to think it tedious that vegetarians never reciprocate the favour

[Hermi0ne]

Now, I´m not mightily peed off at this, and I really dont want to offend any veg´s here but I have quite a few veg friends and over the years you invite ppl over for meals and in turn get invited etc. I always cater for their vegetarian lifestyle choice (because thats what it is, its not an allergy, thats different), but they never cater for mine. This is just something I´ve been musing about for awhile now, nothing too serious. But I really like my meat and think its unfair that vegetarians expect meat eaters to pander to them but most of them never even dream of doing meat eaters the same favour!

For me it's because I don't want to spend any of my money on meat. I don't want to be part of the meat industry in any way. By spending my money I'm still keeping the cycle going.

"It just seems odd that vegetarians don't ever think of putting meat on a table for meat eating friends. I'm not talking about cooking it I'm thinking about buying sausage rolls or ham or a pizza with meat on it when you are serving up a buffet."

I do for buffets, because I'm not having to cook things...but they're always what's left over - and then what am I supposed to do with it? Lol.

People get all worried about vegetarian buffets, so you do meat dishes too and they eat all the vegetarian stuff anyway.

""It just seems odd that vegetarians don't ever think of putting meat on a table for meat eating friends"

Presumably because it wouldn't cross their minds that their friends might be so narrow minded and timid that they would panic at the thought of a few meat free hours?

""It just seems odd that vegetarians don't ever think of putting meat on a table for meat eating friends"

It's not odd at all and it is more odd that you think this is odd.

Ethical issues aside, go into the average supermarket and there are thousands of options. So if you are looking to pick up a few bits for a buffet, you will probably just look at the stuff that you are used to buying.

The average vegetarian will never go anywhere near the meat aisle so they will just look at the stuff they are used to buying and buy that - job done.

I am [shocked] and that there are people who feel they are hard done by if they have to eat a single meal without any meat. Do you realise how spoilt that makes you sound?

I have said very clearly I am not worried in any way at all. I can go days without eating meat and wouldn't care. I am not in the least spoilt.But when I entertain vegetarians I go out of my way to cook things that they will like. Those of us who eat meat have just wondered why vegetarians don't think to put( easy) meat on the table. It is a discussion and some people have answered with answers I think are reasonable..others have been quite rude

Those of us who eat meat have just wondered why vegetarians don't think to put (easy) meat on the table.

Maybe because vegetarians don't imagine that a meat-eater would feel hard done by if they don't have meat at one meal?

Perhaps you could bring your (easy) meat with you next time so you can feel properly entertained

when I entertain vegetarians I go out of my way to cook things that they will like.

As a veggie I'm not asking you to cook things I will like, I'm asking for an option I can eat which doesn't go against my principles. As someone said earlier, I don't want to buy into the meat industry, so for me to serve you meat is also going against my principles, which I'm not prepared to do.

Similarly, I wouldn't expect a vegan to serve me dairy products. (Ethically I agree with them, I'm just not there yet).

Ethical reasons for not eating meat are DIFFERENT from hedonic preferences.

Unless you have an ethical reason for demanding meat at every single meal, it is not a parallel case at all.

It just seems odd that vegetarians don't ever think of putting meat on a table for meat eating friends.

Why is it odd that someone doesn't do something they think is unethical??

OP, I think that if you find cheese/vegetables/rice etc (generic vegetarian-type ingredients) disgusting and really would prefer not to touch them, then you have a point with your 'but they're not doing anything for MEEEEE......' argument. But if you are correlating your reluctance to forego meat with a vegetarian's possible reluctance to actually touch it, then YABsoU.

I used to be an omnivore and even then I never touched raw meat or egg if I could help it and I washed my hands obsessively if I did. Good thing I'm vegan now, really

I wouldn't feel hard done by as long it wasn't something I'd normally have with meat. Stir fry or cauliflower cheese say. I would miss the chicken and roast respectively.
A vegeburger would be ok with me because it's replacing meat with something, it's not leaving it out IYKWIM.
I think plenty of vegetarians "sound a bit spoilt" sometimes too.

Wouldn't bother me a bit if I wasn't offered meat (as long as I wasn't offered tofu - yuckity yuck). I really wouldn't want my friends to come crashing down from their moral high ground

I don't feel hard done by or unentertained. I have made that clear. I think I am being deliberately misunderstood.

"
I think plenty of vegetarians "sound a bit spoilt" sometimes too."

So people think that, in order to preserve them from the horror of a meat free meal, vegetarians ought to buy and cook them something they don't like/ find ethically unacceptable/find disgusting/don't know how to cook/ don't like having in their kitchen separately from the meal they are cooking for everyone else- and it's the vegetarians who sound spoiled???????

If you're a vegetarian who demands authentic French cheeses that were harmoniously made by nuns in Brittany and that the wheat was organically grown by monks in Nepal, then you're a bit spoilt, yes.

If you rock up and say 'I'm happy with a jacket potato and beans' then you are not a spoilt vegetarian

A vegeburger would be ok with me because it's replacing meat with something, it's not leaving it out IYKWIM

I'm not keen on fake meat. I can just about have the occasional fake sausage at a BBQ. I have been known to return restaurant veggie burgers because it wasn't clear they were fake meat, rather than vegetable burgers.

