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When Annie Stump goes out to eat, choosing an entrée is more difficult than simply skimming a menu for the most appetizing choice.
Stump, a hotel and restaurant administration senior and a vegetarian for four years, became a vegan a year ago. Checking for animal byproducts in every item before she orders is a habit.
“It is hard to defend the way I eat when no one else has to,” Stump said. “I don’t ever really get frustrated because I always know why I do it.”
Stump said one of the reasons she has maintained her vegan lifestyle is because of her strong support system. One of Stump’s greatest supports has been her boyfriend, Tim Welch, also a vegan. They met during an ECO-OSU meeting about a month after she decided to become a vegan.
“We basically did it together,” Stump said. “Just having someone to lean on when you want a Cheez-It is important.”
She said the easiest choice while living in Stillwater is to cook their own meals together in large batches for the entire week. They also eat at restaurants like Shalimar, 2617 W. Sixth Ave., and Nagoya, 2260 N. Perkins Road.
Laney Brassield, Nagoya employee, said offering vegan and vegetarian options is important for the restaurant.
“My bosses came from New York City and they worked with a variety of food,” Brassield said. “They wanted to bring that to Stillwater.”
Nagoya offers vegetable rolls in place of sushi rolls. Cucumber, avocado, sweet potato and even a pickle roll are vegan choices at Nagoya, she said.
“We also have vegetables and fried rice,” Brassield said. “The rice has egg in it, but you can get it without and that is vegan.”
For fast food, she eats at chalupas at Taco Bell.
One of the biggest misconceptions about veganism is that it is expensive, Stump said.
“I am one of the poorest college students and being a vegan is helpful,” Stump said. “As long as you go to the grocery, it saves money.”
Stump became a vegan because she is against the processes the animals go through and did not want it on her conscience. She said she avoids the egg industry for its treatment of chickens as well as the milk industry because of its indirect support of the veal industry.
“If it were 12 chickens on a farm laying eggs like the way it used to be done, then I would be fine,” she said. “But food products are so commercialized anymore it is basically torture.”
The OSU University Dining Services has started programs to better accommodate vegetarian and vegan diets with programs, such as last year’s push for more organic products.
Terry Baker, director of University Dining Services, said it began “Farm to University” this year, which is a program that brings in fresher farm products.
“We work with local farms to bring feature local produce for a more fresh and healthy menu,” Baker said.
University Dining Services offers vegan options at almost every location, particularly the two stir fry stations and four salad bars. Baker recommends sending comments to the
University Dining Services Web site if more options are needed to accommodate a vegan diet.
“We try to focus on organic and healthy choices,” Baker said. “As we branch out, there will be even more options.”
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There’s a difference:
Vegetarian — a person who does not eat or does not believe in eating meat, fish, fowl and sometimes food derived from animals, such as eggs or cheese, but subsists on vegetables, fruits, nuts, grain, etc.
Vegan — a vegetarian who omits all animal products from the diet.
13 comments
This is the second article that I have seen over an individual being Vegan, the last one is pretty fresh in my mind.And honestly, with more people eating meat then not, I really dont care to learn how some one thinks they are overly important because they chose not to do so.
To the second comment: "Why do Vegans keep getting featured on the front page?" I was completely unware there was a plethora of articles pertaining to vegans in the paper. In fact, considering vegetarians and vegans only comprise approximately 2% of the population, it’s astounding there are any articles at all, and to my knowledge there are very few articles. Also, in order to determine whether or not the meat industry tortures animals one would have to define “torture” and considering there are very few laws relating to animal welfare, the meat industry still could be in business. Most Americans don’t care where their food comes from, and know very little about the processes used to slaughter the animals.
Claiming meat is “humane” for the body is a completely incoherent statement. Regardless of whether or not the meat industry treats animals in an inhumane way, claiming meat is “humane” is simply a statement which lacks any meaning. As for the alleged benefits of consuming meat, the problems associated with the enormous amounts of animal protein (esp. in the form of red meat) humans eat completely outweigh any possible benefits of consuming meat. In fact, if this weren’t the case the Johns Hopkins school of public health wouldn’t work to reduce American consumption of meat by 15%. Many doctors advise cutting down red meat, or all meat, as a part of a healthy diet. Meat may have some benefits, but a well balanced vegetarian diet can provide sufficient amounts of protein, iron, fiber, calcium, folic acid, etc. The accusations against Stump are unfounded, often predicated upon misconceptions and assumptions the authors themselves put into the article, probably as a result of insufficient knowledge of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, which is why it is am imperative for the Ocolly to run stories about vegetarians – to clear up misconceptions about being vegetarian/vegan. As a last note, why are the authors afraid to reveal who they are? I'm perfectly hapy to show who I am and engage the authors in a friendly discussion over the reasons for going vegetarian, and the lifestyle of a vegetarian.
--Animal Science Undergrad and Cattle Producer
Seeing as the Oklahoma State College has a meat sceince program and lab on campus, why not run a story on their research and how humane and benifitial meat can be to the human body.
Oh, but thats right, the O'colly is libral so nevermind