The month of October serves as an incentive to give greener grub a try while learning about its many health benefits as an alternative to meat-based diets.
Sponsored by the North American Vegetarian Society, World Vegetarian Day has kicked off a month of meatless meal parties, potlucks, presentations and food tasting displays around the world for the past 30 years.
It also serves as an occasion for vegetarians and those already moving toward plant-based diets to celebrate their food choices.
Although some cultures also follow vegetarian diets based on their religious beliefs, most vegetarians on campus make the choice for personal health reasons, said Lucas Miller, menu development and test kitchen manager for Dining Services.
Freshman Keeley Shoup said she has been a vegetarian "off and on" since she was in sixth grade because she disagreed with the mistreatment of animals. This summer, however, she decided to go vegan for her health after reading a book on the subject.
"I don't want to ingest the antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals that go into a lot of animals that turn into processed meats," she said. "Other than the protein you get out of it, meat is not that great for the body," Shoup said.
However, all vegetarian diets have their own sets of benefits and risks, which depend on the specifics of each diet, health educator Lisa Thomason said.
Unlike the majority of vegetarians who only avoid meat, poultry and fish but will eat products like milk, cheese and eggs, vegans avoid eating animal products altogether, she said.
"The vegetarian diet in general typically is lower in fat and cholesterol and higher in fiber than a diet that contains meat," Thomason said. "Because of this, vegetarian diets lower the risk of heart disease, some cancers and obesity."
Most vegetarians typically meet all of their nutritional needs, but maintaining a vegan diet requires the most effort to ensure that the body's nutritional needs are met, she said.
Vegan diets are low in protein, iron, calcium and vitamin B-12 - the nutrient responsible for red blood cell production - is found only in animal products, she said.
To complement her vegan diet, Shoup takes a complete multivitamin along with calcium, vitamin C and iron supplements every day.
Before making any drastic diet modifications, Thomason encourages anyone who is considering making a change to a vegetarian diet to consult with a physician or dietician first.
Dining Services also takes the needs of vegetarian students on campus seriously even though vegetarians are not a large population on campus, Lucas said.
"Choosing to become a vegetarian inherently means you are prepared to spend more time and effort finding foods that are appropriate to meet your needs," he said. "Dining works very hard to assure that we have enough variety for our vegetarian students."
All dining locations, including those that serve homestyle foods, have a vegetarian entr+â-¬e and a large variety of salad bar items, Lucas said.
Both Health Education and Dining Services have not planned any activities or events for National Vegetarian Month, but Thomason plans to discuss organizing something for later this month through her department, she said.
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