While vegan and vegetarian students expressed both appreciation of Yale Dining’s offerings, some had concerns over protein options and entrees at residential college dining halls.
Elspeth Yeh
YuLin Zhen, Photography Editor
Yale University dining halls have garnered their fair share of online attention for their varied offerings. However, for vegetarian and vegan students at Yale, the dining hall experience is often a balancing act.
Young Americans, especially, have increasingly adopted plant-based diets. A 2023 study conducted by the Food for Climate League found that 83 percent of Generation Z expressed interest in consuming more plant-based foods. With vegetarianism on the rise, providing high-quality non-meat options is becoming more imperative for university dining halls.
Yale Dining has consistently taken steps toward enhancing its plant-based options, and these efforts have not gone unnoticed by students.
“There’s always something that’s vegan, which I appreciate. I do not take it for granted,” said vegan student Hila Tor ’28.
However, when asked whether or not she felt as though the dining halls’ vegan menu was entirely successful, Tor was more reserved. She told the News that the answer is not a “clear yes or no.”
A lack of protein-rich dishes is a universal concern brought up by the vegetarian and vegan students the News spoke with. Maintaining a healthy protein intake already requires additional attention for those on plant-based diets. Many voiced that unsatisfactory provisions in the dining halls were an obstacle to meeting their protein goals.
“I literally think there are no protein options. Other than the occasional tofu, which is like once every three days,” vegetarian student Divya Subramanian ’28 said.
Madeleine Loewen ’24.5, who keeps kosher, expressed similar grievances.
The numerous restrictions surrounding what can and cannot be served with meat in the kosher diet often force Loewen to opt for vegetarian dishes.
“They really only have pasta. There’s not many vegetarian options,” she said. “I do worry about getting enough protein.”
One major factor is the frequency with which non-meat hot entrees feature a fake meat substitute as their main ingredient.
Plant-based meat alternatives that mimic animal products are a rapidly growing industry, but many remain skeptical as to their nutritional value. Studies found that plant-based meat substitutes often do not contain the vitamins and minerals found in animal proteins. Furthermore, fake meats fall into the category of artificial foods that have been linked to various increased health risks.
Additionally, many choose a vegetarian lifestyle due to an aversion to the texture or taste of meat, which these products attempt to recreate. Dishes that incorporate meat substitutes thereby alienate this group and limit their options.
“No, I can’t do it. I don’t know why; it freaks me out. I can’t do it,” Loewen said when asked about artificial meats.
Tor echoed this sentiment, referring to Yale dining’s frequent “strange and artsy” vegan meals.
Subramanian voiced nutritional concerns about meat substitutes, worrying that they do not have “much protein.” She also stressed her ardent love for tofu tenders — Yale’s non-meat offering on the coveted “Chicken Tender Thursday.”
The focus on vegan options often comes at the expense of vegetarians, who can fall through the cracks. In Yale Hospitality’s push to provide more vegan-friendly dishes, the dining halls may have cut back on vegetarian meals that include dairy or eggs — key sources of protein for many vegetarians.
The News sampled a week’s worth of Stiles’ Residential Dining menus and found that only four of the 14 lunch and dinner menus included a vegetarian entree.
Outside of residential dining halls, Rooted, one of the venues in Schwartzman Center’s Commons Dining Hall serves entirely vegetarian meals and offers vegan and gluten-free options four lunches a week.
Yale Hospitality has also expanded its “Smart Meal” program which allows students to use the Yale Hospitality mobile app to order meals from any dining hall for both lunch and dinner. Two of the options on this menu are plant-based: a Caesar salad and a falafel wrap.
Yale Hospitality Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications Alexa Gotthardt told the News that changes to Yale’s residential dining hall menus for the 2024-25 academic year included an increased frequency of the most popular vegetables. Gotthardt stressed that student feedback played a crucial role in determining which vegetables would be available as side dishes.
Gotthardt emphasized that student well-being remains central to Yale Hospitality’s menu design philosophy. She told the News that specific attention to the soup offerings mandated one vegan, one vegetarian, and two animal-based options over the course of the four-week cycle.
Another new development in Yale’s dining halls is an increased offering of overnight oats at breakfast and brunch. Both Subramanian and Lowen expressed contentment with the breakfast offerings at Yale, which provide the greatest variety of non-meat foods.
“We strive to offer balanced, inclusive, and approachable menus so we can satisfy the diverse community on campus,” said Yale Hospitality’s culinary team, according to Gotthardt.
Yale Hospitality caters 14 residential dining halls and 16 additional dining locations.