Making the decision to not consume animal products is a huge step in life towards practicing eternal love for living creatures amongst us. If you have transitioned to veganism or are transitioning, congratulations! You are helping the world open its eyes to the cruel industry of animal agriculture and therefore creating a safer, pain-free environment for animals one by one.
Then it hits you. You’re stuck at the plaza for your hour break and you realize there’s nothing vegan you could possibly pick up to eat really quick. Good news for you! Believe it or not there are vegan meal and snack options on the downtown Atlanta campus that you can get very (or somewhat) quickly. Let’s explore.
If you’re looking for a quick snack, try heading over to Walgreens, RaceTrac or any other convenience store on campus. Both of these have vegan snack options like Kind bars, pretzels, kale chips, crackers and more. Surprisingly, a lot of snacks are okay to eat on campus. Just check the bottom of the ingredients on the back of the packaging to see if there are any bolded animal products.
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Coffee is not completely cut off if you are vegan! Starbucks at Hurt, Starbucks in front of Aderhold, the Dunkin Donuts also by Aderhold and Saxby’s inside the library all offer vegan coffee options. Here’s the tea: pick any coffee you would like and ask for the vegan version or alter your favorite drink to not include any milk or chocolate. Personally, my favorite is the iced caramel mocha from Starbucks. I just ask for almond milk instead of regular milk. And don’t forget, no whipped cream!
When lunch time comes around, there are also a few options for vegan students. Moe’s next to Patton and also next to Aderhold offer tofu. Basically, you can get a burrito or nachos and choose tofu as your protein. However, you will have to make it known that you don’t want cheese or sour cream on your meal. You can also visit Subway at One12 or on Edgewood and get a veggie salad or sandwich. Don’t be discouraged! Subway offers a ton of veggies that you can pile up on your plate. Some locations also offer vegan meat options like “patties” and “meatballs”.As far as your side goes, just grab some kettle chips, original SunChips, Oven Baked Lay’s or apple slices.
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If you need a nutritional pick me up after a long night resulting in a hangover, visit Rawesome Juicery inside of the Sweet Auburn Market. They have a variety of fresh plant-based options and smoothie flavors. Rawesome also offers bowls and juice cleanses. Arden’s Garden on Auburn is similar and can also provide you with a plant-based smoothie or juice detox.
For dinner I recommend my favorite: Mango’s Carribean Restaurant on Auburn. The veggie plate offers a generous amount of cabbage, fried plantain and peas and rice. You can also pick up a veggie patty with or without coco bread. Grindhouse Killer Burgers inside the Sweet Auburn Market also has vegan and veggie burger alternatives that are delicious. Just make sure to ask for none of their sauce as it contains milk.
These are just a few on campus options. It’s important to discover which options work best for you. Don’t be afraid or ashamed of your diet decisions either! You did what most people can’t and never will and that is not forcing animals to suffer from pain and forced impregnation in the meat and dairy industry. We may not be able to change the world just yet, but by saying no to the exploitation of animals for our tastebuds’ pleasure is an energetic shift that will benefit you for the rest of your life.