The student canteens at Ghent University (UGent) are to reduce the percentage of vegetarian dishes on their menus. Currently half of all dishes on the menu are vegetarian. From the start of the new academic year this will be reduced to 25%. Despite the wide and varied choice of vegetarian dishes most students are still opting to eat meals that include meat or fish.
Ghent
Ghent University to reduce number of vegetarian options in its refectories as students prefer meat and fish
Published:
This mean that the refectories are having to bin a lot of left-over vegetarian food, and this has a negative impact on the canteens’ already over-stretched finances. From the start of the new academic year the selection of meals available on the refectories menus will be adapted to better suit the demand from their customers.
Ghent University says that its student services department has been under financial pressure for years. In recent months, solutions have been sought together with the students and staff to make the student canteens financially viable and sustainable.
Replace beef with pork
A study shows that more than 70% of students that eat at the refectories opt for non-vegetarian dishes, even though half of the dishes on offer are vegetarian. The study also showed there is also a certain amount of dissatisfaction among those that eat at the student canteens.
"Our annual customer satisfaction survey showed that customers were not satisfied with the range of fish on offer and wanted more variety in the range of meat. It is our intention to increase the range and to better match demand in the future.”
As a result of this, from the start of the new academic year, the student canteens will offer 75% non-vegetarian and 25% vegetarian dishes. In recent years, this was 50-50.
In addition to this it has been decided to replace beef with pork wherever possible. This is because research has shown that the ecological impact score (EIS) of pork is lower than it is for beef.
In the future, every dish served will be assessed for its EIS. Dish with too high an EIS will no longer be served.
Refectories to become cafeterias
In order to save money two student canteens, on the Dunantlaan and at the Veterinary Medicine Department will be cafeterias offering drinks, sandwiches and snacks only. These two facilities have the lowest turnover and a lot of food is thrown away at both of them.