To not want to eat with my vegan friend again

[MerylPeril]

Rare (very rare) day off alone, vegan friend suggests meeting for lunch. To me this is a big treat to eat out.

So we go to a vegan/veggie place to accommodate her (even though I would have liked a big pub lunch). My diet is about 80-90% veggie now, previously total veggie

The menu didn't grab me much (and I do love veggie food) but there was a halloumi and mushroom burger and I luuurve halloumi....
Friend orders same, but just mushroom with vegan Mayo....

She then spends the entire meal telling me how I should have ordered the same as her, how much better it would be, shouldn't have I asked to if they had any vegan cheeses blah blah, how terrible dairy is, have I tried the alternatives...
Like we never talked about anything else

I can't think of anything worse than eating just a bloody grilled mushroom in a roll btw.

The thing is every conversation with her (and over time she's gotten worse) is about veganism and her obsession about converting me. Ironically she has the WORST diet of any adult I know. She also doesn't seem to have any real interest in food. She eats loads of fake meat products and eats little fruit/veg.

She's even lectured me before because we met up and I had tea and it had milk in it . It's exhausting, like a religious mania....

It's hard to meet up with people (we live a distance away from each other) where no food/drink is involved - how else do I ever see her...??

I'm hacked off and I bought a pasty after because I was still hungry! (She had gone!)

Spot on Paperdoll I'm mostly vegetarian. If people eat less meat generally, they'd be dong a hell of a lot for their health, not to mention the environment.

Mostly vegan = I have a family that I cook and prepare food for, and although I try to avoid all animal foods sometimes dairy products slip in (eg, pesto). I'm not fanatic about it, because it isn't practical for my life.

People who are food obsessed are just dull and their droning on and on is a mask for some other thing imo, nobody needs their lunch spoiled people just need to eat and shush.

Ugh! I hate people like that. I'm a recent vegan convert, and I'll admit seeing people eating and drinking non-vegan things bothers me more and more, but I would never comment on anything anyone else was having, and I can't stand being around vegans/veggies/omnis who do.
If she's a good enough friend to travel that far to see her, then just be upfront about it. Tell her it's annoying and it's not going to change your mind. If she flounces, she obviously isn't ~that~ good a friend

Tbh, I prefer the term whole foods plant based rather than vegan, because of the reactions I get when I say "mostly vegan". But it's a mouthful and WFPB isn't an acronym most people are aware of. Vegan is easy shorthand. And "mostly" is me being honest. shrug I don't see an issue.

It gets boring very quickly.

I had a vegan friend, she ate crisps, apple sauce and vegan granola bars. That's it.

Her skin was grey and she was not very happy.

It takes a lot of care and thought to be a healthy vegan.

Also, there's the other end of the scale too: so called foodies.

People who only want to eat off slate plates and pay twice the price for the sake of eating tapas or whatever.

My friend is vegan. Go to an Indian or Japanese restaurant.

Why dont you say vegetarian instead of almost vegan ?

My niece is vegetarian and doesn't really like dairy but she will eat chocolate. Her husband and kids eat meat and she's never commented on other people's food choices. That's just rude IMO.xxx

I'm vegan and she sounds like a right dick! Don't eat with her again!

Because if someone eats basically no animal products, almost vegan is a much better explaination of their diet than vegetarian?

I know a fewclean eaters they judge you

So if you eat no animal products you are vegan im not being pedantic just confused

It takes a lot of care and thought to be a healthy vegan
Gosh, the Williams sisters seem to manage just fine,- them being elite athletes and all.!!

petit, I don't get your point. Maybe the Williams sisters put a lot of care and thought into their diets?

Evangelists are dull and irritating, be they religious, political or dietary. I've had a few friendships drift over the years over one or other, but if you like her I'd at least let her know it bugs you to give her a chance to stop it, otherwise she'll never know.

I'm not sure why my personal definition of my food choices is an issue? I used to eat metric tonnes of cheese, cream, whole milk, etc etc. Now I make oat milk every day and make a "cheeze" sauce out of nutritional yeast. Some dairy sneaks in, in the form of pesto or something.

This is why I don't talk about it much.

Its not an issue i was just being nosy really sorry didn't mean to offend you

Not offended, just regret adding the qualifier, really!

It doesn't take much thought at all to eat a healthy vegan diet. Obviously NOBODY could be healthy with a diet consisting of three items, no matter whether of animal or plant origin!

It's not difficult at all Richard, - only for people who suffer from a lack of imagination.

She sounds like a nightmare to be around and you would be perfectly reasonable to cut your ties with her. You respect her right to be a vegan, she should respect your right not to be.

Human beings are omnivores, they are designed to eat meat, animal products and vegetables. Choosing to be a vegan doesn't change this fact.

I do find it odd that vegans choose to eat meat substitute products. It's basically an admission that they know humans naturally should eat meat, so why deny it? And then they eat bread (contains insect fragments), take a bus without checking what tyres it uses (many tyres contain animal products), use a £5 note and so on.

Each to their own, but respect the choices of non-vegetarians / non-vegans before expecting us to respect theirs.

Tonight, we are having burritos, filled with Black bean chilli, salsa, avocado salad, and sweet potato fries.

DD has made some delicious Vegan Brownies which we will have with Swedish glacé ice cream. We have been eating this for years, not even realising it was dairy free.

Will be having a couple of glasses of wine as well. Not sure if that's vegan though
Going to a South Indian Vegetarian restaurant with DH tomorrow night. Absoloutly full of delicious veggie and vegan dishes. We have been loads of times.

I do find it odd that vegans choose to eat meat substitute products. It's basically an admission that they know humans naturally should eat meat, so why deny it?

It's an admission that they liked the taste of it, so they're in the market for soya protein that's been flavoured like meat.

Saying that equates to an admission that humans "should" eat meat, is like saying kids at nutfree schools eating Wowbutter (soya flavoured and coloured to be like peanut butter) are admitting that humans "should" eat peanuts.