Is UChicago vegan-friendly?

<p>Just wondering.</p>

<p>You sure do make a lot of threads, don’t you?</p>

<p>The thing is that you’re a grad student, and this forum focuses mainly on The College, so little of what any of us say will be applicable to you. And since you are a grad student, it’s not like you’re going to do an immense amount of on-campus dining.</p>

<p>But yes, Chicago does try its best to be accommodating of all diets. I guess the most direct way I can say this is that we have a lot of hipsters, so restaurants on campus quickly realize they’re losing money if they don’t offer vegan options.</p>

<p>Actually, much of it is still applicable to me. And from what I hear, it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet, which works really well for my type of vegan dining (since my food contains fewer calories, I tend to eat in larger quantities than most other people) - having just visited Yale, I can definitely say that Yale was a lot more vegan-friendly than my old school. If I went to Yale, much of my dining would be on-campus.</p>

<p>“And from what I hear, it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet…”</p>

<p>…“It” being the dining halls, which is mostly an undergraduate thing. You’re able to buy a meal plan, but I don’t know why you would want to since they’re so expensive.</p>

<p>For comparison, many students move out of housing in their 2nd and 3rd undergraduate years (with 99+% of students living off-campus during their 4th years, I believe), and very few people continue to eat in the dining halls once they move out. Even the vegans.</p>

<p>Oxalis, a lot of people still buy a dining hall plan of some form. It’s convenient, doesn’t involve cooking, etc. Even if it is more expensive, you’re paying for the convenience as well as the subpar food. </p>

<p>Raven, the university is fairly vegan friendly (more vegetarian friendly though… lots of dishes have cheese). There’s always a variety of vegetables and fruit, a bunch of staples like rice and potatoes, a big salad bar, a pasta station… they also have tofu nearly every day, although it’s a bit questionable.</p>

<p>I don’t eat at the dining halls often (and can’t imagine why you would, if you’re a grad student), but I will relay a representative quote that will hopefully assuage your fears. My friend was recently planning an event for his environmental activism group, and the following conversation took place:</p>

<p>Random activist: “What kind of food should we get?”
My friend: “Might as well make it all vegan, it would be easier.”</p>

<p>Certainly there are a higher-than-average proportion of vegans in the politically active segment of the student body, but vegans are, if not common, at the very least accepted and recognized.</p>