Who would think this was a sensible option?

[Thistledew]

At a wedding this weekend. The wedding breakfast was a hog roast, so guests were asked in advance if they wanted a vegetarian option.

MIL is vegetarian, so requested this option. The food was served buffet style, so we all went up to collect our meal. MIL says "Please can I have the vegetarian option - what is it?"

...


"Salmon"!




I'm still boggling as to who might have selected this. I know that some 'vegetarians' or rather pescetarians eat fish, but surely it is common knowledge that most many vegetarians don't? Who would have thought it a good idea?

Fortunately, she didn't go hungry as there were several salads served as accompaniment although there had been no veggie canapés but she had to fend of several enquiries from her friend, the mother of the groom, as to whether she had enjoyed her meal!

AIBU to think this was rather bonkers?

[TheCowThatLaughs]

Dairy products are products that come from the dairy, where the cows are milked. Nothing to do with eggs at all. If any vegans think eggs are dairy, they deserve every egg they accidentally eat imo.

[whois]

I think there is an issue that every vegetarian eat different things

No, that is not the issue. Vegetarians do not eat meat or fish.

Stupid idiots who say they are veggie and go ahead to eat chicken and fish are a problem and should be treated like the half wits they are.

[trufflehunterthebadger]

Saucyjack, if you can show me that eggs contain mammalian milk we can cede that they are dairy

Dairy free
Egg free
Vegan

All have completely different meanings and i would interpret them all completely differently. A friend of mine is allergic ti dairy. She eats egg

[kentishgirl]

Professional caterers should know better.

I agree it's the cunts idiots who claim to be vegetarian while eating non veggie food like fish or chicken who create most of this confusion.

I was veggie for 15 years and so many times I'd have someone telling me 'no, it's ok, you can eat the fish, my sister is vegetarian and she eats it so it's vegetarian'.

[trufflehunterthebadger]

I think there is an issue that every vegetarian eat different things

If they eat dead flesh they are not a vegetarian. It's very straightforward.

[Caly2014]

At the last wedding I went to I was offered fish as the vegetarian option- not just a fillet, but a whole fish with head and tail which made it even more off-putting. There were 3 other 'vegetarians' sat on my table and all of them ate the fish without hesitation .

[superbagpuss]

whois so what should I call myself?

I am neither a true vegetarian or pescipalian but a hybrid of the two.

It's not really an ethical issue with me but to do with food texture and taste, the smell of meat and most fish makes me feel ill.

So please don't call me a half wit - I am happy to explain my eating choices to most people, but vegetarian is an easy short cut - which I will expland upon if anyone cares enough to ask.

[trufflehunterthebadger]

Kentish, generally caterers do what the client asks for

-what shall we provide a a veggie option ?

• Salmon please
  

• salmon is not vegetarian
  

• well my daughter is a veggie and she eats salmon so that's what we want
  

• no problem

[Castlemilk]

Vegans do not 'classify eggs in with dairy' - they class them, along with dairy, as animal products.

I'm veggie. That means I do not eat animals. I am happy with hen periods though, and will obviously avoid the odd mushroom or courgette which looks particularly full of personality

[OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat]

Utterly ridiculous to have salmon as a 'vegetarian' option. But then there are some stupid people in food production, that appear to know very little about food.

I could start a whole list of AIBUs, such as 'AIBU to think that there are no situations where it is acceptable to serve margarine outside a vegan cafe' or 'AIBU to think that it is not acceptable to sell an Options sachet as a hot chocolate in a cafe' (two real examples from recent history, which goes a long way towards explaining why I make almost all my own food and don't eat out as often as I would like).

And why is fish seen as acceptable to some people who claim to be vegetarian? Catching fish looks pretty unpleasant to the fish IMHO.

From an animal welfare point of view, if you are going to only eat some types of meat, surely it would be better to go for something that has a nice life and a quick death, so lamb, beef or game, which is generally less intensively farmed than pork or chicken, and slaughtered quicker than most fishing practices.

The selective choices of those that only eat some meat/fish on supposed ethical grounds seem to be flawed logically.

