A vegetarian SCAD student tackles veganism

This story was produced as part of a collaboration with the Savannah College of Art and Design. For our third collaboration with SCAD, we once again worked with students in Paige Gray’s spring semester writing class, this time focusing on the subject of food. With the help of Rough Draft editors Collin Kelley, Beth McKibben, and Sammie Purcell, the students produced stories ranging from the personal to hard hitting issues like food insecurity.

Here I am, sitting in front of this royal house salad and blu-lavender lemonade from Royal Health World Retail & Vegan Café. As this tasty and unique salad sits before me, a question slips into my consciousness: Could I, a vegetarian of 10 years, become a vegan if I tried?

I’ve always thought it would be too hard to go vegan, because I love cheese. But maybe I just need to see what vegan options are out there. Surely, there are vegans in the world who also once loved cheese! And maybe the health benefits would outweigh the costs.

I decided to see what the experts had to say.

“The studies from both sides sort of overlap one another,” Kip Hardy, manager of Food Service Projects and Food Nutrition Services at Emory Healthcare, said regarding the health benefits of vegetarianism and veganism.

The 2024 Datassential Plant-Forward Opportunity Report – made in collaboration with The Culinary Institute of America, Food for Climate League, and the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative – considers how digital media shapes consumer expectations and perceptions around plant-forward offerings. Hardy said that this knowledge can help plant-based restaurant owners plan their menus. 

Hardy added that reducing your intake of processed foods provides more benefits than being a vegan or vegetarian. Processed foods are foods genetically modified by human hands, or in other words, any food that’s changed from its natural state.

I visited Royal Health World because they serve a variety of healthy sandwiches and salads, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to try one of their special lemonades. I spoke to the restaurant’s owners, Nika and N’ser Tillman, about the restaurant’s menu. 

“We use whole foods [chickpeas] instead of processed foods. All natural,” Nika said about the process for making some plant-based meat substitutes. 

Nika also mentioned using jackfruit, a green, spiky fruit native to India and Southeast Asia, which is commonly used as a meat alternative. It became a popular choice due to its neutral flavor, its ease of use, and its health benefits. 

It is great to know that even if I have to go off campus, there are more than enough restaurants to cater to vegetarians and vegans alike. In addition to Royal Health World, Atlanta’s vegan and vegetarian restaurants include Cafe Sunflower Buckhead, Plant Based Pizzeria, and, perhaps the most well-known option, Slutty Vegan. And that’s just a small sample size.

“We have a large community of vegan restaurants here in Atlanta,” N’ser said.

Knowing all that I know now, could I make the switch? As I take a bite and sip of my food and drink, I still think it would be very difficult for me. But maybe I could make the switch … at least partially. At the very least, the number of plant-based restaurants in Atlanta would make it significantly easier to do.