny looks.

"The other day we had calzones with garbanzo beans and hummus and they were baked, and people would just give us nasty looks and walk away."

Brand added that although some vegetarian options are cooked in an oven of stove-top, they never come into contact with meat.

There have been vast improvements in the last 16 months that Sodexho has been providing food services to MSU's campus dining services.

"We offer a vegetarian and vegan option every day in our dining facilities in Carkoski and Gage," said Harvey. "We also use a program called SMG - that's a nutrition-based program that would tell you what vegetarian or vegan options are being served throughout the facilities.

"Visiting the different facilities, it's just surprising the number of people that are choosing it. They're even saying 'well I'm not a vegetarian, but I like the option.'"

These menus contain various options such as grilled cheese, egg noodles, cheese pizza and soups, however, many of the soups contain meat broth or bits of bacon.

Menus for the day and for the rest of the week are available on the Campus Dining Services homepage under "What's for Dinner?" in the Residential Dining section. Jazzmine's Café offers fair-trade coffee and soy milk, as well as vegetable sandwiches and fruit parfaits. Campus Dining Services also offers a veggie burger at the grill in the Centennial Student Union and in Carkoski commons.

Many vegetarian students, however, do not feel MSU offers a wide enough variety of vegetarian options on-campus. Of the students and faculty surveyed by the Students for Organic Options, 68 percent did not feel that MSU offered full meals for vegan, vegetarian, or organic consumers and 39 percent said they felt that the vegetarian, vegan and organic options offered on campus were poor.

Many students also noted the prices of some of the vegetarian options provided on-campus.

"It's really weird," said Freihoefer, "Any of the healthy stuff costs and arm and a leg. We're talking five dollars for a sandwich or a salad. I can go to the co-op and get something that is totally organic and vegetarian and pay relatively the same price." Even then, many of the pre-packaged salads have meat already on them and a vegetable sandwich pre-packaged and available at the cooler at Jazzmine's costs $4.79.

Suggestions to help solve the issue included more vegetable platters, dishes featuring tofu, more cooked and raw vegetables and cooked quinoa (a grain rich in fiber). Several even suggested an eatery featuring only organic or vegetarian cuisine.

Brittney Hansen is a Reporter staff writer

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