Op/Ed: Vegetarian Options at HHS

Going through the lunch line can be a nerve racking experience. As there are many options to choose from. However either by choice or because of dietary restrictions many students feel trapped by a lack of options at lunchtime.

Royal cuisine tries their best to be as inclusive as possible. But often they fall short to help accommodate these dietary restrictions. By overloading a single day with many meatless options, thus creating days where it is nearly impossible to avoid meat.

This is compounded with the fact that many meals in the lunchroom have meat thrown in when it is not necessary to the dish.

While options like the salad bar are open every day having this distinct lack of choice can force people into eating less than they should or not at all.

Despite the fact that the school does not necessarily have to appeal to any and all dietary restrictions, vegetarianism is an extremely widespread diet with nearly 8 million vegetarians in the United States according to a 2015 poll by Harris Poll National Survey. Many vegetarians also have little to no choice in their diet due to medical or religious reasons.

This issue could be very easily remedied with little to no effort on the part of Royal Cuisine.

One possible solution is to space out the schedule of days with meatless options. As they are often bunched on a singular day. This further reduces the availability of choice.

Another possible solution is simply removing meat from dish where they are not necessary, for example meat is not integral to Lasagna. This practice of placing meat in dishes is easily fixed, it can also save the school money as they do not need to prepare the meat.