An animal rights group has nominated 40 U.S. colleges for a vegetarian cooking prize.

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Northwestern University outside Chicago, where one out of five dishes served on campus is now vegetarian or vegan, is among the group, The Chicago Tribune reported.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals selected its list of finalists from online gossip on FaceBook and MySpace, from e-mailed comments sent in by students and by looking over campus menus. The nominees include the University of Montana and Boston University.

Northwestern's contract with its catering service, Sodexho, requires at least one vegetarian and one vegan choice at every meal. Vegetarian means no meat or fish, while vegan cooking bans animal products like eggs, milk and cheese.

Sam Berry, a sophomore, said she often goes for vegetarian meals because she keeps kosher.

"At a lot of places, when you say you are vegetarian, they try to feed you eggplant. I don't like eggplant," she said. "Here they'll have veggie burgers, or they'll replace normal meat with vegetarian options."