How hard do you find it, being a vegetarian?

moneyistooshorttomention

HornetSaver wrote: »

True. But if you self identify as pescatarian, you will only put up with so many "well fish is meat anyway", "er... what?" and (my personal favourite) "um, I'm afraid we don't do insects" before you'll give up and call yourself a veggie who eats fish.

That hasn't been my experience.

I do find I have to usually explain what a pescetarian is. That hasn't proven a problem though. I just say "It just means I don't eat meat". No-one has tried any arguing with that - maybe its down to saying it firmly enough and then moving swiftly onto next topic.

Or you could try wearing glasses when eating out and then saying "It just means I don't eat meat" and the arguments don't even start - courtesy of that subconscious reaction people have to glasses-wearers of assuming they are more intelligent (ie don't get into any arguments like that with them - as you'll lose...:rotfl:).

I used to hate having to wear glasses when younger - but these days I've discovered the advantages of them:rotfl:

Goldiegirl

Justamum wrote: »

It's a pain in the rear end when the limited food on offer to vegetarians is then eaten by meat eaters, often leaving the vegetarians with nothing to eat at all! It happens quite frequently.

I eat meat and fish, but a couple of times a week I like to eat meals without meat or fish.


Therefore, when I go out, I am just as likely to pick a vegetarian dish as a meat or fish dish.


So, am I led to believe that vegetarians frown on meat eaters choosing a vegetarian dish in a restaurant?


Or does this 'pain in the rear end' only occur at things like weddings and parties when it's a buffet.


I should add that I have to follow a low salt diet to control a chronic medical condition, so if the vegetarian options are lower in sodium than the meat or fish items, then I'd certainly go for the vegetarian options.


I had no idea that choosing these options was some sort of social faux pas. I'll know another time to go without, if the only things suitable for me are vegetarian options, just in case I'm frowned on by hungry vegetarians! :rotfl:

Justamum

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Or does this 'pain in the rear end' only occur at things like weddings and parties when it's a buffet.

Yes, it's in a situation where there is a finite amount of food ordered, when a certain amount of vegetarian food is provided because there are x amount of vegetarians, then the meat-eaters think 'that looks delicious, I'll have some of that too!', and vegetarians are left eating bread sticks

Goldiegirl

Justamum wrote: »

Yes, it's in a situation where there is a finite amount of food ordered, when a certain amount of vegetarian food is provided because there are x amount of vegetarians, then the meat-eaters think 'that looks delicious, I'll have some of that too!', and vegetarians are left eating bread sticks

Fortunately I don't really go events with buffets.


But, I suppose I'd have to be the one to go without, if the meat and fish items weren't suitable for my diet and the vegetarian food was, but off limits to me


I really had no idea that eating vegetarian food when you are not vegetarian is a social faux pas

whiteslice

It's true that meat eaters sometimes eat all the vegetarian fare, but I think it's a good thing! Vegetarians should speak out and ask if there is anything left that they can eat. This will inconvenience the hosts but next time they will remember to order less meat and more vegetarian food

LameWolf

Justamum wrote: »

Yes, it's in a situation where there is a finite amount of food ordered, when a certain amount of vegetarian food is provided because there are x amount of vegetarians, then the meat-eaters think 'that looks delicious, I'll have some of that too!', and vegetarians are left eating bread sticks

The way this was dealt with when I attended a Mensa gathering a few years back was to let the vegetarians go and get their plates loaded up first, thus ensuring they weren't at the back of the queue and only left with meat/fish options which they couldn't eat, then the omnivores could have whatever they wanted, including veggie food. It seemed to work.

moneyistooshorttomention

LameWolf wrote: »

The way this was dealt with when I attended a Mensa gathering a few years back was to let the vegetarians go and get their plates loaded up first, thus ensuring they weren't at the back of the queue and only left with meat/fish options which they couldn't eat, then the omnivores could have whatever they wanted, including veggie food. It seemed to work.

That sounds a very good idea to me to handle things that way.

Helps to make up a little bit for all the times a group sit-down meal always seems to mean the vegetarian meals get served last:mad:

LameWolf

whiteslice wrote: »

It's true that meat eaters sometimes eat all the vegetarian fare, but I think it's a good thing! Vegetarians should speak out and ask if there is anything left that they can eat. This will inconvenience the hosts but next time they will remember to order less meat and more vegetarian food

I'm sorry, but I cannot agree with this. Why should I, as an extremely shy person, have to "speak out and ask if there's anything left I can eat"? I'd be mortified if I had to do this.:(
Also, if all the vegetarian food has been eaten, teaching the host a lesson for next time doesn't feed the vegetarians this time.

moneyistooshorttomention

LameWolf wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I cannot agree with this. Why should I, as an extremely shy person, have to "speak out and ask if there's anything left I can eat"? I'd be mortified if I had to do this.:(
Also, if all the vegetarian food has been eaten, teaching the host a lesson for next time doesn't feed the vegetarians this time.

It's not just shyness either.

I'm not shy - but I would have distinct problems in doing this if my mother was in tow for instance. She has this thing that people should eat and drink whatever is put in front of them regardless and that its only polite to do so. That's all very well, but we aint the Royal Family (ie who have to eat whatever-it-is to show willing etc) and she eats a lot more conventionally than I do.

But...yep....I wouldn't want to be in the position of "reminding a host of exactly what their duties entail" either and I'm not convinced it would make any difference to them doing things better the next time. In my experience - any comments whatsoever are likely to lead to total blank looks and a sudden desire to "do something else/talk to someone else" that they have just thought up on the spot.

If they're thoughtful enough/intelligent enough they will be ensuring vegetarians etc are catered for properly. If they aren't catering properly - then its probably because they aren't thoughtful etc people in the first place.:cool:

It still doesn't seem to be very common to turn round to people one will be feeding (as I do) and ask them if there's anything they don't eat for any reason - and then sit back and wait to see what they will tell me they don't eat/don't like/etc and cater accordingly.

nuatha

Justamum wrote: »

Yes, it's in a situation where there is a finite amount of food ordered, when a certain amount of vegetarian food is provided because there are x amount of vegetarians, then the meat-eaters think 'that looks delicious, I'll have some of that too!', and vegetarians are left eating bread sticks

Any decent caterer should have taken account of this and catered accordingly, ie far more vegetarian food than meat based dishes.

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Helps to make up a little bit for all the times a group sit-down meal always seems to mean the vegetarian meals get served last:mad:

With set menus, anything not on the set menu is served last to prevent people having the set menu suddenly changing their mind and deciding to order the other dish. This applies to both veggie and non veggie variants to the menu. Just so you're aware of the reason.