Every Ole Miss vegetarian has had their share of veggie frustrations and triumphs. These are just a few of many, many realizations.
1. You will literally live in Freshii.
Ahhh, Freshii. A haven of quinoa and all things green and leafy. It’s your one-stop shop for a true vegetarian experience on campus, as all meals are meatless by default. You can even upgrade your dish with tofu if you’re really feeling fancy.
2. You may or may not quickly run out of Flex dollars as a result.
You’ll soon find that visits to Freshii not only utilize each day’s Plus 1, but the overages for a meal accompanied by a fruit smoothie, detox juice or even a few pieces of tofu will deplete your Flex balance quicker than you can say ‘What the kale?’
3. New restaurants on campus just don’t seem to excite you as much.
Great. More fried-and-deprived-of-an-actual-chance-to-live-a-happy-and-humane-life animals. Yum?
4. “Oh my gosh, you’re a vegetarian? What do you eat?”
You’ll probably never have to stop reminding people that the food pyramid consists of more than just animal flesh. Get used to explaining that fruit, vegetables and soybean substitutes are indeed actual food and that you actually eat these things.
5. Your schedule can make it harder to choose the “healthier” choices.
Sure, we vegetarians love our spinach, broccoli and avocado. But, life isn’t always this easy and green. Everyone has those hectic days where between class, studying and extracurriculars, the only thing you can muster to fit in is a cheese pizza and Coke. Before you know it, three days have gone by and you can’t think of a single vegetable you may have consumed. Yikes.
6. Which leads to the next realization–mix things up and keep things fresh.
Of course pizza is delish, but it shouldn’t be your only means of sustaining life for the entire semester. The line at Toss It Up is always the shortest in the student union, and the P.O.D’s veggie sushi isn’t half bad. It’s important to treat yourself, but remember to indulge in what’s best for your health as well.
7. Be prepared to wait a century for a veggie burger at the Rebel Market.
Yeah, it’s super nice that your veggie burger is grilled on a separate grill from its cow counterparts, but you might catch yourself yawning and awkwardly shifting your weight from side to side while you stand at the counter, only to finally receive your meal and return to your table and find that your friends have already completed a three-course meal and dessert.
8. The Grill may be a far walk, but the fruit is bomb.
Of course, the Ole Miss football players are basically treated like gods, so you should expect nothing less than the royal treatment when you eat at their dining hall. Seriously, the berries and pineapples are to die for.
9. You’ll always be that one friend that makes dinner plans difficult.
You’ll appreciate your friends remembering your dietary limitations at the last second when planning a much-needed get together, but it sucks to know that sometimes they really do wanna go eat at Rib Shack and are settling for Greenline, even when they assure you they’re not.
10. You just might inspire other people.
It’s cool to make a difference by standing up to a corrupt meat industry, but it’s even more amazing when your roomie decides to try Tofurky for the first time and—plot twist: actually likes it.