By Shayna Frost | Staff writer
All across the country people are making the shift from eating meat to adopting a vegetarian
or vegan diet. The number of people who have made the choice not to eat meat is
large, and it seems that vegetarian friendly options for meals in school are shrinking.
For vegans, meals at school typically aren’t an option.
According to research done in June 2013 by the Vegetarian Research Group, about 7.3
million Americans are vegetarian and 1 million are vegan.
Google trends also shows that the word “vegan” has increased in search popularity.
The interest in veganism has risen from a popularity of 81 in August 2012, to a peak
high of 100 in August 2013.
Restaurant chains have recognized the demand for meatless products, and many have
adopted vegetarian friendly options. According to Technomic’s MenuMonitor database,
the instance of vegetarian menu items in restaurants has increased a whopping 22 percent
from March 2012 to March 2013. Even Burger King offers a veggie burger!
While the number of veg friendly options increase in restaurants, it seems that schools
appear to stay limited with their options. As of last year, Indian Trail had removed the
veggie burger off the lunch menu. This means there are extremely limited meal options now
for those who are vegetarian, restricted down to cheese pizza and veggie wraps (and not
much else). Not to mention, not a single vegan meal is available for students. This lack
of food options for vegans and vegetarians is causing students with these alternative diets
to go for the sweets and the junk food available, or go hungry.
“When I order lunch most of my choices are meat so I end up getting chips or ice
cream,” said Tiffany Panasewicz, a vegetarian junior at Indian Trail.
The limited numbers of vegetarian and vegan friendly options isn’t a problem related
to Indian Trail alone. Students from other Kenosha schools, such as Lakeview Technology
Academy and Christian Life School, are expressing similar struggle.
“I never eat lunch at my school simply because there are almost never any vegetarian
options. I usually end up leaving the school to buy fast food that I am able to eat,” said
Alex Merritt, a senior attending Lakeview Technology Academy.
“It bothered me that I did not have too many options to eat. So I ended up either eating
dessert or getting super hungry and eating at home,” said Armand Border, a homeschooled
senior, who previously attended Christian Life School.
Vegans typically have a much harder time finding meal options at school, or anywhere
else, due to the strictness of the diet. Vegans cannot eat any animal products; no eggs,
cheese, or dairy of any sort.
Becca McDermott, a senior at Lakeview Technology Academy, is a vegan that does
not have any school meal options that apply to her diet.
“Since freshman year I haven’t actually had a lunch at school. There is not a single
option for vegans, and few for vegetarians. I usually end up drinking Dr. Pepper and eating
Frito’s due to the lack of options. Occasionally I bring my own things, but it would
be nice to have at least one option,” said McDermott.
Merritt believes that veg students should have a variety of food options in order to
eliminate the struggle of eating at school.
“I personally think it’d be a lot easier on me and students in the same predicament if
the school offered vegetarian options during lunch,” said Merritt.