
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 20, 1994                   TAG: 9404210014
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

VEGETARIANISM INCREASES ON CAMPUSES

About 15 percent of college students eat a vegetarian meal at the cafeteria on any given day, and nearly 90 percent of cafeterias offer vegetarian dishes at every meal, according to a survey.

Part of the popularity of meatless meals may stem from the fact that vegetarianism is ``in'' on campus, for reasons of health, taste and animal rights. And many students are eating on their own for the first time in their lives.

Still, Yale University's executive dietitian, Karen Dougherty, said students there are increasingly eating ``down'' on the food chain: meat eaters eating vegetarian a few times a week and vegetarians forgoing dairy products and eggs.

The National Restaurant Association, in cooperation with the National Association of College and University Food Services, surveyed 200 food service directors in December. This is the NRA's first such survey, so while many food service directors noted an increase in vegetarian habits, there were no figures available for comparison.

Most of the schools in the survey have been serving vegetarian meals for an average of seven years. But Joan Johnson of State University of New York's Morrisville College, the president of NACUFS, said vegetarianism is growing among college students.

More than 40 percent of the schools said they prepare meals for vegetarian subgroups: vegan dishes that contain no animal products; lacto-vegetarian foods for those who eat dairy products; and lacto-ovo vegetarian dishes that contain dairy products and eggs.

The most common vegetarian dishes at the schools included pizza and vegetarian lasagna. Vegetarian food is often at its most appealing when fresh ingredients are simply prepared. That, Dougherty said, can present a problem at college cafeterias, where food must sit on a warming table for as much as a half-hour.

But she said she expects the fare to improve as more ethnic foods gain acceptance among young people. And Johnson said food service directors are increasingly exchanging recipes on a computer bulletin board.

The National Restaurant Association, a trade group based in Washington, D.C., estimates that food and drink sales at colleges and universities will total nearly $8.9 billion this year, a 5.8 percent increase over 1993.

by CNB