To be annoyed that vegan options have replaced vegetarian?

I bloody love a vegan burger now and then #fuckbeanburgers misses point of thread

I read the menu. It sounded great.

What do you think I’d do, drive 90 minutes to a place I’d booked 4 weeks ago, having checked the menu online AND having had similar options before that weren’t vegan… then find out last minute they’d swapped butter for some other crap and go home instead, with no birthday meal for DG? Jesus.

It’s perfectly fine for vegetarians to have a moan on AIBU. It’s not peace in the Middle East and fixing climate change in here, it’s griping about bins and neighbours parking.

Go take your sanctimony to a different part and Mumsnet if AIBU topics are too petty for you.

This really annoys me as I am vegetarian but intolerant to soy and vegan alternative dairy products are almost always soy based! I want a vegetarian option when I go out, partly for the taste but also so I don’t get an upset stomach.

YANBU! DD is vegetarian but also has a serious nut allergy. She avoids vegan food like the plague as it often contains nuts (not just sprinkled on top where you can see them, but very much hidden, like creams made of cashews, cashew hot chocolate, etc). She sometimes wonders if she as a vegetarian, should go back to eating meat because she can’t risk having the vegan options!

That's nice. But you're not supplying British supermarkets & restaurants with eggs & dairy products, they're generally being supplied by industrial levels of animal exploitation and cruelty. Most people are fine with that, some are conflicted and some find it unacceptable.

Nobody is going to change their position unless they come to it themselves.

Yup - life long veggie here. The new fancy Mexican near me only does vegan - so no cheese on nachos/quesadillas - been replaced with…jackfruit 🤨

I'm also 99% sure our two pet cows don't have much use for butter or cream (they prefer grass) but wouldn't bet the house on the goats not wanting a goats cheese tartlet as those bastards will literally eat anything

I'm not vegan so not criticising you using their milk - but they do have use for it obviously it's for feeding their calves.

I agree. I eat a lot of vegan food generally, and I welcome good vegan options, but what I mind is awkwardly veganised things which don't suit it - e.g. a risotto which in my view depends on parmesan.

You’d be surprised the non pork options are often very limited, but it is more difficult at Christmas.

It's the same with the milk and gluten free offerings, they are clumped in together as free from to save on costs no doubt.

I must say a lot of the chain restaurants (think zizzi, ask) do pastas that are vegetarian as a base and then it says 'add chicken or pancetta' etc below.

Is it more to do with the storage / preparation/ cooking ?
You can’t prep / store / cook vegetarian food with meat & you can’t prep / store / cook vegan food with dairy or meat.
Offering all 3 means 3 sets of storage, 3 sets of prep area & 3 sets of cooking utilities in case of cross contamination

I can hand on heart say that my chickens mainly don't want their eggs. They lay them and leave them and when my son forgets to collect them, the bloody magpies steal them.

Maybe once or twice a year, one of our hens will go broody and we facilitate her hatching her eggs and keep the resultant chicks as part of our flock. Though the bloody magpies murdered half of the last clutch before they hatched because, you know, they'd gotten in the habit of stealing the hens' discarded eggs. It's the circle of life as Disney said. This year we hope that no unborn chicks will be murdered by magpies as we've been super diligent about collecting all the "discarded" eggs in hopes the magpies will bugger off elsewhere.

I'm also 99% sure our two pet cows don't have much use for butter or cream (they prefer grass) but wouldn't bet the house on the goats not wanting a goats cheese tartlet as those bastards will literally eat anything.

It might be news to some restaurants, but even omnivores can eat vegetarian and vegan food. I have been vegetarian for almost 40 years. You would think the choices would have improved in that time.

I seldom eat out, but I do often look at the menus of local establishments, especially when they promise ‘a new and exciting menu has arrived’. Unfortunately, it seems that doesn’t apply to the vegetarian option.

I'm confused, where are you dining? Pork products are generally only in pork dishes. There's no hint of pig in most non pork/bacon/ham dishes.

I'm vegetarian ( for more than 30 years ) & I find the increase in vegan choices a good thing rather than a bad thing. We now have a few fully vegan restaurants near me that are fantastic ( with no fake meat ). We had nothing like that a few years ago.

I don't like fake cheese or fake meat, but both are easy to avoid. I'm out tonight to a local pub & have just checked my options - a celeriac pie with veg & gravy or a curry. Both vegan rather than vegetarian & both will be lovely hopefully.

Completely agree. I’ve been vegetarian for about 25 years and I like cheese dammit 😂

Peak vegan below.

You're not being unreasonable, OP. Even meat-eaters like to eat vegetarian options, it's my preference anyway.

There are THREE classes - omnivore, vegetarian, vegan - and they should be kept distinct so that all have a 'home'.

I think it might also be because it covers people who are lactose intolerant too so there's a wider variety for them potentially as well.

I do feel for you though.

I'm the same with chilli. Feel like everything has it in. I have IBS and I have an intolerance to chilli. It doesn't matter how much is in it, I cannot have any of it. It's maddening so much food seems to be spiced with it.

You need to go to better restaurants if you're going to ones where the vegan options is just a 'grilled bit of cauliflower'.

I'm vegan (have been for 12 years) and was veggie before that (although never ate eggs) and I eat a wider variety of more exciting food now. I guess it depends on what options you have where you live. I live in a big, diverse city with amazing restaurants.

I agree OP but my bigger issue is with places who only have fake meat as the vegan/veggie option (I am actually pescatarian but loads of places don’t have a fish option either). I hate chicken/beef/pork/lamb, I don’t want to eat even more disgusting pretend versions of them.

One of the best things about being vegetarian was that the one or two options on any menu would 99/100 be something cheesy. Now it's all vegan and disappointing!

And I absolutely agree on the sadness of the 'vegetarian' afternoon tea. Margarine cakes and no cheese sandwiches. They can shove it.

Yes it's so annoying. No one wanted to cater for vegetarians at the best of times, then veganism became trendy so every establishment became pro vegan and what are vegetarians? Just chopped (veggie) liver! Wheres my haloumi?

Yup! Veggie for 30+ years and while I'm really pleased most places now do a veggie option (I remember when salad and chips was your only option) I'm also annoyed that everything is vegan. I love mayo. I love cheese. I love cream. Vegan doesn't always cut it. I get it, it's a "two birds, one stone" thing to tick boxes but I'm borrrrred of vegan food. I'm not vegan for a reason!