Daily Life for a UMBC Veg
Being vegetarian or vegan in a new place can be a bit nerve-wracking, especially if you’ve just started. I know that a lot of people tend to make the decision to ‘go veg’ when they start college – it’s the first time most people are away from the pressures and influence of home and can try new things for themselves. While UMBC is actively working towards veg-friendly options (especially with the advocacy of a few active organizations and departments), there is still a lot that needs to be done.
It’s my third semester on this campus and I wanted to provide a run-down of the places to look for on campus when you’re in need of a quick meat or dairy-free meal amidst your busy schedule.
- True Grit’s (The Dining Hall): The dining hall definitely has its ups and downs. With staples like rice, hummus/pita chips, and pasta, you’re guaranteed to find something you can eat. Recently, there have been a lot more vegetable and tofu meals (or at least cold salads). There’s a soy milk tap and a decent cereal selection, along with many different sorts of breads and bagel choices; I really enjoy the jelly and apple butter spreads. Unfortunately, if you’re vegan, many things aren’t labeled and are cooked in butter so it may require being a bit crafty.
- The Commons: Between class, the Commons is dependable for a fast meal. Being vegan, here are a few of my favorite meal combinations:
o Jow Jing’s: Lo Mein (noodles) and their tofu selection or California veggie delight. It comes with a drink for a meal. Also, ask for white rice if your diet does not include eggs.
o Au Bon Pain: They just stared offering soups. For vegetarians, there is sometimes a broccoli cheddar option. For vegans, there is a Moroccan Lentil Tomato-type soup. Soy hot chocolate is really delicious, even though soymilk is a bit pricey.
o Salsaritas: Craft your own burrito meal that comes with chips and salsa. My two new favorite things to order are (1) a hard-shelled vegetarian taco (with rice, refried & black beans, medium salsa, guacamole, and tomatoes) and a side of chips and guacamole (YUM!) and (2) a vegan nachos (including the ingredients I listed above).
o Fresh Fusions: They just changed back to the salad bar. Last year they had really good tofu that you could mix with your salad, but don’t seem to have it this time around. It’s been requested, though, so hopefully we’ll see it again soon! They do a good job and the people are really friendly. I love balsamic vinaigrette dressing! (Warning: watch out for contamination)
o Mondo Subs: Oh, Mondo Subs. They have a very large bread selection and a yummy vegetarian delight the comes with lots of veggies, hummus (!!!!!!), and guacamole. I like adding lots of tomatoes, some pickles, and a bit of mustard.
Long story short, there are places to eat on campus if you don’t eat meat. However, it takes some searching to figure out what you like the most. I’m confident that campus will continue to move in the veg-friendly direction so become a part of the movement! (I’ll talk more about SGA’s new Department of Student Health and Wellness as well as the new student organization UMBC Vegetarians next time!)
- Stefanie
Thanks for posting this! I live off campus and almost always bring my lunch, but it’s nice to see other options. (I’m vegan) I’m always afraid that the employees at places in the commons will be completely clueless if I asked them about things. I LOVED salsa ricos, because you could get a big side of beans and rice for only like… $2, then fill it full of stuff at the salsa bar. I actually haven’t tried Salsaritas even though it has been here for over a year now.
Jow Jings also usually has veggie sushi, and sometimes rice stuffed in tofu skins.
Thanks so much for this post! I will be transferring in the spring, and I am so happy that my uni has so many great choices. UMBC is such a great uni! But you are right, there is more work to be done. I say, open a Chipotle in the commons!!!
Hi Stefanie,
I’m so pleased you posted, and have such a positive view. However, I do see some serious problems for vegetarian/vegan eats on campus. This is the post, I put on the UMBCUnderground site:
While the Chartwell’s staff do their best to produce and serve food, there are a few issues:
Firstly, the lack of variety of dishes. Vegetarian and vegan options are limited on campus, often restricted to creamy pasta, pizza or fried rice. Outtakes offers some overpriced salads, which are limited in the number or range of vegetables or proteins they could use. Meat alternatives such as soya, tofu, seitan, gluten are rarely ever used – I’m not sure why, as there would be a large demand.