[trufflehunterthebadger]

superbagpuss
The issue comes when someone you know gives someone who is an actual veggie a tuna steak as a veggie option. Then when they don't eat it say "but SBP is a veggie and she eats tuna"

Maybe you should just say "i don't really like many meats so i'll have the veggie option please"

[AlpacaYourThings]

Vegans think eggs are dairy?!

The vegan wouldn't assume the cake was SFV just because it said 'Dairy free' as it could still have honey in it (or y'know, eggs).

[trufflehunterthebadger]

Totally agree with you ilkley. It always seems bizarre to me that people that won't eat meat for ethical reasons are happy to eat a fish that has suffocated to death or been boiled alive (crab, lobster)

[AlpacaYourThings]

Agree, OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat.

I'm vegetarian therefore I don't fucking eat fish

Wouldn't it be more "ethical" (if you were concerned about eating meat/fish from a loss of life perspective) to eat a say, a cow? 1 cow would feed many people, whereas one fish typically only feeds 1 person.

[Andcake]

YANBU
vegetarians don't eat fish or meat etc.

Or of you think well some veggies eat fish so I will choose salmon your a bit nuts/stupid as going for something properly veggie (as in made with vegetables) would be the better course of action.

[Thistledew]

They seemed to be professional caterers, but I would have expected better from a professional outfit.

Alpaca- I used to be a vegetarian so am fully sympathetic to people who don't eat meat for ethical reasons, but you can't think too carefully about the whole counting the loss of life issue - my parents are vegetarian, and grow much of their own food organically. Yet I have slaughtered literally hundreds of creatures picking caterpillars off their brassica plants!

[5Foot5]

AlpacaYourThings That is a very interesting point about loss of life when considering which type of flesh is the most ethical, or should that be least unethical, to eat for a vegetarian.

I am not vegetarian but if someone told me they were I would assume no fish or chicken or anything like that. I wonder, though, whether some of the so-called vegetarians who do eat fish or chicken are vegetarian not for ethical reasons but for health or taste reasons. They might think red meat is bad for them or they simply might not like the taste or texture of it. Then they use the term "vegetarian" as a shorthand?

[JustAShopGirl]

It does seem a bit bizarre to offer fish!

(but I find it odd that people won't eat meat "for ethical reasons", but will have dairy... ethical reasons for not eating meat somehow include supporting an industry where a heck of a lot of male calves are killed - just for not being cows!)

[AlpacaYourThings]

Sorry, ThistleDew I didn't make myself clear. I agree with you.

I'm not against anyone eating meat, being vegetarian is my choice (for health reasons more than anything else).

I just think its a bit hypocritical when someone doesnt eat meat for ethical reasons but does eat fish, if their prime reason for not eating meat is about loss of life.

[AlpacaYourThings]

5foot5 my SIL is "vegetarian" but eats chicken and ham with her, I think it's an attention thing. She likes the 'idea' of being a vegetarian, but is clearly ignorant to what being vegetarian actually means.

[Me624]

I am a vegetarian and absolutely agree proper veggies do not eat fish!

I went to a wedding recently which also had a hog roast. We'd been asked to put dietary requirements on the tspc which I had so I assumed a veggie option would be available, but when I went up to ask there was nothing, and unlike the op's mil I did go hungry! There were "salads" to accompany the hog roast but they were very arty farty ones with no proper substance to them iykwim. I was starving and DH ended up giving me his dessert as well as mine.

Then in the evening it was a BBQ ... at least this time someone has thought to bring some veggie burgers and cook them on a separate grill - I'm guessing they were different caterers to the main meal!

Obviously I never said a word to the bride and groom but I thought it was spectacularly bad planning!

[whois]

whois so what should I call myself?

I am neither a true vegetarian or pescipalian but a hybrid of the two

It's not really an ethical issue with me but to do with food texture and taste, the smell of meat and most fish makes me feel ill

A fussy eater? Someone with a restricted diet? Both if this would fit if you want a label.

[HazleNutt]

superbagpuss if you eat fish and shrimp then you are not a vegetarian. You can call yourself pescetarian - it's not required that you should eat ALL fish to be one. Just like you can be meat-eater and not eat all possible animals. But if you eat some meat or fish, you are still not vegetarian.