Is it really that hard.....? 🤔

There's so many options and alternatives. It is not restrictive in the slightest, many dishes can easily be veganised by a simple switch.

Maybe you don't understand that to most people, these so-called simple switches make the food taste very average, and they don't want to eat it themselves. So they are faced with buying/making faux-mince, vegan-pastry rolls for your child and then a version for everyone else who isn't vegan.

I agree, I was vegan for years (eventually added a few things back in) and just got on with it, never expected anyone else to cater.

If there was a vegan free option great, if not I sorted myself out. And I think that's a good cue for you - if people don't ask upfront whatever special dietary needs and wants you might have, they are not interested in catering to them.

It IS restrictive, and there's also so much variation on the vegan spectrum, from loosely plant based to strict types who look into the provenance of anything they eat or use.

If you expect everyone to cater for whatever your version of vegan is, all the time, you risk being labelled as one of those 'bloody vegans' who aren't invited anywhere, and give all the others a bad name while you're at it.

I think YABU. Living in the U.K. with the range of shops and choice available to us I find catering for vegetarians easy. Catering for vegans is HARD.

You say is it so hard to provide bread, Humous and salad? No of course not. They would be staples at any party I catered but they are hardly a balanced meal and wouldn't necessarily be vegan. I bake my own bread and might have added milk or butter to the bread dough or anchovies/eggs/Parmesan to the salad dressing.

I agree with everything you've said, except that pubs and restaurants barely cater for adults - as a vegetarian I've found that over the past few years almost all pubs and restaurants have switched their previous vegetarian option into a vegan one (so currently bizarrely spicy sweet potato/pulled jackfruit has replaced goats cheese tart, which replaced vegetable lasagna, which replaced a glare from the waiter and an eventual omelette, as the one thing you always get to eat when going out).

It is not restrictive, that's a myth that people who cba use.

It's literally restrictive, by definition.

No, we don’t bother, because we’ve already given up hours of our free time organising the events, games, providing decorations, entertainment, food for 99% of the school, etc etc.

There would be some stuff there someone eating a vegan diet could eat (like fruit, veggies, hummus) but it wouldn’t be like for like compared to the other children. I’m sorry but I’m not spending another hour of my time catering for a random child that isn’t my own and making them stuff only they will eat.

Just as I wouldn’t expect other parents to give up more of their time catering for my celiac daughter.

Apart from anything else, you can’t trust that everyone is going to get it right when they aren’t used to cooking vegan (see butter in the pastry comments above)

There's so many options and alternatives. It is not restrictive in the slightest, many dishes can easily be veganised by a simple switch.

All right, then... just keep repeating your mantra of 'It's so so easy to be vegan, what's the problem' and then ignoring people who explain what the problem is to you.

YABU. You've chosen a way to eat that most people don't.
Is it really that hard to supply your own food?
Not sure how many vegan kids there'd be in school.
I'd imagine it's growing though.

Veganism is a choice allergies are not, I eat whatever is supplied

Fair enough. It won't hurt every now and then.

Stop complaining about first world problems. Literally a first world problem. Why don’t you move to a place where they don’t have the luxury of meat, eggs, and dairy? You can eat all the rice and veg you want then.

Other people are not your personal chef. Nobody cares about your ‘beliefs’. I doubt you care about animals or humans. You just want to act like you’re in on a trendy ‘cause’. I bet even other vegans don’t like you.

Plate of fruit for breakfast? That's okay for an adult but not substantial enough for a growing child. Give them a piece of toast with nut butter with it, or some protein.

My son has Type 1 diabetes and eating ‘the same 4 animals over and over’ plus cheese have saved his life because meat, eggs, and cheese have no carbs and lessen insulin needs a bit. Vegetables generally are low in carbs and he likes vegetables but he can’t live on vegetables alone, as there are foods he can’t have at all to be healthy, so to take away meat, dairy, and eggs would pretty much decimate the already restricted list of things he can have.

I don’t demand that anyone cater to his condition. People have their own burdens and things to worry about.

Nobody likes people who act like you do. That’s why they don’t cater to your foolish demands. Bring your own food. Prepare food for your child to bring like I do.

With so many food allergies to consider and schools having to be nut free and on some cases sesame / soya free - schools etc can find it one step too much hassle to cater for dietary preferences, which is what vegans are, vegetarians a bit easier, but veganism is a choice. I would bring a small bottle of my own milk at such events and ensure I have snacks in my bag.

Not at the expense of really good vegetarian options though.

I chaired a PTA for 7 years. In the last 3 every school event had vegan, nut safe, dairy/egg/soya free options. It’s more work but our modus operandi was no child left out so the effort was made.

I don’t eat meat, grains/carbs, or tomatoes. It’s a hell of a lot easier for vegans in terms of catering today. I don’t eat vegan food because I have high protein demands that can’t be met that way. So it’s not true that hummus and bread works for everyone. I’ve even self catered at weddings.

I shall certainly give it a try. I've previously bought small jars from the chilled section - forget the brand, but expensive. Hellman's probably has a much longer shelf life.

Thanks 👍

It is not restrictive at all. Eating the same 4 animals over and over with the whole 'meat and two veg' programing is restrictive.

Minimising the hassle of making decent vegan food (rather than just putting out some carrot sticks and hummus) isn't going to help you understand why other people can't be bothered with the faff of catering to your highly restrictive religious belief.

• No meat
• No fish
• No gelatin
• No cheese, butter, yoghurt, milk, icecream, cream
• No honey
• No eggs

Honestly, that list eliminates 95 percent of the meals I eat.

I expect vegans to manage their own food requirements in the same way I would expect anyone of who is halal or kosher or restricting for Ramadan or Lent or whatever other religious dogma dictates their extreme minority consumption practices.

My kids go to a “free school” where there is a lot of parental involvement to run the school and fundraise. It takes a lot of effort to organise events like school discos, outings, Christmas parties etc including the catering. Cooking things like proper vegan dishes or cakes takes even more time, sure you can do chopped veggies and hummus but that’s gonna be a bit crap for your child at a disco or a Christmas party where all the other kids are stuffing themselves with cupcakes and sausage rolls. To prepare a like for like vegan alternative for just one or two children is asking way too much of the organisers.

Make your child his / her own party food to bring in. One of my kids is celiac and I send her in with specialist stuff, I don’t expect there to be gluten free alternatives for just her.