Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Students and community members, including Michigan Technological University student Nate Miller, tried out a variety of plant-based options at the third annual Earth Day dinner at McNair Hall Thursday night.

HOUGHTON — Students and community members filled their bellies with sustainable vegan food at the third annual Earth Day dinner at McNair Hall Thursday night.

The dinner is a collaboration between Michigan Technological University’s Sustainability Demonstration House and the McNair dining hall.

“The main goal of the dinner is to provide plant-based food, so we have almost no meat on the table, and just have other alternatives,” said Kendra Lachcik, an organizer of the dinner with the SDH.

Those vegetarian options included Italian, Mediterranean and Indian dishes such as eggplant meatballs, falafel and lentil curry. For those who preferred burgers, they could get them in portobello mushroom and black bean.

If people had room, they could also try vegan desserts, including brownies and bananas foster. In a first, the meal also had a non-dairy ice cream, using oat milk in the soft-serve machine.

All of the food waste and napkins from the dinner is diverted from the landfill. Instead, it will be sent to the Apple Acres Farm, where it will feed the chickens.

In previous years, there’s been enough to provide one to two large garbage cans worth, Lachcik said.

They try to switch the meals up every year, adding new items and keeping some previous items, depending on what people enjoyed the previous year and what the dining hall can produce.

“Things always evolve every year, but it’s still the same event,” Lachcik said. “But you hope things are always smoother, the more and more you do it.”

The SDH works with the McNair dining hall staff on creating the menu, with both groups pitching in suggestions.

When the event began, they had to start from scratch. Since then, McNair’s added a number of vegan items to its repertoire.

“We were finding things online and they had to modify them,” Lachcik said. “This year, it was a little bit easier.”

With about an hour left, about 100 people without meal plans had come to eat at the dinner, Lachcik said.

Bill Corrigan, manager of McNair’s dining hall, predicted more options and an even bigger turnout for next year.

“It’s nice working with the student groups, and we’re here for the students,” he said.

Tech student Nate Miller was getting pasta with marinara sauce.

“I think it’s good,” he said of the dinner. “It brings awareness to the environment.”