Complaints have long plagued the feedback TV screens at William & Mary’s dining halls. Whether they are warranted (the habitually dirty dishes definitely need to change) or rather rude (there’s a polite way of wording things, guys) the comments keep coming. Recently, I’ve noticed a wave of distaste towards Meatless Mondays, which, if I am not mistaken, Sadler will no longer be hosting -- perhaps due to all the complaints. These complaints have always left me confused. Meatless Mondays normally consist of a vegetarian main entree and a vegetarian pizza and pasta section. From what I’ve noticed the grill, Simple Servings section and sandwich station remain open to carnivores and continue to serve meat.
I stopped eating meat for good toward the end of my first semester in college. I figured that now that I was on my own with the responsibility of feeding myself daily, I could finally put into action my longtime wish of being a vegetarian. So, yes, I do know what chicken tastes like and, sure, I miss it on occasion. But I realized that, for me, giving up meat was actually a lot easier than I expected.
After a while I realized that the dining halls are not always brimming with vegetarian options. I’m sure most vegetarians on campus can relate when I say that the majority of the time, there are very few options for us to choose from (disclaimer: I’m actually a pescetarian, but the dining hall seafood is pretty sketchy and therefore often easily ruled out). When vegetarians enter Sadler, we tirelessly scope out the entire scene, journeying from Simple Servings to the vegan section, in hopes of finding something both meatless and edible. These searches are often fruitless (no pun intended) and result in a plate full of fries or plain rice. Meatless Mondays were a time when I knew there’d be at least one other option.
My wish is that the dining halls not only serve better vegetarian meals, but more options. It’s very frustrating to see that the egg and cheese sandwiches all have bacon in them, or that the Caesar salads are already mixed with chicken. I know I could ask an employee to prepare one without meat, but that both feels like I’m burdening them and forces me to wait several extra minutes for my meal -- I am not a patient person when it comes to food. It can’t be that difficult to have options already prepared for people who don’t eat meat.
People have dietary restrictions for a number of reasons, such as religion, health, allergies or personal choice. A wider variety of meatless meals that aren’t just a strange mix of vegetables with an incongruent blend of spices would make a lot of people on campus happier. And not all vegetarians are satisfied by salad and tofu every day -- some of us like chowing down on junk foods like pizza, but we can’t do that when everything is topped with pepperoni or other questionable meat products. So please hear me out when I politely ask that we tone down on the meat and bring out more veggies. Give peas a chance, one could say.
