EnviroWeekly | Local pizzeria has vegan options | The Triangle

EnviroWeekly | Local pizzeria has vegan options

Some people grew up making memories around the dinner table. My family made memories while taking up two tables at the local pizza shops in Lansdale, Pa. My family members didn’t need two chairs each—there were just seven of us Sylvesters at one time for many years. We laughed, choked on mozzarella sticks, did Rodney Dangerfield impersonations, and maybe asked a little too often whether or not Kurt Vonnegut could read lips.

We grew up around pizza, wings and cheesesteaks, but my parents would have never guessed that the majority of my siblings would eventually become vegetarian and vegan. We are growing up in a generation of twenty- and thirty-somethings that see a need for environmental awareness, especially when it comes to diet. As I’ve written in past articles, meat consumption accounts for a huge part of anthropogenic emissions. The food we eat, love, even, has an impact on the Earth and its resources no matter how you slice it.

I recently was walking up to 33rd Street, and I saw a new pizza place called Pizza.Wings.Steaks. (also known as Pdubbz). I didn’t think much of it until I heard it had vegan options. Not only that, but it partakes in its own Meatless Mondays, cutting veggie option prices in half between 8 p.m. and12 a.m. They have vegan pizza, vegan wings, and of course vegan cheesesteaks. More restaurants in University City and West Philly should follow Pizza.Wings.Steaks. in its effort to reduce the resources it uses like water and energy. They can expand their menu with little cost by having some great vegan options and have more business by advertising those options to Drexel students.

Drexel clubs like the Sierra Club and the Animal Welfare Association, who have more than a handful of vegans and vegetarians, could use some places closer than South Philly and Center City that are cheap and, more importantly, ones where it is fun to eat. With a growing number of students that are participating in Meatless Mondays at the Handschumacher Dining Center, plant-based meals will become a new norm among underclassmen diets. I can’t guarantee freshmen will not gain 15 pounds, but they’ll be contributing to a less polluted environment by being conscious of the decisions they make when it comes to food. I hope more businesses can follow the plant-based trend like Pdubbz and share in the cruelty free meals that are making their marks on Philly menus.
I may not have my family with me, but I can still “get no respect” with my vegetarian friends here at Drexel starting at places like Pdubbz.

Benjamin Sylvester is a member of the Drexel Sierra Club. He can be contacted at [email protected].
The Drexel Sierra Club contributes weekly.