Cooking Workshop Gives Taste of Being Vegan for Cheap
By: Madeleine Peck
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There are a couple obstacles in the way for people interested in becoming vegan or vegetarian.
People may not know how to press tofu or cut up a pepper. They may not see how they can afford the new diet, when they know they can just grab a meat-filled meal a Wendy’s for just a couple dollars.
Lindsey Lukacs stopped eating meat while she was in middle school and a couple years later became vegan. Now, as a sophomore at Ohio University, she spreads her knowledge of vegan cooking with others in hopes to break down some of those obstacles. She is the treasurer of the student organization, Conscious Ohio, which hosts weekly vegan cooking workshops while class is in session.
The vegan workshops take place in the basement of United Campus Ministry, and Conscious Ohio suggest people donate just a few dollars in return for the food.
“You don’t have to be vegan to come,” Lukacs said. “It’s really fun just to kind of have a safe space for a little bit, especially for students who are still on campus in the dorms. If you’re eating dining hall food that really sucks. … This is the open meal a week that actually tastes good to me.”
As far a price goes, people don’t realize how cheap it is to be vegan, Lukacs said. Potatos, rice and vegetables are all cheap items and also staple items for vegans.
Theresa Moran, the director of OU’s Food Studies Theme, said eating a plant-based diet is cheaper, but other factors come into play. People need to be educated on how to cook food properly and have resources like electricity, water and cooking equipment, in order to have a successful vegan or vegetarian diet.
“Eating plants is cheaper than eating meat.” Moran said. “But you need to know what to do with it.”