vegetarian meals on college campuses

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Thought you might be interested in this news item from the National

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Chartwells to roll out program for campus vegetarians this fall

By Paul King

 

CHARLOTTE, NC (August 26) — Chartwells Education Dining Services will

introduce a vegetarian and vegan program to students at more than 200

colleges and universities this fall.

 

Executives of Chartwells, a division of Compass Group North America, claim

that Terra Ve is the most extensive program any food management company is

offering to college clients.

 

" We did considerable research while developing the Terra Ve program, " said

Dean Lowden, corporate chef for Chartwells. " It is a detailed program

already, and we plan to continue to add concepts and recipes. "

 

Lowden said the program has more than 200 recipes thus far. Menu items

include Asian velvet corn soup, pumpkin-corn chowder, okra gumbo, acorn

squash stuffed with millet, bulgur wheat with garbanzo beans and roasted

garlic, and orzo vegetable salad.

 

" Students are becoming more and more knowledgeable about vegetarianism, "

Lowden said. " Offering vegetarian plates doesn't cut it anymore when 5 to

10 percent of the campus population is vegetarian. We need to give them

what they need. "

 

Terra Ve will offer students at least one entrée and one side dish each

meal, Lowden noted. Larger campuses could offer as many as three entrées

along with a variety of other items.

 

Terra Ve is the latest component of Compass Group's Nurture Our World

program, which promotes to Compass customers a balanced approach to

nutrition, environmental awareness and community initiatives.

 

Brigit Silvestri, creative development director for the Compass Group, said

Terra Ve would be expanded to other market sectors in the next few months.

She cited National Restaurant Association polls that indicated 20 percent

to 30 percent of people eating out want to eat vegetarian meals.

 

" We believe Terra Ve will have broad appeal as an alternative to the daily

standard fare, " Silvestri explained. " We want to stay ahead of the needs of

our customers. "