McDaniel College earning good grades for vegan-friendly dining

At McDaniel College, hot vegan entrées are always available at lunch and dinner. The cold vegetarian station is now completely vegan. Simple Servings, an allergen-free station, goes all vegan on “Less Meat Mondays.”

Local vegetables are used whenever possible for vegetarian/ vegan recipes, especially on “Local Fridays.” Meat, tuna and poultry have been removed from the salad bar and housed in a separate station.

Sodexo Executive Chef José Montanez at McDaniel College follows a whole plant based diet himself. He personally meets with the Compassionate Communities once a month to talk about the new changes and get student feedback.

“I want to continue improving our menu selection for vegetarian and vegan options,” said Chef Montanez. “We reduced the meat selections in our recipes for lunch and dinner with no complaints from non-vegetarian or vegan community.”

These vegan enhancements have not gone unappreciated. Ian Yoshioka, a transfer student in his junior year at McDaniel College, is a student athlete, an English major and a vegan for two years.

Yoshioka recently submitted a letter to Sodexo, dining services partner at McDaniel College, to express his perspective.

“When I first walked into the Englar Dining Hall at McDaniel, I knew I made the right decision in coming to this college,” wrote Yoshioka.

“As a commuting college student, and a vegan, my options at the previous cafeteria were often limited to a salad bar lacking variety, as well as a hot bar that was not appetizing,” Yoshioka writes. “For this reason I often prepared my own lunch, and rarely went to the cafeteria.”

According to the student, he saw on the McDaniel College website that the school cafeteria was accommodating to vegans, and placed an emphasis on locally grown foods.

“As a student and athlete I realize the importance that food can have on both academic and athletic performance,” he writes. “I remember walking in after my first practice to see well-kept and colorful medley of freshly cut fruit, an expansive salad bar, as well as granola and dried fruits that could be complemented with either vanilla or chocolate soy milk. Needless to say, I was impressed.”

Yoshioka wrote that coming back for lunch, and even dinner, the impression remained for at both meals options were labeled “Vegan”, “Vegetarian”, or “Gluten Free”, and meals often reminded me of home cooked flavors or different rice, beans, cooked vegetables, and a variety of multi-cultural cuisine.

“With such attention to detail, it was difficult not to appreciate the experience,” writes Yoshioka. “The staff in the kitchen is friendly and accommodating. On more than one occasion already the pizza chef has not hesitated to prepare a vegan flat bread pizza for me.”

Yoshioka admits that being faced with challenges both inside and outside the classroom can be difficult.

“However knowing that I can enjoy a good lunch, and dinner has made a big difference for me,” writes Yoshioka. “For that I am thankful to Jose Montanez, and all the other Sodexo staff at the Englar Dining Hall at McDaniel College.”