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Plant Power

The colorful Maryland Earth Day menu featured nine vegan
offerings. Check it out at www.oncampushospitality.com.

Vegan Red Lentil Mac & “Cheese.” According to UB CDS, Zoodle salad, a popular vegan dish at the University at
vegan cheeses now rival dairy cheeses and are very popular. Buffalo.
specials are also available in non-vegan options, but some of to see where there are opportunities for better or enhanced vegan
the non-vegan specials — such as chicken tenders, tortellini offerings. Each dining location was visited during different meal
and ravioli — do not have vegan counterparts. periods — breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night — and the
To celebrate Earth Day, Dining Services developed a menu team, while they all were able to follow the vegan diet, noted
featuring dishes from seven different countries around the some room for improvement in the offerings around campus.
world, with 13 vegetarian offerings — 9 of them for vegan The team found that there is a significant need for more
tastes — among the 21 dishes on the menu. vegan breakfast options. “Just because you’re vegan doesn’t
“We have been thrilled that the new vegan options have mean breakfast should be limited to smoothies, oatmeal, or
been going so well with the students that we are able to high- energy bars,” said Chef Manager Megan Moynihan. “We’re
light them in the special menus and events,” Dining Services going to talk with our students, look at some recipes and see
Nutritionist Sister Maureen Schrimpe, IHM, told On-Campus if we can create some big, hearty vegan breakfasts … specifi-
Hospitality. The menu for the Earth Day celebration, held in all cally in our residential dining centers.”
three University of Maryland dining halls, she said, highlighted The addition of new products is an essential element of
some of the most successful vegan recipes. any changes made as a result of the vegan-only week. “There
Senior Executive Chef John Gray created the vegan menu are several new products that are coming into the market that
offerings, including barbecued portabella mushrooms, vegan we are going to evaluate,” said Adam Coats, assistant director
crepes and a breakfast chia oatmeal pudding. and vegan week participant. “Vegan cheeses are extremely
popular, and have improved to where they rival the taste and
To appreciate the complete University of Maryland Dining
Services Earth Day menu, go to OnCampusHospitality.com texture of dairy cheeses.”
Necessary changes go beyond food offerings. Plazio noted
that updated signage was a necessity. “A great example is several
UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO of our breads and rolls are now vegan. Our supplier changed
For the entire week after Thanksgiv- Photos: CDS, to a new manufacturer, and we missed that opportunity to
ing, from Nov. 27 through Dec. 3, 2017, University at Buffalo communicate that to our customers. We’re currently working
the chefs of Campus Dining and Shops on creating some impactful signs to get that message out.”
(CDS) at the University at Buffalo, N.Y.,
submerged themselves in a vegan-only diet both on-campus UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
and at home. The results turned out to be very interesting. As many schools are beginning to in- Photos: Bryant Canzo-
Neal Plazio, executive chef for CDS, led the vegan team clude or expand vegan fare in their dining neri/Hayley Graham,
that included an assistant executive chef, a chef manager, an offerings, some schools have been some- UNT Dining Services
assistant manager and an assistant director of dining. The goal what ahead of the curve — for instance, Marketing
of the week was said to be to reframe the thinking surrounding the University of North Texas, in Denton.
plant-based meal planning and execution. For the fourth consecutive year, the University of North
“If we are not eating vegan, how can we develop vegan Texas earned an “A+” rating as well as “Dean’s List” status
menus?” Plazio said. “This question has been asked of us by from peta2. The animal advocacy group recently released its
our students and by ourselves as we try to create new recipes.” 2017 Vegan Report Card, and thanks to the success of its Mean
The week-long effort was reportedly launched in response to Greens Café, UNT continues to be recognized as one of the
an article in The Spectrum, the university’s student newspaper. nation’s leaders in vegan dining.
“We have made significant improvements in our vegan offer- “We love our vegans,” said UNT Director of Resident Dining
ings in the past year, but walking in someone else’s shoes for Peter Balabuch. “They are the ones we are aiming to please.
the week really gave us the ability to understand the struggles It’s always nice to be recognized by outside entities, but our
they may have on campus,” Plazio said. overarching mission is to continue to focus on winning the
The team’s main objective was to assess all dining operations students of UNT.”

18 | MARCH/APRIL 2018 ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY