It’s Thanksgiving and a turkey is roasting in the oven, gravy is slowly cooking on the stove, a pumpkin pie is cooling on the windowsill, and some LHS students can’t have any of it.

One student who won’t be able to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal is sophomore Isabell Rummell, a vegetarian of one year.

“I felt I needed a change,” Rummell said. “I ate too much meat and wanted to be healthy.”

It may seem difficult to be a vegan or vegetarian on Thanksgiving, but senior Sarah Sutterfield, who has been vegan for more than a month, knows how to work around the problems.

“I’m not a big fan of Tofurky (tofu turkey), but it’s only my mom [and me], and so we never really have that big of a meal,” Sutterfield said. “My favorite thing to eat at Thanksgiving is green bean casserole, so I’m sure there is a vegan alternative out there.”

Rummell also knows how to work around eating meat on Thanksgiving.

“There are substitutions, but I don’t personally do that,” Rummell said. “I just eat the other stuff.”

So does senior Tess Seuferling.

“I just eat potatoes and bread [on Thanksgiving],” Seuferling said.

Another student who won’t be having a normal Thanksgiving feast is senior Hazlett Henderson, who has been a vegan for seven months.

Even though she’s been a vegetarian for the past four years, she faces a new challenge this Thanksgiving by cutting out all animal by-products instead of just cutting out meat.

“It’s just me and my parents [on Thanksgiving], so I’ll probably just be like ‘I’m gonna eat regular food today.’ I’m not gonna eat Thanksgiving food, because it’s not really a holiday that we get into,” Henderson said. “Maybe I’ll make vegan pecan pie.”