Duke Dining is continuing to expand its vegan options on campus in light of student concern over accessibility.
Duke Dining Executive Chef Joseph Dowe expressed that although it is difficult to provide adequate vegan options for people representing a variety of eating preferences, he said he plans to continuously experiment with certain foods and then offer the successful dishes more consistently in Penn Pavillion. For example, this month’s Chef’s Chatter Series at the Marketplace and Penn Pavillion offered a variety of sample vegan dishes by Dowe and fellow chef Joe LaPorte.
“The trick is something that’s filling,” Dowe said. “People want vegan food to taste like steak or chicken—well, it’s not. We try to keep our food as real as possible, providing dishes made with products from the earth rather than those that are processed.”
Lavanya Sunder, vice president for services of Duke Student Government, said that despite complaints about lack of dining options in general, there have been few complaints about specifically vegetarian and vegan options. However, a lack of information regarding the vegan foods’ location has presented a larger problem than the quality of the food.
“The problem is that students don’t know where these options are,” Sunder said. “There is a lack of readily available information.”
Because of recent dining changes, DSG and Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee are working alongside the Nutrition Education Task Force—a student group promoting nutrition and healthy dining at Duke—in order to increase this accessible information and improve labeling, Sunder said.
Sunder also said that Bon Appetit, a food management company Duke uses, is currently overhauling nutrition in Penn Pavillion.
“The wheels are already turning,” she said.
Dishes at the November Chef’s Chatter, which occurred in celebration of National Vegan Month, included black bean wraps, portabello sloppy joe sliders, lentil soup and vegan bruschetta-.
Junior Sandy Ren, a non-vegan said the vegan sloppy joe was better than any meat forms of it she had eaten.
“I was blown away by it,” Ren said.
This kind of enthusiasm for vegan dishes is something Dowe aims for. Although he has heard no complaints about the quality of vegan food options, he said people are always looking for additional choices.
Other special dietary preferences are on DSG’s radar as well, such as attempting to provide sufficient options for those who keep kosher.
The population of students who keep kosher is relatively small and Duke does what it needs to for the Jewish Community, said Rachel Fraade, vice president of religious life for the Jewish Student Union. However, those who do keep kosher can find it to be a costly and inconvenient practice on campus.
“Food at the Freeman Center [for Jewish Life] is very good, but it can be out of the way and become very expensive,” Fraade said.
The Freeman Center serves kosher dinner five nights per week with dishes that often include meat.
Fraade said most kosher students tend to follow vegetarian diets in order to avoid dealing with kosher meat restrictions.
“The biggest suggestion, therefore, is to provide more vegetarian options and to improve the level of convenience,” she said.
Fraade speculated that with the upcoming opening of West Union and the prospect of a more expansive kitchen, however, dining services may be better able to serve the needs of those with special dietary preferences.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.