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!

I'm not vegetarian but don't eat meat - I eat fish. However I always cook meat for family and friends including for my dd and Dh. Have a couple of friends who don't eat meat (one is veggie, other eats fish) but do cook meat for others too.

I kind of get what you mean, actually.

So you have two friends. Friend 1 is veggie, Friend 2 is not.

When Friend 1 hosts, she cooks what she normally cooks, vegetarian food.

But when Friend 2 cooks, she cooks something she might be unfamiliar with, as she usually cooks with meat.

So actually on a practical level, if you just for a minute take out the moral aspect of it, Friend 2 is always hosting by cooking new and unfamiliar recipes. Friend 1, however, could be cooking a tried and trusted recipe.

Now I can easily see how that can get a little frustrating for Friend 2. I have a veggie friend, I'm not great at cooking, occasionally it's an added issue having to make something veggie (and interesting) as opposed to doing something I'm familiar with.

When I read the OP I have to admit I was in agreement, though that clearly puts me in a minority. However, of course everyone else is right that there is a moral, ethical issue here that you cannot ignore and you cannot expect people to overule.

But I do get the annoyance sometimes...

I am a vegetarian and I wouldn't cook any meat for you. I don't even want to buy it let alone have it in my house.

I bloody love meat, I love it. If I went to my veggie friends house I would accept what she gave me (as long as there was plenty of vino). My best friend is a veggie and does a mean fake chicken curry. In fact, my best veggie side dishes come from her.

I'm not a vegetarian but in our house we eat our own meat from our farm or from our friends/family/neighbours. However, that is IN MY HOUSE. When invited to others we are given meat and we eat it. If someone eats processed meat, I will not cook them processed meat when I know perfectly well that they can eat other things as well. It's the same for you, you can eat vegetarian so why would they cook meat for you? I am thankful when I am welcomed into someone's house and cooked for. When my vegan friend comes to stay we cook her a lot of nice beans, pulses and vegetable dishes. She enjoys staying on our farm. When we visit her, I don't expect her to cook things that she doesn't even eat in her own house, I enjoy her vegan meals. Having a meal cooked for you is a luxury whatever it is (as long as it's made with affection and care) it's not a necessity and for that YABU.

I disagree Thurlow. Surely you eat some meat free meals even if not 'forced' to by a vegetarian friend?

Off the top of my head, I can think of:

Pizza
Greek salad
risotto eg courgette and boursin
Vegetable/pulse curries
Quiche
Tapasy bits like patatas alioi, pan con tomate, olives, beans or chick peas in sauce, garlic mushrooms.
Paella can be adapted with vegetables like artichokes and peppers etc instead of meat/fish
Soups

that are normally in my repertoire as 'meals' that I regularly cook.

And that's before you get to easy snacky things like egg and chips, omelettes, baked potatoes or beans or cheese on toast.

I don't see food as vegetarian/non-vegetarian - to me it's just food. Obviously I wouldn't offer meat to a vegetarian, but I wouldn't think 'X eats meat, I must serve meat'. I just wouldn't occur to me.

Gabilan your family sound just like my DHs. I don't feel so bad about MIL having to cook double meals though as a) cooking for a vegetarian/pescetarian means she can cook stuff she likes to eat herself instead of the constant meat & 2 veg FIL has (she will quite often eat the vegetarian or fish dish she's cooked for me) and b) she is the sort of person who massively over caters anyway so it would be her usual style to offer more than one choice at dinner anyway.

If it wasn't for having guests over it would all revolve around her cooking FIL what he likes and he is very picky, so I think she likes cooking new things for guests. I'm just relieved DH can cook for himself and I don't need to mess around with meat!

Why not just avoid using the term "vegetarian food".

Dishes that are suitable for vegetarians are also suitable for omnivores.

Isn't it normal/essential for meat eaters to have a few non meat days each week anyway?

Thurlow, why do you presume vegetarians don't try new recipes? We have shelves of cookbooks, loads of magazines, apps and access to the Internet!
Vegetarian and vegan food makes up much of the meals eaten around the world.

I almost never have meat free meals, I can't think of one I have regularly.

I am quite scared of meat free meals as on the whole I don't like vegetables, unless they're with meat.

But I do think YABU, as most veggies have a moral opposition to meat as opposed to just disliking it.

I don't want hot corpse stinking out my kitchen. I don't want cold corpse in my fridge.

I run a vegetarian kitchen. When in Rome.

The cook gets to decide. If I went to a friends house and the meal on offer was vegetarian that would be fine, but that friend doesn't get to demand that I don't include some meat dishes among suitable vegetarian offerings if they come to my house and I'm cooking.

I agree with the OP; I have gone to immense trouble to provide separate meals for vegetarians who have made a lifestyle choice based on their preferences; they have never made any attempt to accommodate my preference, which is that some meat is a necessary part of all diets for good health.
Vegetarianism is accorded a quasi-religious status by some, and I do object to vegetarian guests attempting to impose a no-meat rule on my household over the length of their stay.
My aversion to vegetarian meals may come from the fact that the main proponent of vegetarianism in my life is an awful cook, and the food presented is tasteless, watery and overcooked. I attended a wedding where the food offered was delicious, and entirely vegetarian, and didn't realise this until somebody told me the next day.

Unless you are a carnivore (ie one who eats only flesh) your point is tediously illogical ?

" my preference, which is that some meat is a necessary part of all diets for good health."

But that's not a preference- that's an error. It isn't.

But even if it was, surely you could have meat in the other two meals you were having that day?

When you get an ice cream from the ice cream van, do you complain that there is no ice cream with meat in it, or no meat in the biscuits with your cup of tea, or no breakfast cereal with meat in it?

I do object to vegetarian guests attempting to impose a no-meat rule on my household over the length of their stay.

Goblin, do you run a guest house? Or are these friends you're talking about? If the former, you might want to advertise that you don't cater for vegetarians, if the latter, you should get some new friends

I'm an omnivore but I do cook a range of meat free meals, and I'm trying out some vegan recipes so I can cater for a couple of the DCs friends when they come over.

My DP is one of the "meat & 2 veg" type, but in the last couple of years, I've introduced a range of things that he's enjoyed, so he's less fussed at ensuring our meals contain meat or fish than he was before.

I would not be fussed at being offered vegetarian/vegan meals at a vegetarian/vegan's house.

I would never in a million years expect my vegetarian friends to cook me a meal with meat :P They might have very strong beliefs in why they do not eat meat, and I respect that. I might love my meat, but do not have a strong belief that we must eat meat. In fact, I think the more people are veggies, the better for the environment and for animals! But it's not for me, I like my meat too much!

I think that SuburbanRhonda has hit the nail on the head. This is more about friendship. If you value the friendship you would compromise (and so would they) by meeting up in a café or bringing own food along or eating a veggie meal. If you feel strongly about it then the friendship isn't important which is a bit .

OP. YABU.

I am a die hard carnivore - I am a beef farmer and I love my meat.
I particularly love stalking and shooting my own meat and then preparing the kill myself before cooking and eating it. I LOVE it!

However I wouldn't expect a vegetarian friend to cook meat for me. I get why they are veggie and that's fine. It won't kill me to have a veggie meal once in a blue moon.

What does make my blood boil is when veggies try to tell me that I shouldn't eat meat like they have some kind of moral high ground! (but that's a whole other debate, and one which has been done quite recently on MN so we won't go into that again)