But if you're talking about vegetable burgers, and that this is acceptable as a replacement, why not bean chilli? Or lentil shepherd's pie? Or any other number of pulse/nut dishes? Or something with eggs (an excellent protein replacement)?

Do you need a meat-like article to chew on?

The spoilt vegetarians comment was obviously aimed aimed at me because I called the people who can’t eat a single meal without meat in it spoilt.

Sadly it has fallen flat because I am not vegetarian . I eat what I consider to be a normal diet, with meals that sometimes contains meat and sometimes not’t.

I don’t think it is healthy or desirable to eat meat at every meal and a lot of the animal welfare issues in farming stem from too many people expecting meat to be cheap and plenty of it.

If we all ate less meat, we could afford better quality, more ethically reared meat. I couldn’t be vegetarian but feel I do my bit by eating a small amount of higher welfare meat, plenty of vegetarian meals and I also eat the less popular cuts such as liver, brisket and shin.

I am happy for vegetarians to disagree with me on this because they may feel that all meat eating is wrong - that is fine. I am just saying that it doesn't have to be black and white - all meals containing meat or all meals containing no meat - it can quite easily be somewhere in between.

As well as a lot of people expecting to eat lots of meat and for it to not cost a lot, a lot of people will only eat prime cuts like chicken breasts and steak and turn their nose up at pork belly, chicken legs mince for example. If we are killing animals for food, we should use as much as possible.

"If you're a vegetarian who demands authentic French cheeses that were harmoniously made by nuns in Brittany and that the wheat was organically grown by monks in Nepal, then you're a bit spoilt, yes."

Can you grow wheat in Nepal?...

I've never demanded anything, I'm always just happy if there's something I can eat.

I've been to weddings where everything bar pudding had meat in it, one where my meal was a microwaved vegetable lasagne and several where there was one plate on a buffet just for the vegetarian...and it was empty by the time I got there.

Parties usually consist of crisps and cake because even things like pizza and quiche have meat on them.

Then I wonder where the stereotype of thin vegetarians comes from, lol.

Wheat grown in Nepal would surely be extra special if it's a challenge to do so, tabularasa!

It's true, I have found that many of my vegan staples are not healthy. There's a twitter hashtag for fatvegans I think

I don’t think it is healthy or desirable to eat meat at every meal and a lot of the animal welfare issues in farming stem from too many people expecting meat to be cheap and plenty of it. - yes.

If we all ate less meat, we could afford better quality, more ethically reared meat. I couldn’t be vegetarian but feel I do my bit by eating a small amount of higher welfare meat, plenty of vegetarian meals and I also eat the less popular cuts such as liver, brisket and shin. - yes

I am happy for vegetarians to disagree with me on this because they may feel that all meat eating is wrong - that is fine. I am just saying that it doesn't have to be black and white - all meals containing meat or all meals containing no meat - it can quite easily be somewhere in between. - yes

As well as a lot of people expecting to eat lots of meat and for it to not cost a lot, a lot of people will only eat prime cuts like chicken breasts and steak and turn their nose up at pork belly, chicken legs mince for example. If we are killing animals for food, we should use as much as possible. - yes yes yes!

WorktoLive, I think I love you

I agree any of the bean chilli/ bean as meat replacements are fine with me if I was going to my friends. I also loves a mushroom and strong cheese. But in my head that's a nice starter type meal not a main.
Risottos and the like seem a bit poor if you are used to having shellfish or chicken in them.

Where have you lot been for the last 20 years?

it's a technological miracle! Someone from 1980 is posting!

It's really narrow vision of food and only a pretty of a few cuisines that require a slab of meat/fake meat at every meal. I am vegetarian and don't eat quorn because it's just vile. in fact, I have found vegetarian foods that are meant to mimic meat universally awful.

I don't expect someone to cook for me something they don't themselves like.

I realise non-vegetarians can eat meat-shaped non-meat in the form of Quorn, though I struggle to see why they would - it's rank!

And yes, I eat lots of dishes with no meat in them, and I can see that in principle having a vegetarian friend or family member over is just a matter of cooking one of those, and also that many vegetarians will happily insist that you don't make them anything special, they'll just have the veggies or whatever. It's not always the case though, and I do see where OP is coming from in that sometimes it can be quite a task to provide something acceptable to everyone, and this is something which omnivores do for vegetarians much more than the other way around, IME.

I am happy for vegetarians to disagree with me on this because they may feel that all meat eating is wrong

I am on the don't kill if you have to camp of vegetarians, but agree that most of the benefits of being vegetarian can in fact be achieved with a massive reduction in meat consumption. That's seems entirely reasonable to me.

and also that many vegetarians will happily insist that you don't make them anything special, they'll just have the veggies or whatever.

If invited over for dinner, I would never insist they cook anything in particular. But given that I am vegetarian and won't eat meat, I will tell them that. it's worse if someone invites you over for some fancy meat thing and you don't eat it.