For health conscious students, there is an alternative to the traditional dining hall menu. The Food Co-op, a student-run organization now located in the basement of the New University Union, sells healthy vegan and vegetarian food and cooking ingredients.
A group of vegan students first developed the Food Co-op in the 1970s when they sold snacks out of a utility closet in a dorm room. Since then the co-op has expanded. Although it is currently a store in the New Union, before the renovations began it was located in the Old University Union and contained a kitchen to cook full vegan meals.
Since they temporarily cannot offer hot meals, the co-op sells a cookbook of healthy meals and all of the necessary ingredients to whip them up. The recipes are relatively easy and the book even gives a nutritional description of prominent nutrients, such as soy, dairy, vegetables and legumes.
“I’m experimenting now to see what works,” Ebanezer Ingalsbe said. “I like making soups.”
Ingalsbe, a BCC graduate, is one of nine Food Co-op coordinators and takes advantage of all the recipes and ingredients the co-op has to offer. They sell everything from fresh vegetables to barley to a range of over 20 spices. Members of the co-op, or regular shoppers, receive discounts on the already decent prices. The 60-cent Organic Fair Trade coffee is the cheapest rate in all of Binghamton and many students stop in to grab a cup on their way to class.
“I come here because I support the cause for free trade and organic food,” Samantha Rubin, a senior environmental major said.
Rubin said she has been a vegan for one year and was a vegetarian for three years before that. Although she misses the kitchen, she still faithfully frequents the co-op for snacks and ingredients to prepare home-cooked dishes.
The co-op also holds events for the public, including open-mic nights and talent shows.
“It’s a great place to go to get healthy food and meet great people,” Ingalsbe said.
At these events, food is typically offered, and people with a shared interest in organics and the environment can come together and meet. Every year the co-op hosts a Thanksgiving-themed harvest dinner. This year’s feast will take place on Saturday, Nov. 22 in the Mohawk Hall Great Room in College-in-the-Woods.