I’ve been lurking for a while, but I am currently on a college tour in the Northeast with my vegan daughter (I’m also vegan). One thing that concerns me is finding a good fit, one where (among other things) good vegan food is offered at every meal. In visiting colleges, they all say they have vegan options, but I know some programs have better food than others. She did a summer program at a large university in Boston, and although they touted their delicious food, in reality the dining hall was lacking and she couldn’t imagine going there for all four years. Now we are on the hunt for a place that has better food options!
I was wondering if anyone has direct knowledge of schools that really look after their vegan students. Some schools we are considering include Colby, Bates, Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Wesleyan, Amherst, Middlebury, Dartmouth, Hamilton, Vassar and Colgate. Very much open to other similar types of schools as well, and she is looking at schools outside of the Northeast too. Other things that are important to my daughter are easy access to outdoor activities and an inclusive campus. Thank you for any tips or advice you can offer.
Not in the NE, but there are a lot of food choices at the Claremont Colleges because the kids can eat at any of the school cafeterias they want to (so 5 of them close together). Right near mountains for hiking, too. And my kid found the 5 schools to mostly be pretty inclusive (PM me if you want to chat more about this).
Seconding the Claremont Colleges. My daughter isn’t vegan but a number of her friends are, and they eat very well. Fresh fruits and veggies abound. There are actually seven dining halls on the five campuses, all walkable and all with good vegetarian and vegan options. There is an app, developed by a Harvey Mudd student, that displays all of the menus so that students can decide where to eat. Search “Claremont Menu” in your app store and you will find it.
My sons would tell you to definitely look at Middlebury. They would be the opposite of vegan, if there was such a thingl lol
My youngest son dislikes the food at Midd .
Food wise he would have enjoyed the choices at a state school much better
He is a burger, fries, pizza guy and Midd serves as he says much fancier foods that he cannot pronounce
Lol
Best of luck
My D is a Batesie who became a vegetarian once she started college. They have a vegan bar in Commons with a lot of options. Every day there is a vegan dessert at the dessert bar. College sponsored events almost always have a vegan option.
Since vegan predilections tend to originate from a philosophical basis, your daughter might want to consider seriously whether the symbolism of Bowdoin’s prominent taxidermy might impact her on any level.
Schools in the vein you’re looking at almost always have good vegan options. Some that come to mind among my dining halls visits in the last few years include Macalester, Grinnell, and St. John’s in Santa Fe.
Bates has very good vegan food. Here’s the menu website. Everyone eats at the same dining commons so you don’t have to decide between eating vegan and eating with your non-vegan friends.
Gluten Friendly Vegan Stir Fry Green Beans with Tofu
Gluten Friendly Potato Lentil Patties
White Rice
Vegetable Steamed Zucchini
Wilted Spinach with Mushrooms & Tomatos
Plain Hummus, Jalapeno Hummus
Vegan Spice Cake with Maple Icing
Of course there is always the salad bar (including tofu) and things life peanut butter as backups, but every meal will have at least a couple of real vegan meal options.
Thank you for the ideas. We live in California, and she wants to explore a different part of the USA, possibly back east due to large number of LACs there. Good idea to consider Colorado College too. We’ve looked at the Maine LACs and she liked those (loved Bowdoin in particular - I did notice the bear), as well as Dartmouth and Middlebury. All great choices, and hoping her grades and test scores will mean she has a chance. Still need to visit a few others and fine-tune the list, as well as find great matches and safeties.
Any vegans not have a good eating experience at an LAC?
My S18 is also a vegan and he looked at colleges through a vegan lens. Among LACs, it seemed like schools that contracted with Bon Appetit seemed to have particularly good options. A few that he found especially appealing on the food front were Occidental in L.A., Lewis & Clark near Portland, OR, and Macalester in MN. Good luck!
If you’re looking at menus during the summer, keep in mind that many LACs have much less people on campus than they do during the academic year so menu offerings are likely to be more limited right now.
Another heuristic to apply might be the number of LACs with student-run farms, especially in the northeast where the growing season is shorter than the rest of the country:
The Peta2 ranking, first mentioned in reply #2, seems inconsistent. Colleges given “vanguard” status through an A letter-grade often register lower “satisfaction” levels than colleges that receive lower letter grades.
