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One of Lawrence’s many quirks is how late in the year its Fall Term starts. This year, the school year began on Sep. 16. Fall athletes arrive earlier, however, in order to keep the same schedule as competitive schools. While we’re here, we eat in the Commons three times a day courtesy of the Athletic Department. Thus, athletes (including myself) were the first to try the new dining service.
I am admittedly in a unique situation, being both gluten-free and vegan, but I know many teammates and other athletes who are either one or the other. We immediately experienced issues with getting enough food and the right types of food we needed to fuel our athletic efforts. There wasn’t any tofu or other non-meat protein options. They didn’t have an allergen-free section. The gluten-free fridge wasn’t stocked, even though it was there.
I talked with the head chef soon after I arrived and raised my concerns, and he assured me that there would be more options once school started. I told him that’s great, but what was I going to do for the next month? The options got better after about two weeks, but they were still limited. I was reduced to gluten-free toast and some fruits and vegetables most of my time there, even though I was running 70 miles a week.
Since my team has a relatively sizable vegan population, we sent several emails — one to American Dining Creations and another to Vice President for Student Life Chris Clarke. They both assured us that they were looking into it. But nothing changed.
Once the school year started, I saw that there were technically more options, but mine had shrunk. The allergen-free section switched from something vegan and gluten-free to a vegetable and a meat option. There are still no vegan condiments, such as vegan butter or vegan yogurt, and rarely any tofu — things that BonApp, despite its many flaws, never had any issues providing. There are still inadequate carbohydrate and protein options for people with dietary restrictions.
These problems are very easy to fix, but American Dining Creations goes about it in the wrong ways. When we said we wanted vegan protein options, we were just given impossible meat — which I, along with many other vegans, don’t like. It’s also a much less “healthy” option, considering how processed it is, compared to simple and easy tofu. When the Commons does have tofu, it often has dairy, gluten or other common allergens in it, which still makes it inaccessible. They sometimes have other types of veggie burgers, but they put them on buns so that gluten-free people can’t eat them.
Another issue remains in cross-contamination. For those who have just a gluten insensitivity, this doesn’t matter much, but for people with celiac disease (such as myself), it’s critical. All the fries, tater tots and burgers that are fried in the same oil as glutenous things are not safe for me. Technically, any kitchen where gluten products exist is unsafe for people with celiac disease. I also have no idea if they are correctly cleaning utensils and workstations to ensure that gluten products don’t end up in supposedly allergen-free food.
I am president of McCarthy Co-op — a vegetarian/vegan cooking house — so now that the school year has started, I don’t eat in the Commons very often. Many of my teammates and most Lawrence students in general still eat there and encounter these issues at every meal.
So many people have told me that I’m lucky I even have some food to eat. It’s true; I can afford outside sources of food, which is a privilege that many do not have. However, a standard meal plan here costs $1,947 per term, or $194.70 per week — a weekly cost that I could use to buy groceries for over a month back home in Columbus, Ohio. If I’m paying that amount because people are making the food for me, then I expect them to make something that I can eat.
Some say that I’m asking too much — it’s not the university’s fault that you have so many issues. Is it mine then? I hope you wouldn’t make a big deal out of someone not eating something for religious reasons, which is based on a set of morals; are you going to make a big deal out of me not eating something because of my particular set of morals? Better yet, is it my fault that I have an intestinal disease I can’t control?
This is not just about food: it’s about this entire campus. Lawrence University treats the needs of anyone who is not considered “normal” as unimportant. If they shouldn’t be expected to change anything at all just for people like me, then who will they change for?