Buying a cafeteria lunch at Bowie is a struggle for vegetarian and vegan students. There is a lack of options of meat-free meals, and sometimes a vegetarian will have to pay extra money to get food that fits their diet.

Freshman Alex Thomason has had frustrations buying his lunch because the cafeteria doesn’t offer many vegetarian or vegan options.

“Most of the food options in the cafe have meat so I usually have limited options to pick from,” Thomason said.

An AISD lunch consists of student’s choice of entree, bread, fruit, and milk. Alex is a vegetarian but doesn’t drink dairy products, so he usually buys water in addition to his meal, making him have to pay more for the same meal but different drink.

“The best option is to pack your own lunch,” sophomore Emma Roche said.

However, buying a cafeteria lunch is some student’s only option.

“The fact that there are barely any vegetarian or vegan options in the cafeteria is so messed up. I bring my own lunch, but I would suggest getting the taco salad without meat, or cheese pizza,” sophomore Saylor Hinthorn said.

According to the AISD nutrition and food services department, menu changes in the cafeteria are only provided for kids with special needs or a disease that is life threatening, or a food allergy that requires immediate medical attention such as an EpiPen to treat anaphylactic shock.

“We have baked potatoes at least once a week and we have pasta and sauce which a lot of the vegetarians eat,” cafeteria manager Stephen Hendrickson said.

These meals still don’t seem to please these vegetarian students.

“It would help if we had more options,” Thomason said.

The likelihood of AISD deciding to provide more vegan and vegetarian meal plans seems low considering that in most cases, being a vegetarian is not a life threatening circumstance as much as it is a chosen lifestyle.

“The cafeteria isn’t a 5-star restaurant, what should we expect? The only real solution is to bring your own lunch, and if you can’t do that then you’ll just have to settle for whatever the cafeteria has to offer,” Hinthorn said.