As an international student and freshman from India, I experienced a multitude of cultural shocks this year, from only being able to cross the roads at the zebra crossing to the drastic weather changes. One of the biggest shocks was how early people ate dinner in the U.S. Waiting for my father to come back home from work and then sitting for dinner, I was very well-accustomed to eating dinner after 9 p.m. However, as a student living on campus, learning all dining halls close at 9 p.m., it was always a race against time: Will I make it to dinner before the halls close?
Adding onto this already challenging battle was the fact that I was a vegetarian. Since the day I turned 13, I had my mind set on studying in the U.S., but I was completely oblivious to how difficult it is living in the U.S. as a vegetarian.
Although the conditions for vegetarians have improved drastically over the years, it's still a long way from being sufficient. Currently, there are vegetarian options available in the dining halls on campus and restuarants, but not a lot of nutritious options.
Living on campus as a first-year student implies eating at the dining halls. Granted, there are always vegetarian alternatives, the nutritional content is very very small.
Being in a small town like Bloomington also makes it a lot worse to find quality vegetarian options off campus.
Over the weekend, my boyfriend and I visited a Bloomington classic, Bloomington Bagel Company.
A non vegetarian, my boyfriend found himself stuck between several pre-set bagel options to choose from. However, a strict vegetarian, I was scouring and flipping through the menu, scrutinizing every page to find a vegetarian bagel, but could find only one. Unfortunately, I had to resort to building my own bagel from the topping options they had, instead of being able to choose from one of their pre-set bagels.
Another place where I was faced with the same challenge was Crazy Horse. An Italian restaurant in downtown Bloomington, it hits the mark with its aesthetics but fails to have vegetarian options on the menu. With less than five vegetarian options on the menu, dining there was exceptionally difficult.
Big chain restaurants pose the same dilemma. I am a big fan of vegetarian black bean burgers so I was absolutely shocked to learn McDonald's, arguably one of the biggest chain restaurants across the globe, did not have any vegetarian burgers. Salads were one of the vegetarian options on the menu, but who would want to have a salad when you’re in McDonalds?
As a vegetarian, I believe restaurants as well as universities must ensure their dining options are conducive for all dietary restrictions, not just with an availability of options, but also with nutritious options.
Having to struggle to find decent vegetarian options makes it difficult not just to travel the States without worry, but it also creates a sense of exclusion mentally, making it harder to transition smoothly into a new country and ease into its culture and environment.
As a whole, having sufficient and healthy vegetarian options not only allows vegetarians to maintain a healthy diet irrespective of their location but also ensures everyone feels a sense of inclusivity and comfort while traveling and settling in new places.
Pehal Aashish Kothari is a freshman studying marketing, with a minor in apparel merchandising.