Secondly, the fact that food offered is rather fattening. I do understand that some students want french fries, pizza, deep fried meat. However, there should be healthier vegetarian non-creamy soups, salad bar (not prepackaged), baked potatoes, healthy filling sandwiches, and other lighter options.
Thirdly, the level of hygiene. On previous occasions, I have seen some of the sandwich makers at Mondo Subs (Mezzanine level) handle money using the same gloves as food. Gloves are rarely changed between making sandwiches, causing cross-contamination. This is particularly unfortunate for vegetarians/vegans, who do not want the meat residue in their food! The same knives are used for cutting all sandwiches, which are wiped ‘clean’ on a dirty towel! More training is needed for staff.
I have offered some of these suggestions in the Suggestion Box located in the Commons and on stories discussed by the Retriever Weekly. I am very curious to find out if there has been any progress.
Thanks so much for your comment. My post was more coming at the perspective of what to do at the current moment, but I’m also involved on the advocacy side of this issue. I see serious problems and can attest to all of the things in your post. I’ll pass this information on to other students I know working on these issues. There are definitely people out fighting this year and it’s a slow process, but if you’d like to get more involved with student advocacy for vegetarian/vegan issues, shoot me an email: stefaniemavronis@gmail.com.
I wish that UMBC offered a vegetarian/vegan meal plan package because honestly I don’t think that we should have to pay the same amount for less food that’s less expensive and honestly lower quality and availability!! This really makes me hesitant to even buy a meal plan when I transfer over.
Also, I wonder if the soups are ever meat based even though they don’t contain pieces of meat? I’ve had a lot of trouble with this lately even from places that are “veg-friendly”.
This does make me happy that I may have more than a salad bar (bleh-boring!) to eat from (I’m vegetarian, not vegan…mainly because unless I live on my own I will starve haha) thanks for posting this so I can know what to keep an eye out for around campus.
Thanks Stefanie. I really appreciate the offer. The issue of cross-contamination is particularly important, not just for vegetarians/vegans/people with dietary restrictions, but also for reasons for sanitary reasons (i.e. bacteria on the meat transferring to the vegetables). It is one of the reasons why I refuse to eat at Mondo Subs, due to poor hygiene employed there. I can only hope the hygiene is better in the other outlets.
I haven’t eaten in the dining hall since… probably last fall. When I was there they had some sort of stirfry going on on the mongolian grill sort of thing. I can’t remember if it was teriyaki or kung pow or what, but they had two options: chicken or tofu. I asked if the tofu version was vegan and they guy asked me what vegan meant and I told him and he was like “yeah… there isn’t any meat or anything in it…” but I was suspicious. I said I was allergic to a bunch of stuff and asked if he had the ingredients of the sauce. He pulled out the jug to let me read. It had chicken broth in it.
Ugh.
That’s really awful. I know a few of my friends with food allergies have been having the hardest time figuring out what’s in what they’re eating. That, along with vegan concerns and other religious issues cannot be ignored. Labeling is something that students deserve, regardless of their reasoning for wanting to know what’s in their food. Personally, I just think it’s sort of unacceptable. Hopefully this is something that we can actually get Chartwells to do (as has been done by schools like Towson that also have Chartwells contracts) to promote a higher standard of food and less contamination/ fewer mystery ingredients across the board.
Feels good to know there are enough veggie options on campus now.. Its been a welcome change.. a change that I would have liked to see 4 years ago when i started here.. On the same note..I would add skylight (on certain days) and admin to the list of veggi hangouts.. Also, give that there is a sub on campus now (agreed its far away from commons), I think no can complain there arent any veggie options on campus.
On a side note, what really irks me is that I can’t find any campusfood.com type websites that cater to umbc. I find it really tough to get non-pizza food delivered to campus. Any suggestions on that??