I am a vegetarian, and I was upset by some of the comments made by Chris Kelbley in his article “Students should be given more food choices on campus.” I don’t know Chris personally, and I don’t want to sound like I am attacking him, but I think some of his views about a vegetarian lifestyle seemed narrow minded.

I do not think that the quality or variety of the food that is served to non-vegetarian students suffers because the University has chosen to serve vegetarian dishes. Out of the many choices that were offered tonight during dinner at Commons only two were vegetarian. I think it is worth mentioning that non-vegetarian students have the option of choosing vegetarian dishes, but vegetarians do not have the same luxury of choosing the dishes with meat in them. In that respect, I think that it is actually vegetarians who have the limited options.

When I toured the University, I made a point of asking if dining services prepared vegetarian meals (I didn’t want to go to a school where I would starve). When I received the response “We have a salad bar,” I laughed. Do non-vegetarians really think that all vegetarians eat are salads? I’d like to point out that eating salads made of iceberg lettuce really don’t provide that much nutritional value, and vegetarians can’t be expected to live off those alone or else we’d never survive. I’d also like to point out that the “small pieces of bacon or ham” that Chris would like mixed up in his salad may not already be in the lettuce, but they still are offered on the salad bar. This is yet another option for students who eat meat.

One last thing I’d like to say is that there are many private businesses that did change their menus in order to offer more options to vegetarians. Many restaurants serve boca burgers, pasta with meatless sauce, vegetable sandwiches, etc. They recognize the fact that there are vegetarians in this world, and I think it is only right that this University has done the same.

I did not “make up reasons why I cannot eat certain foods” just to be difficult. Being a vegetarian is my choice. It’s something that I believe in and that I do for my health. It’s as much my right to be a vegetarian as it is for someone else not to be. I am not complaining in order to get my way or to take away rights from other people. I am simply asking for a little consideration.