Starting this week, there will be no more frikandel- or sausage rolls available at Grand Café the Iris. The restaurant on the first floor of the Maria Montessori building is now completely vegetarian and partly vegan. ‘I am now no longer tempted to buy a meat product.’

It’s Wednesday afternoon, 12:15, in Grand Café the Iris. There are already quite a few people, with some people hard at work on their laptops and others there to relax with a cup of coffee or a sandwich. Teun and Rosan are students of Environmental and Society Studies and are taking a break in the café. Both of them approve of the restaurant’s initiative to focus more on plant-based food.

Teun is vegan and thinks that there are a lot of vegetarian- and vegan options. ‘I think it’s good to show people who prefer meat that it’s not so difficult to choose plant-based options.’

Outdated

Teun and Rosan are aware that this week is the National Week Without Meat & Dairy. The campaign’s message states that it is outdated to eat meat or dairy every single day. Students Lorenzo and Isar of Behavioural Science, seated nearby, were unaware of the campaign. Lorenzo: ‘It doesn’t matter to me, even if I had known; I still would have bought meat.’

The students prefer to get their meat sandwiches from the supermarket because it’s cheaper. But should they decide to get something from Grand Café the Iris, then they wouldn’t mind the smaller amount of animal products on offer. ‘We do think it’s a lovely initiative to make people more aware of their eating habits.’

Els Rommes, associate professor of Gender & Diversity, is standing at the counter, grabbing a quick cup of coffee before heading back to work. She thinks it’s wonderful that the restaurant is taking steps to a more plant-based menu. ‘By removing meat options, the choice is taken away from me, and I am no longer tempted to buy a meat product’, she says. Rommes compares it to supermarkets displaying fruits and vegetables more noticeably, while hiding the candy. ‘We should all contribute, and I think this is a good step.’

Suggestions

Right now, 75 percent of all food and drink at Radboud University is vegetarian or vegan; the university wants to increase this number to 80 percent by 2025. Teun and Rosan would like to see all catering facilities on campus becoming completely vegetarian and partly vegan. They would also like it if vegan sandwiches were more clearly labelled, and that employees won’t default to cow’s milk when ordering coffee. Rosan: ‘I hope that in this way, vegan will become the norm.’

Els Rommes has another tip: ‘I would love to be able to put together my own salad from several options. Right now, they only sell packaged salads, which I think is a little wasteful.’

Translated by Jasper Pesch