Simpson Dining serves extremist soup

    A person can only put up with extremists for so long.  In America, our society is nominally based upon acceptance and the belief that diversity makes us stronger.  In order to protect our freedom, we extend it to those who don’t like freedom.  We must tolerate the intolerant. But on a personal level, I’m just about at the breaking point.

    If I see one more vegan soup in Simpson Dining hall, I don’t know what I’ll do.

     Perhaps you know what I mean.  It’s the end of a long, hard day, and you’re relieved to get into Simpson and out of that bracing wind for a little while.  You grab a plate from the stack and wander over to the first buffet aisle. Gross green stuff, gross brown stuff, some gravy (but paradoxically, no mashed potatoes) and carrots with spaghetti.  Nothing. You wander over to the next aisle.  Nothing, nothing, grilled pineapples, nothing. They don’t have a tray of the saliva-inducing, ambrosial macaroni and cheese that you dream about at night!

    You desperately give the pizza aisle a look. No, you’ve had pizza for every meal this week and it’s coming out your pores. What about fruit, you think? No, there are only very unripe pears today. You jog over to the back and see that there’s no yogurt to go with the granola, only cottage cheese (or maybe it’s just really old yogurt).  The world begins to swirl as pangs of hunger and disappointment buffet you. There’s nothing.

    Soup!  The thought pops into your head, a faint glimmer of hope at first, but soon a fantastic plan for salvation. You stride over to get yourself a nice hot bowl of hearty minestrone but gack!  You are presented a choice between vegan potato leek and vegan lentil.

   Your doom is sealed, unless of course you chop up a hamburger and mix it into your soup, which is what I usually do.

     Nonetheless, you can see what I mean about the adverse effect these extremists (I’m avoiding the term “vegan,” so as not to inadvertently offend our cosmic neighbors 25 light-years over) have on the more moderate members of society.  Not even Fran’s cheerful assurances that I am indeed “all that” can make up for a sadly soup-less lunch. Actually, that’s not true. Fran could give me artichoke hearts mixed with raw cow hearts and it would be delicious. But she’s not there for the dinner shift, so my point still stands.

      So, extremists, why not switch over to a more omnivorous lifestyle? I know that many of you take a moral issue with factory farming, and I agree with you.  Mistreating farm animals is a horrible practice that we need to eradicate soon. But the fact of the matter is, hens are going to plop out an egg a day whether you eat it or not.  Mama cows would still give enough milk to share between their calves and us, even if we stopped stuffing them with hormones. And unless you’re a baby, milking cows is a lot less creepy than drinking human milk.

     Animal by-products can readily be consumed in an ethical way.  If we do it right, we can promote the proper treatment of animals while living more moderate and well-rounded lives ourselves. Not to mention the fact that non-extremist soup tastes a lot better.

    So instead of spending time and money worrying about vitamin deficiencies, I invite the extremists to focus on buying cage-free eggs and naturally produced milk.  And to feast upon the delicious, delicious flesh of slaughtered animals.

adorsey@luc.edu.

 

6 comments

Loyola student

Fri Nov 13 2009 14:33

From what I can tell, it seems like Andy is lamenting the lack of meat in the dining halls. I live off-campus, so I don't know what the current state of the dining halls is, but if that's what he's trying to say, and it's true, then I agree. If you want to be a vegetarian or a vegan, that's great, and Loyola SHOUL D give you options that allow you to eat in the way you want to, just like they should offer, for example, foods without peanuts for people with allergies. But note the key words here: options and choice(s). Just because you choose to eat a meatless diet doesn't mean that everyone else should also be forced to, just as you shouldn't be forced to eat meat. Again, I haven't eaten in a dining hall (aside from the occasional venture to Rambler Room) in two years, so I don't know what the actual case is, but either way, there should be a range of options, both for those who prefer to eat meat and those who don't.

sk

Thu Nov 5 2009 18:57

Do you think that vegans have no tastebuds? I am not vegan, but I know these "extremists," as you call them, like to eat and enjoy good tasting food just like anyone else. Instead of instantly labeling vegan food as disgusting, maybe you could try something new and sample the dreaded lentil soup. Open-mindedness isn't such a bad thing, after all.

I am also surprised that of all the problems in the world and true extremists: people who are dangerous, violent and cause harm to society, you choose to pick on vegans. People who simply don't believe in the mass production and consumption of animals.

Of all the "extremists" in the world, you want to complain about VEGANS, because you think they have TOO MANY options in the dining hall? Following that logic, you could also complain that "extremist" Catholics have too many options of practice and worship around campus. Or maybe you could complain that the "extremist" environmental activists should stop trying to make Loyola environmentally sustainable and help the greater community. Yeah, you know, all these people that are truly ruining our "normal" society with their extremist ways.

Reader

Thu Nov 5 2009 09:20

Osama bin radish. lawls

Alex

Thu Nov 5 2009 07:58

Not sure if this is serious or a poor attempt at humor, but assuming the former, I would say a much better argument could be made about the quality of items in the cafeteria. You have about 90% of the total options available to you, however undesirable they are. You mention pizza, cottage cheese, and numerous choices that you either label "gross stuff" or "nothing". Hamburger must apparently be an option as well, if that is how you typically line your soup. If vegans (whoops sorry, I'll use your line of thinking and go with terrorists) were to switch to your suggested lifestyle, they would have a choice between "gross brown stuff" and "gross green stuff" like everyone else. It doesn't make sense that eliminating the vegan option would increase the quality of non-vegan options.

Full disclosure: I think eating meat and eggs and cheese is fine. I'm just anti-misguided thought.

JM

Thu Nov 5 2009 07:50

?????? Dude, Cafeteria food sucks: @ least as a General Rule. It seems this is less an Omnivores dilemma question, and more of an "I feel Uncomfortable because there are new experiences and choices" type problem. Also is there another Cafe? Does Loyola do this at all of them? Do you really want some Sysco production farm raise chicken chalk full of anti-biotic? Cause that is most likely what you would (and probably do get at other Caf's on campus). Which I can say with relative assurance cause, if the campus was vegan they would advertise all the trouble they went through to make the change as a draw, then you'd really be in trouble surrounded by nothing but osama bin radish. If you need such a visceral raw bloody bathing in blood type experience, then why dont you just by Raw Hamburger from Costco, Im sure a semester worth or raw hamburger is cheaper than any Loyola University's meal plan.

You really don't have legs to stand on, but maybe you ate them in a protein binge.

PS I'm Not a Vegan, or a vegetarian.

Daria

Thu Nov 5 2009 01:51

I'm not a vegan, but I find your article to be uninformed and incredibly narrow minded. Because you eat one way everyone should? What about people with allergies? You can choose not to eat vegan soup, the dining hall is full of meat options. People with food restrictions need options too. And choosing a meat free life style is not "extremist", nor is it intolerant as you seem to indicate in your first paragraph. Diversity is a good thing, and part of diversity is making sure everyone gets a chance to choose from a variety. Simpson typically serves 3 soups a day, one of which is vegan. Try some compassion for those who live life differently than you.

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