Dining Services on the lookout for veggies

Top ten answers on the board, here's the question . . . Richard Dawson would be proud, as University Dining Services will put out a survey for its vegetarian patrons throughout the week in the dining halls to solicit responses to its vegetarian offerings. Dining Services Director William Canney said approximately eight percent of Dining Services patrons are vegetarians -- a higher number than past years -- and that Dining Services would like to better gauge its efforts to accommodate those people. "Whether it's because of the increase in the [University's] international population or just because of the concept of eating less meats and eating healthier, [the growing number of vegetarians] is along the lines of a healthier trend," Canney said. Canney said the survey, intended to focus on the needs and opinions of vegetarians, will be distributed for a couple of days to "maximize getting as much information as possible." "Our goals are improving the vegetarian bar and meeting the needs of our vegetarians, finding out what their likes and dislikes are," Canney said last week. Nutrition Director Jill Colehower, who designed the survey, said it is also meant to gain feedback as to why the students are vegetarians and if they would like more nutrition information to be made available in University dining halls. Colehower said the survey is intended to figure out what kinds of vegetarians patronize Dining Services, and to make meals more accessible to such specialized vegetarians, such as vegans -- people who do not eat any animal products. "This information would really be helpful to us," Colehower said. "We've stepped up our program in the past year." Colehower said there are currently 35 vegetarian items offered in the dining halls on the vegetarian bar alone, 26 of which are vegan. In addition, there are 30 vegetarian items on the regular food lines, 10 of which are vegan. "We think we're moving in the right direction," Colehower said. "We just need input from students." "We constantly want to improve every aspect of our program," Canney said. Canney mentioned the possibility of the survey acting as a catalyst for further action in improving vegetarian service and selections. "We'd like to set up a focus group after the survey, so that we can gather information on a more continuous basis," Canney said.

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