MSU Concessions needs to offer more vegetarian food

Dont take this the wrong way but no, they dont. It’s a sporting event – we need more turkeyman, not tofu.

Maybe this is silly, but if i saw a bunch of vegie “burgers” and vegan anything on the menu at our football stadium i’d find it really sad.

At a Vollyball game – fine. Otherwise, no.

I couldn’t agree more. As a Michigan State alum myself, I found MSU’s lack of veggie food at the concessions stand quite irritating. My vegetarians friends and I were actually turned off to attending sporting events knowning that we’d have very little to eat for all the time we spent at games.

A lot more people are becoming vegetarian these days anyway, so MSU would be wise to capitalize on that and give people incentives to attend more sporting events.

Sparty, it’s not like veggie people are asking that the carcass be taken off the menu, but to simply offer an option for vegetarians/vegans.

I too am an MSU alum, and I make the trip up to EL from Pennsylvania a couple times a year for football and hockey. Back when I was a student/recent grad, I’d simply take some veggie burgers to our tailgate, and that would hold me over. Now, I typically go straight to the game and normally just don’t eat due to the lack of options.

The only option off the top of my head is nacho’s with cheese whiz, which obviously isn’t good for a vegan, or anyone who cares about their cholesterol.

It would be awesome to have at least one option available to hold the few of us over who don’t eat ze meat.

This isn’t just an MSU thing either, I catch a few Penguins games here, and nacho’s are my only option at those games, too.

I’m not going to lose sleep over it, or stage a protest, but it’d be cool if they kept a few veggie burgers in the freezer just in case one of us wants one….

How about kosher food, too? Surely, they can remove items from the existing menu to make room for kosher knoshes?

There isn’t enough demand to justify the cost of bringing in veggie items to MSU athletic venues. The resident halls have veggie items because they can buy in large bulk and there are plenty of students who are strict vegetarians, typically international students from Asia. Those students rarely attend athletic events. The demographics for MSU athletic events are typically American born midwesterners who eat meat. Larger city venues tend to offer veggie menu items because larger cities tend to have more vegetarians (example UCLA, USC, Minnesota, Northwestern etc..). Also in-order to sell veggie items they should have no contact with meat, including utensils, equipment etc… therefore equipment just for veggie items would have to be purchased. Not for MSU athletic venues.

2007, while you make some interesting points, it’s important to remember that there is just as much likelihood that vegetarians don’t attend sporting events BECAUSE they’re not vegetarian friendly, as the reverse.

It’s also not necessary to have separate equipment for vegan/vegetarian food, as long as there are multiple units to prepare each type of cooked item (which there are).

Vegetarians are an increasing percentage of the American population, and we should be accommodated.

It’s a matter of supply and demand. There isn’t enough demand for vegetarian food at sporting events to justify the cost of providing it. Most of the junk they sell is mass produced and unless there is a large demand it isn’t worthwhile to sell a particular item.

Agree with MSU 2007…

There aren’t many vegetarians at MSU where the veggie menu cost can be justified. MSU is more of a “blue collar” type institution where most are midwestern meat eaters. Not a “cosmopolitan” type school you typically see out west or east (or even Chicago and Minneapolis).

I completely agree with Noelle. It would be great to see a veggie burger offered in even one concession stand at a game.
MSU has a student cafeteria that is 100% vegetarian, so obviously there is a demand. And it is not just vegetarians that eat veggie dogs or burgers- meat eaters enjoy them too!

Let’s add Kosher food too. And gluten-free food. And low-cholesterol offerings. Lactose-free as well.

Concessions caters to the common denominator. If food selection is really keeping you away from sporting events, try eating before you go or stashing some snacks. You should be able to make it three hours without eating.

Why does everyone assume that only vegetarians would eat non-meat food? There are certainly options other than veggie burgers that would appeal to a fairly wide audience, I think.
Inevitably, I always get a brat at the games, but if there was a decent veggie option I’d be all over it. I may not be a vegetarian, but that doesn’t mean I require meat all the time.

Wow, I’ve been a veggie for years, lived a large part of my life in Michigan (and on a farm when I was younger) and I have never once considered myself “cosmopolitan”. People have already eluded to the veggie options in the dorms, but you’d be very surprised at how many veggie options are around the college towns like EL, K-zoo and Ann Arbor (not to mention the Detroit area).

As far as cost goes, I don’t see it being a huge cost to offer veggie burgers. You could have two concession stands in the stadium that offer them (one for each side), you’d need two spatula’s, reserve small area on a grille for them….the burgers themselves are not expensive, can be kept frozen up until the point of grilling (they only need to be heated up really) and keep for long periods of time. I don’t see how that is really an expensive venture.

That all being said, I actually agree with Jason. Eat before you go to the game, or go eat afterwards….it’s three hours, not a cricket match. :-)

I totally agree. Colleges in general need to be offering more vegetarian options, not only in their dining halls, but in stadiums and even the little grocery stores they have in dorms. I think ready-made is especially the way to go in the little stores – they should offer healthier options too like Amys, Tastybite, and Kashi. This is a big problem in my university as well as many others. Things need to change.

As a vegetarian, what I’m really surprised is that so many people are dumb enough to want to spend $10 for a tiny burger, meat or veggie.

I only eat inorganic food. Rocks and clay. Back to basics.

i would buy a veggie burger over a pile of chips and queso any day. and i’m a meat eater – just not a mass produced burger/brat eater.