Vegetarianism At Carleton

Since I was pretty little, I kind of knew that I would want to go vegetarian at some point in my life. There were many reasons but they mostly boiled down to I wanted to make a change in my carbon footprint and my research showed that cutting out animal products, red meat in particular but all plant products, have a drastic effect on my carbon footprint. 

However, for most of my time at home I didn’t want to put the extra burden into making vegetarian options for me so I decided to wait until college to do this. Three months before I left for college, my family actually made vegetarian options for every meal (thank you so much mom and dad!) and I was curious if there would be a lot of options here at Carleton or if I would be restricted to only one or two options.

Turns out, there are actually a ton of options here!

There are a lot of times when I’m in the dining hall and there are two or three options that don’t look appealing to me on that day but low and behold there’s a fourth vegetarian option that looks good! 

At Carleton, there’s always a vegetarian option for soup, multiple vegetarian options in the entree sections, a salad and sandwich bar, and almost every side is vegetarian. This has made it really easy for me to find options which is so nice to not have an extra layer of stress to college.

Carleton has a big commitment to helping address the climate crisis through internal actions so picking eco friendly choices are encouraged on campus (although you can find so many different kinds of food if you don’t want to go vegetarian or you like red meat!)

I will say though, some of the vegetarian options are really popular *cough*tomato basil soup*cough.* So if I get to the dining hall late after a run or after rugby practice there may only be a couple options which can be frustrating but it’s rare. 

So now the big question: is the food good?

And the answer is (imagine a dramatic drumroll playing) it depends! I’ll be 100% honest: the food can be hit or miss. Most of the food is hits with only some misses and there are always some things that are consistent in the dining halls that you can rely on if needed. In my opinion, the soups are always a good option, as well as most things from the grill and the chopsticks and woks station. 

You can also know exactly what is vegetarian and what is not because everything is very clearly labeled vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, etc. If there is any confusion then you can just ask the people behind the counter and they are very helpful in clarifying what the food has.

And if you get something from the dining hall that you don’t like, it’s really easy to just get a different option. In addition, there’s a variety of options between meals. At Carleton, there’s two dining halls: Burton or LDC. If you don’t like lunch at one, if you go to dinner at the other, the options will be completely different. The options also change every day so there’s a really wide variety of foods to choose from every day.

Something that’s also nice about being vegetarian at Carleton is that everyone else is very accommodating of your needs. At every single club meeting I’ve been to, there has always been vegetarian options if they provide snacks or meals. Even things like day long field trips for classes will ask if there are any dietary restrictions and are very accommodating. 

Overall, the culture here is very conducive to making being a vegetarian or vegan super easy so if you are a vegetarian or you would like to try eating more plant based foods in general, Carleton College is a very good place to do so.

Grace (she/her) is always up for a good adventure and is right at home trying new things. At Carleton that’s everything from exploring new sections of the Arb to joining sports like rugby to meeting new people every day! She loves learning about the “whys” behind the world and hopes to be a physics major. You can find trying all the new clubs and opportunities she can at Carleton and hanging out with her friends.