Mondays are by far the worst day of the week. It means the end of the weekend and the start of classes.
But the dining halls exacerbate it with the dreaded weekly DU tradition: Meatless Mondays.
Every Monday, the dining halls are filled with vegetarian and vegan options with hardly any meat to be found. Both the made-to-order and the hot buffet areas serve exclusively vegetarian food choices every Monday.
Yes, there are hamburgers, deli meats and the occasional soups with meat in them, but they get old very quickly for those who eat frequently in the dorm dining halls on campus.
With very few choices, meat eaters are virtually forced to eat vegetarian once a week. There is already a vegetarian and vegan section set up every day that vegetarians can choose from as well as a salad bar that can complement almost any meal. It’s not as if there are no vegetarian options available until Monday. The reverse is also true, though
There are essentially no meat-friendly options available on Mondays.
This “vegetocracy” removes choice from students, unfairly imposing dietary constraints on unwilling members of the community.
Instead of going at either extreme, I think there are ways to satisfy both the meat-eaters and the vegetarians. One very simple option is to increase the variety and size of the vegetarian section.
As a meat-eater myself, I will sometimes venture to that section to add to my meal, and I would certainly not object to adding more variety to that particular area.
That would also eliminate the need to have an almost meatless day because vegetarians would be getting more options each day than they had in the past.
Another option would be to have a vegetarian option at either the made-to-order or hot buffet areas every so often. One argument that vegetarians make is that both of those areas only serve omnivorous food except on Mondays.
That’s why they feel like their options are limited. There is merit to this belief. Most options at the made-to-order and hot buffet areas contain some meat.
If you make one of them a vegetarian option twice or three times a week, however, you avoid this problem. By doing this, carnivores still have a meat option and vegetarians have a greater variety of choices than they get with Meatless Mondays.
A third option in this issue could be to have more special meals be vegetarian.
Oftentimes, the dining halls will have a special section or table in addition to the made-to-order and hot buffet areas.
If more of these could offer vegetarian meal choices, then I think there would be no need for Meatless Mondays.
It would be very similar to expanding the vegetarian and vegan section, but it would offer a comparable choice to the hot buffet area.
Regardless if one or all of these could be implemented, something needs to change. Meatless Mondays absolutely need to go.
There is no need to force meat-eaters to have to eat vegetarian once a week.
In fact, the fact that Meatless Mondays exist is somewhat discriminatory towards meat eaters.
I know that if vegetarians were forced to eat meat with little or no choice otherwise, there would be a huge dilemma and uprising.
Being vegetarian is indeed better for the environment.
This is not a crusade against vegetarians or eating vegetarian food; I enjoy a good salad with my steak.
This is a crusade to get rid of the dreaded tradition, Meatless Mondays.
I want many options with my meal, and I would like those options to contain some form of meat.
