As the Loyola Marymount University mission states a goal of educating the whole person, we feel this implies making educated choices on the health and wellness of our bodies and minds. In accordance with the mission statement, we feel that the dining services could do more to uphold that promise. After having an in depth conversation with LMU's head chef, Dana Massimiani and dining services head of marketing, Laura Kissinger we are especially concerned in regards to the lack of vegan options, their labeling, and preparation that is provided by Sodexo for LMU.

We request that a full vegan/vegetarian section be incorporated into the pre-existing infrastructure of at least one of LMU's dining areas, such as The Lair or Roski’s, so that students can be served options in which they are confident meet their dietary needs and give a variety of healthy options for students. 

More students have been demanding vegetarian and vegan options. Other university dining much movement on our own campus. Our neighbors at the University of California, San Diego have incorporated an all vegan restaurant called “Roots” into their dining experience, for example.

We ask that Sodexo and LMU consider our request immediately. Throughout the remainder of the semester, we will be hosting on-campus events in order to garner support for our initiative, which we encourage everyone to attend!

Our goals are to have a clear understanding about what we are putting into our bodies, and it is very unclear where the products are actually coming from and what they are in our dining areas. We look forward to providing better options to our student body and working with LMU and Sodexo in order to improve the education of the whole person.