Stonehill College's Dining Hall Opens Up Their Kitchen to Vegan Students

By Maegan Lutinski

Generation Z has made itself loud and clear. Its members are adopting a vegan lifestyle in record numbers, and the college food service industry, an $18 billion a year business,  is listening.

Campuses around the country are responding by changing dining hall menus and increasing vegan options to keep current students happy and lure prospective students to commit -- and Stonehill is no different. The vegan menu at Stonehill College is expanding as a vegetarian diet becomes more popular for its students.

A survey was handed out last week on campus to 20 students and faculty that have identified as following a vegetarian diet, said Campus Dietician Kim Pierce. The survey will collect feedback on current vegan items in the dining commons so that staff can plan for upcoming spring menus.

“The current menu can be repetitive...sometimes I feel like I am eating the same meal over and over again; there are not enough options,” said Clancy Nee, 21, a senior and vegetarian at the college.

Pierce explained the schedule of vegan options as a four-week rotating menu.

“Because it is mostly a ‘build’ menu, many stations can be built to have vegetarian/vegan options,” she said. Students can access this sub menu located on the school website called “What’s vegetarian/What’s vegan today.”

Nee has used this resource to build many of her own vegan dinners.

“You can call ahead of time and have meals made but you have to time it and plan beforehand so the process can be very tedious,” she said.

Nee spoke highly about the new vegan options in the bakery.

“This year they have expanded the dessert section. There are vegan baked goods, such as a variety of cookies and banana bread, which I am really happy to see; some people even prefer the vegan baked goods over the non-vegan options,” she said.

Pierce is excited about the new items the dining commons have added to their vegan menu.

“This semester we have added the plant-based seeds at the salad bar (flax, chia, pumpkin and sunflower) and the non-dairy yogurts (located in the bakery),” she said.

Pierce said these new additions provide sources of protein that can otherwise be challenging for vegans to get in their diet without consuming meat or dairy.

“Vegans just need to be more creative with their protein choices and ensure their meals contain a calcium-enriched item in place of the dairy group,” she said.

Pierce suggests that all students try to aim to get at least two to three different food groups with breakfast and all five food groups with lunch and dinner.  

Sodexo, the college’s food provider,  is also working with a vendor who specializes in "specialty foods" so that the college can continue to meet the demands of students with new ancient grain-based meals.

“We had a sweet pea and freekeh salad just last week,” said Pierce.

The new vegan items are becoming popular for non-vegan students as well.

“Many of my friends who are not vegan even get excited about the vegan cookies and new salad bar options. It is great that all students have access to these items and can practice a healthier diet even if they are not vegan,” said Madison Cotton.

Cotton is not a vegan but said she still looks forward to many vegan items in the dining hall.

“The vegan chocolate chunk cookies are my favorite dessert option that the dining commons has,” Cotton said.

Students also have the opportunity to provide feedback about these new dining options and also contribute new ideas.

“As always, I encourage students to provide feedback. They can do this through the napkin notes (text napkinnote to 82257), by attending the food committee meetings every other Thursday at 1:00pm, or by meeting with me,” said Pierce.

Meaghan Arsenault, a senior at Stonehill College, said the napkin notes have been a helpful way to provide feedback throughout her years at the college.

“I have used the system to add quinoa to the salad bar. It is really exciting to see a request you have made be put into place in the dining hall. I like feeling that us as students have a say in the foods here,” said Meaghan Arsenault, 22.

Nee also suggests an increase in the number of each vegan item made.

“Sometimes they run out of vegan items fairly quickly...since items such as the vegan chocolate chunk cookies are so popular, they should not only look into having more vegan options, but also increase the quantity of the ones they do have,” Nee said.