The state average letter grade for the state of Texas is ‘C’ according to PETA’s report card. | Zaineb Davis/The Cougar
The University got an A rating on the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals’ vegan report card.
The report card shows how well a school provides for their vegan students through their food options and variety.
PETA has a checklist they follow to determine whether a college or university gets a high letter grade or not. Some of the items on the checklist require labeling vegan food options in the dining hall, offering meal replacements, and having vegan variety.
Under UH’s letter grade, the University dining halls were docked for lacking promotion of vegan options, offering an all-vegan station and having an all-vegan dining facility.
“Schools and companies across the nation have bulked up on vegan foods as the demand from students reaches fever pitch,” said PETA’s resources section, called ‘Why Vegan?’
November is World Vegan Month and the Moody Towers Dining Commons and Cougar Woods Dining Commons have signs and menu options to commemorate it’s celebration.
Some options open to vegans and vegetarians on campus are the tofu replacements found in chicken or pork dishes, as well as the daily vegan soup that Cougar Woods offeres.
Both dining halls have have their vegan options labelled both in the commons and online. There are accommodations for those who are gluten-free and dairy-free as well.
The University stands out compared to its peers, with the state average being a C, according to PETA’s report card.
Only four institutions in Texas got an A letter grade, but only two—University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Austin— made the Dean’s List with an A+ according to PETA.
UH had 80 percent student satisfaction rating found by the PETA report card.
“I feel like the dining halls are pretty inclusive to vegetarians, but the vegan options are lacking terribly,” said health education and HDFS freshman Joshua Romano, “The choices are limited to fruit, salad and sometimes soup.”
Romano said he was originally a vegan at the start of 2015, but recently became a vegetarian when he started a meal plan this semester.
“Not having a choice whether or not I could abstain from the meal plan meant that staying vegan would end up costing me a lot of money,” Romano said, “I plan to revert back to vegan next year when I no longer have to purchase a meal plan.”
