A vegetarian SCAD student tackles veganism
Loaded nachos from Royal Wellbeing World Retail Vegan Caf Photo via eatrhw This story was produced as part of a collaboration with the Savannah College of Art and Design For our third collaboration with SCAD we once again worked with students in Paige Gray s spring semester writing class this time focusing on the subject of food With the help of Rough Draft editors Collin Kelley Beth McKibben and Sammie Purcell the students produced stories ranging from the personal to hard hitting issues like food insecurity Here I am sitting in front of this royal house salad and blu-lavender lemonade from Royal Soundness World Retail Vegan Caf As this tasty and unique salad sits before me a question slips into my consciousness Could I a vegetarian of years become a vegan if I tried I ve unfailingly thought it would be too hard to go vegan because I love cheese But maybe I just need to see what vegan options are out there Surely there are vegans in the world who also once loved cheese And maybe the wellness benefits would outweigh the costs I decided to see what the experts had to say The studies from both sides sort of overlap one another Kip Hardy manager of Food Amenity Projects and Food Nutrition Services at Emory Healthcare mentioned regarding the fitness benefits of vegetarianism and veganism The Datassential Plant-Forward Opportunity Summary made in collaboration with The Culinary Institute of America Food for Setting League and the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative considers how digital media shapes consumer expectations and perceptions around plant-forward offerings Hardy stated that this knowledge can help plant-based restaurant owners plan their menus Hardy added that reducing your intake of processed foods provides more benefits than being a vegan or vegetarian Processed foods are foods genetically modified by human hands or in other words any food that s changed from its natural state I visited Royal Medical World because they serve a variety of healthy sandwiches and salads and I couldn t pass up the chance to try one of their special lemonades I spoke to the restaurant s owners Nika and N ser Tillman about the restaurant s menu We use whole foods chickpeas instead of processed foods All natural Nika commented about the process for making certain plant-based meat substitutes Nika also mentioned using jackfruit a green spiky fruit native to India and Southeast Asia which is commonly used as a meat alternative It became a popular choice due to its neutral flavor its ease of use and its fitness benefits It is great to know that even if I have to go off campus there are more than enough restaurants to cater to vegetarians and vegans alike In addition to Royal Wellbeing World Atlanta s vegan and vegetarian restaurants include Cafe Sunflower Buckhead Plant Based Pizzeria and perhaps the the bulk well-known option Slutty Vegan And that s just a small sample size We have a large group of vegan restaurants here in Atlanta N ser reported Knowing all that I know now could I make the switch As I take a bite and sip of my food and drink I still think it would be very hard for me But maybe I could make the switch at least partially At the very least the number of plant-based restaurants in Atlanta would make it significantly easier to do The post A vegetarian SCAD aspirant tackles veganism appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta
