Food orders for work related events are to be vegan and vegetarian only

This isn't always true - it depends how they're prepared. I've been caught out with stuff that had wheat in which wasn't apparent!

Inspired idea. Vastly reduce the admin around the events, likely reduce cost, maybe help the environment.

Presumably for most people involved it's one meal once in a while.

I really don't like this idea that being veggie/vegan is somehow more ethical than eating meat it. Vegan and veggie foods can do plenty of harm to the environment and to people too - mono cropping, highly processed stuff, air/sea miles, slavery used to farm the crops. There's probably more that I just can't think of too!

Ideally everyone would eat locally where possible and stop the spurious divide between "ethical veggie food" and "bad meat eaters".

It’s more inclusive not less. Everyone can eat vegetables. Not everyone can eat meat or certain types of meat. My daughter’s school was vegetarian to be more inclusive of different faiths, and veggie/vegan lifestyles.

I think it's reasonable, however I usually find it difficult enough to find something to eat when catering for meat eaters as well as the food always seems to be unnecessarily complicated so I would probably end up bringing my own..... which might well be vegetarian.

I'm a fairly fussy eater, very happy with cheddar cheese and pickle/tomato/chutney sandwiches or a frittata.. but very unhappy with brie/goats cheese/egg/spinach/basil/aubergine/hummus/rocket/olives/chilli etc. (and yes I know frittata is egg, but it's nice egg not mushed up with mayonnaise or hard boiled!)

Exactly! It's not a question of people eat omnivorous catering or people eat veggie catering and the veggie catering means lower carbon footprint. Because there's a third option, which is some people bringing their own and the catering choices thus leading to more food waste.

When you put your head over the parapet, people will aim.

If you're claiming you're doing something, then you need to be doing it.

Personally? I recycle, buy local, use public transport, and volunteer locally, try and buy locally where I can, however I have a car, and go on holidays - but again I'm not shouting about saving the rain forest - thats the difference.

Its lies and fake

Can't stand this moralising from corporations.

I wish they would just admit it's about cost cutting and get over themselves.

Also, if they really want to be inclusive are they catering for allergies and intolerances?

Perfectly reasonable for your workplace to say this providing
a) They are the ones paying for it and no staff have to pay for these meals eg. staff can still order a pepperoni pizza as a group and pay themselves, and everyone can still bring meat in their own packed lunch
B) all non-vegi diets are catered for properly and not just given plain salad. for someone that can't eat gluten, soya OR dairy, meat is one of the only safe and filling foods and removing that too would be a pain in the arse
C) it's not too regular ie. You don't get catered lunches every day as part of your work due to working lunches, travelling, conferences etc where it would then have a significant overall impact on your diet
D) it's optional to eat the food and you can cater for yourself if there's nothing you want (which should always be an option at work lunches anyway).

TBH, I wouldn't care.

It won't kill a meat eater to be veggie for one meal once in a blue moon. And it's more inclusive of everyone.
And I say this as very committed meat eater myself!

It's free food at a time when people are queuing for food banks.

Nobody is going to die because they can't eat meat for one day.

How often are these events anyway that they will impact your health or sense of justice in the whole scheme of things?

No problem with that, we can’t order any food so I’d be happy with veggie or vegan to be honest

I'd take my own too. I'd not be coerced into becoming a vegetarian or a vegan to suit my employers.

@Kdtym10
This reminds me of the idiots who post pictures of steak on vegan IG pages lol

People like that just make me laugh 😁
I'm on a few vegan pages and you always get someone going "eww, poo, urgh give me a nice steak!"
Er, crack on, eat one then?! No one's stopping you lol 🙄😂
Or "but wot about my bacon?!!"

Why do you think vegan automatically = processed? There are a lot of naturally vegan foods/meals out there. Likewise there is a shit tonne of ultra processed meat and vegetarian food.

Again, they are ok for bumping up the calories/carbs for the people who need them.

I’m suggesting salads, roast vegetables, tofu whatever as the core foods, with extras on the side for those who can eat them.

I have a GF and a low carb colleague and when they bring their own it’s nothing the rest of us couldn’t also be eating. Yet all that’s ever offered is sandwich and cake based with a salad garbish.

That would be my concern. I eat a lot of vegan and veggie food, but I'd be very cautious of suggesting that the options served at a beige buffet are likely to be be a) environmentally friendly or b) healthy.

Or take their own food, which is what I'd do.

One meal without meat is not "forcing" you into vegetarianism. Good god the absurd theatrics.

Exactly. Both a vegetarian/vegan or omnivore buffet could be delicious, varied healthy food or beige processed UPF crap.

Far too many buffets are dominated by processed pork five ways, so it's refreshing any time some offers something different and I don't understand why so many people come up with endless reasons why they couldn't possibly eat or enjoy vegetarian/vegan food as if it's automatically going to be some special weirdy food that's only attractive and edible to vegans and vegetarians, when in reality, most of it will just be normal food that most people enjoy.

Yes, practically speaking ruling out any time of common foodstuff is likely to be less inclusive, not more.

No, this is just bollocks though.

Why are you more concerned about people's hypocrisy than about the environment itself?

Social change is a process. It's comprised of small steps. All activists know this. This is how progress has happened in every area throughout history. It's about human behaviours changing a little at a time, not a wholesale instant transformation of the way we live. And yes, this means that not everything is 100% coherent at any given time, which is why activism is a long game.

@caringcarer
I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan and won't be forced into it. There would be a huge backlash if only meat eaters were catered for and vegetarians or vegans were left out
One buffet at work being all vegan/vegetarian isn't forcing you into it
It's not that you can't eat the food, it's that you don't want to.
It's hardly the same for a vegan or vegetarian only being catered meat!
I say this as a meat eater!

Hot news. There's an awful lot more to a vegetarian diet than beans, pulses and soya.

I've been to a few events over the last couple of years where all the catering was vegetarian or vegan. It was absolutely fine.

It's obviously less inclusive not more. A mixture of meat, vegetarian and vegan would be more inclusive. I think it's judgemental and discriminatory.