Being vegetarian is so tiresome.

[Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon]

I’ve been vegetarian for over 25 years.

Just arranging dinner with friends who are raving about a particular restaurant. It’s a m at eaters dream of a place I’m sure gorgeous food is sold.
It’s Italian so there’s the usual vegetarian offerings of over priced margarita pizza available and it really pisses me off.
There are also some overpriced sides available but it boils my piss to pay £14-16 for a bit of cauliflower.

It’s the majority vote to go to this place.

I don’t want to bring it all down because there’s very little choice for vegetarians so I’ll do as I always do, eat before I go, order a drink and order the cheaper side to just be sociable.

Its always the same I find, always the same.

If you are vegetarian, how do you navigate this?

I think the hate is just towards the weird stuff like... Vegan "cheese".... 😳

@Dreamingaloud just as most people eat "vegan" food every day. Even vegan meals sometimes.

Am I the only (supposed) heathen who likes vegan 'cheese'?

I don't think It's 'food of the gods' or anything such as but if a vegan pizza is available with it, I'm happy.
I also like beyond burgers and similar.

I'd not expect them to be the option in a gourmet restaurant but if I go out I like to eat 'junk' or things that I'd not have at home.

I am quite a good cook, too!

I like vegan cheese, too!

I eat vegan cheese (normally if I’m somewhere that it is the only option) and I think lots of people on here are the same but I think the point is why is that the only option now! I eat it but I wouldn’t choose it if that makes sense

also i don’t like the fact that a lot of these alternatives are worse for health because to make them they substitute things like oil etc so the fat goes up

I don’t dislike a beyond or moving mountains burger but I resent paying £15 for something that has taken no skill or effort. I could make it myself for a few quid. When I go out I want something that I wouldn’t or couldn’t make at home.

@BiscuityBoyle i suppose that's the difference for me-I'd never eat anything like that at home always on a bloody diet .I appreciate it is cheap to make, but I enjoy it.

I do like to go to nice restaurants and have something requiring a lot more skill with unusal ingredients, but if I am going anywhere more 'standard' just for a casual dining sort of evening I am always pleased to see one on the menu.

I am completely a loss as to understand being vegetarian if you eat milk, cheese eggs et cetera they’re all animal byproducts
mostly plant based in my home, but vegetarianism I don’t understand please explain

What's so challenging to understand? I don't want to eat meat but enjoy eating eggs and dairy so I'm vegetarian rather than vegan.

Why is it so hard?

i don’t eat dead animals. I do eat animal products that aren’t dead animals.

milk, cheese etc aren’t dead animal.

get it now?

I agree! I'm the only vegetarian in my family and friendship circle and its so tiresome having to avoid certain places or pay over the odds for bland ticky box vegetarian dishes!

What on earth do you think happens to the animals when they aren’t 100 💯 productive
so cows that do offer high yields as ageing
aren’t kept as pets ,they need to give birth to produce milk , what do you think happens to the calf’s
I used to rehome battery old layers ( chickens)
otherwise they are culled , the poor things are so used to being packed in barns they are terrified of being in any space
its not doing anything for animals and their welfare by being vegetarian,
fine if you don’t “ like” taste texture of meat etc
but personally I feel it’s pointless

Bonkers that you won’t eat animals but don’t think about the animals that produce what you are eating!!!

Thirty five years a veggie. When eating out with meat eaters I focus on the non food elements. Wine, chat etc. Once I get enough to eat, I try to let go. It's not always easy. I remind myself it's a choice to be vegetarian, and a minority one. Most humans are omnivores. Not many other ways around it. Unless you want to piss everyone else off.

I used to do this too. It was so rewarding but so heartbreaking. Some of the poor things dropped dead not long after finding a lovely home. Just too much of a shock to the system for them.

Don't be utterly ridiculous. Of course it's doing 'something' by being vegetarian. Not as much as being vegan but it reduces the amount of animals being kept and slaughtered for the meat industry.

Your attitude of 'all or nothing' is actually really harmful. You don't persuade more people to be vegan spouting that nonsense, you just persuade LESS people to be vegetarian or reduce their meat intake. Which in turns leads to more animals being killed and mistreated.

Absolutely! Fellow coeliac here - I feel you! 🫡🙌

Who says I don’t?

it’s a choice. Would you rather vegetarians thought fuck it I can’t be vegan so I won’t bother? Surely better to stop some than none.

I’m not vegetarian for ethical reasons btw, which kind of makes your point moot.

My DD decided to be flexitarian. She’d been veggie for about 5 years but had always likedd meat previously. She now eats vegetarian at home and occasionally eats fish and meat if eating out and like you, finds the menu uninspiring.

The planet would be better if everyone ate less meat and animal product. I do eat meat but not every day. I don’t think it has to be binary.