Is UT a vegetarian-friendly college?

Not according to peta2, which is an offspring of Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) that is geared toward college-age people. Both Peta and peta2 are very radical, in-your-face groups, so I’m a little weary of them. But, thousands of people voted for the most vegetarian-friendly colleges in the U.S. and Canada. Here are the U.S. winners: 1. Indiana University-Bloomington, 2. Humboldt State University, 3. University of Puget Sound, 4. Yale University, 5. SUNY Purchase, 6. Oberlin College, 7. New York University, 8. University of California-Berkeley, 9. University of Pennsylvania, 10. University of Florida.

So the Longhorns didn’t make the list. But that certainly doesn’t mean we aren’t vegetarian-friendly here on campus. Although UT could definitely do more to cater to vegetarians, the list of vegetarian-friendly colleges is simply based on access to veggie-friendly food on campus.

According to the Division of Housing and Food Service, the most recent surveys show that about 6 percent of UT students living in residence halls are vegetarians. In the dining halls, menus that have no animal products are marked green. And if they aren’t marked green, but clearly aren’t animal products, beware: “We cannot guarantee that french fries, onion rings, hush puppies, and fried okra have been fried in oil that has not been used to fry animal products (fish, poultry, meat),” the DHFS Web site states.

There are vegetarian options in every dining hall on campus, but often not in the form of full vegetarian meals. DHFS says most vegetarian options around dinner time are categorized as side dishes. This is probably where UT lacks the most: complete vegetarian meals.

In 1995, DHFS created a student Vegetarian Focus Group that gives suggestions to DHFS about ways to make dining on campus more veggie friendly. Contact mjones@austin.utexas.edu to join.

DHFS has its own vegetarian food guide pyramid (I think the Mayo Clinic’s is better):

Now vegetarian-friendly options at the Union and right off campus (the Drag) is a totally different issue — something a DHFS focus group can’t really control.