I’m a cello performance major in Blair and maybe a Spanish minor. I grew up in Connecticut, wearing mismatched socks to school and trying desperately to be good at math. This will be my third year at Vanderbilt and my third year of being vegan. I came to veganism with the intention of making myself healthier, mentally and physically, but had no idea it’d turn into so much more.

I now feel morally obligated to buy up Morgan Munchie’s entire stock of Lenny and Larry’s packaged protein cookies, spend most of my meal swipe’s entrees on bottles of GT’s gingerade kombucha, and stash my backpack with Primal Strips teriyaki mushroom jerky even though I still think jerky is gross. It has become my civic duty to increase the demand for vegan products. With this hefty responsibility in mind, I hope for this column to serve as a running review of any accidentally vegan snacks I find on campus, dining hall dishes, and local restaurants that cater to a plant-based diet. Let me know if you find any funky juice bars, dope ramen places, or Munchie Mart delicacies you want me to test-drive for you.

In the coming weeks, I will take you with me on a few typical days of eating around campus. I hate to spoil the surprise, but look forward to a lot of Grins superfood wraps, Naked juices, and tupperware containers of lukewarm white rice I made in my dorm room. I can’t wait to shed some light on how we vegans feed ourselves here at Vanderbilt. Maybe I’ll even reveal to you every vegan’s best kept secret: where we get our protein. Find me on Facebook or Instagram (@emily_azzz) if you have any questions about veganism you’d like me to debunk in my next post. In the meantime, go eat some plants.