To want this stopped?!

[Notasperfectasallothermners]

Dd started secondary school in September. Loves it, really settled well - no worries regarding peers /work etc. However, had an issue with food tech last week where dd (vegi entire life) was given pre measured out ingredients to make biscuits, as dd didnt know what lard was she used it and brought the biscuits home. All dc sat and ate them, will admit they were nice! Until she mentioned lard and Googled it herself. Not a happy dd! Told her things happen and not to worry, not lovely to drop down in a heap this once sort of thing.
Rang the school to remind them she is vegi etc, mistakes happen - don't expect head on a platter etc...
Then yesterday she gets home, salad wrap for lunch, server wearing gloves to handle ingredients makes hers - after handling ham to the previous dc in the line! Rang school again, they will be speaking to the caterers today. Fed up.

The most shocking thing here is using lard to make biscuits - surely you only use butter?

There are plenty of biscuits made using lard. Here's just one:

Crunchy Gingerbread Biscuits

200g caster sugar
350g black treacle
165g lard
125ml hot water
2 eggs
750g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

I haven't read the whole thread but I don't think you are BU. If they are being so blasé about cross-contamination, if a child with allergies were to suffer the same fate what would happen? Ok, so you could say they may be more strict if they know a child has allergies, but how do they keep track of everyone's allergies? Gloves are grotty anyway, it's more sanitary to wash hands, it gives you a false sense of hygiene.

If you are than bothered about it, there a simple solution. Make her a sandwich yourself.

I don't think anyone forced her to eat the sandwich, did they?

Being a vegetarian is still eating food that is part of the meat industry.
Dairy comes as a result of cows/bullocks bred for meat. A cow needs to be pregnant to make milk.
Wool is often made from lambs slaughtered for meat.
So a cross contamination of ham isn't actually a big deal unless you are vegan .

Of course there isn't🙄 don't take things so literally, it was a metaphor of sorts to make the point that to a non meat eater, this is a huge & very upsetting deal
Actually that’s not true. Or rather not true for ALL vegetarians but only for SOME of them.
I know vegetarians that have no issues with their food touching a plate/pan/gloves that has handled meat.
I know vegetarians that are eating fish.
I know vegetarians who eating sweets etc etc

Actually I know many more of those than people who are so fussed about meat that they cant cope with the pair of gloves Issue.
The people I know who have that level of ‘awareness’ and sensitivity are all die hard vegans who wouldnt touch leather shoes, down duvet, milk etc etc

RockinHippy

Meat, fish, eggs, cheese, cream, milk might very well STINK to you, but we are not talking about force-feeding a vegetarian with a rare steak. We are talking about a busy diner lady handling food for students with no allergy or medical issues.

And my point stands: if you find the idea of eating dead meat repulsive, you won't be in a place which serves it. I wouldn't recommend eating live animals either

I can disagree with you without wishing to hurt your soul!

Psychologically allergic the grin emoji isn’t sufficiently rofl.

know vegetarians that are eating fish

They are not vegetarians.

I know vegetarians who eating sweets etc etc

What?

The ham thing? Does she touch doorknobs? Desks? She's coming into contact with meat. Leather shoes? Yup. Don't treat her like she is allergic - vegetarianism is a choice to show that you choose not to encourage the killing of animals for food and should not be confused with total hysteria when it comes to touching anything that might have come into contact with meat. All you'll do is give her a complex, and life is hard enough without them.
Biscuits and lard? Good grief. Don't they use butter or marg anymore?

A baby or toddler doesn’t decide to be a vegetarian unless they are physically allergic to meat!
🙄 daft response, of course not though no kid should be eating meat in their first year anyway a DC growing up in a non meat eating household will naturally be brought up not eating meant & when old enough to understand, the choice should be their own

Firstly, what an unnecessary waste of latex gloves and secondly I’d imagine the catering staff are almost certainly overworked and on minimum wage! Err Tongs are what they are meant to use, as said several times by other posters below, no buggy to use 2/3 sets of tings & it wastes nothing. Not even the meat gloves which would be unnecessary with tongs

If you’re that bothered about it you make her lunch for her.

Unfortunately for different reasons, as born out by the lack of understanding & sometimes damned right nastiness on this & similar threads, I do agree with this. It shouldn't be that way though. Too often more clout is given to religious food choices than vegetarianism, which is wrong.

If you and her feel that strongly I assume you only socialise with vegetarians and not those horrible nasty meat eaters!
What an idiotic response. Perhaps those not eating meat have a better respect for other people's life choices than you do yourself

I've been veggie for 25 plus years and the ones who go on about dead bodies and decomposing corpses annoy me so much.

If I want people to respect my choice not to eat animal products then I must respect their choice to eat them. Me being a GF is not going to change their mind.

Some sweets contain various ingredients that come from cows, especially the chewy gum ones. Some sweets are off-limits to veggies.

but how do they keep track of everyone's allergies?
In my local schools, they have an updated list with photos, these children are served first, have different colour trays. There is one (or several) person whose job is specifically to check that it's done right (usually a TA).

They do take genuine health reasons very seriously, but the children are usually very good, and know as well. There's not big fuss either, it's just efficient.

The ham thing is not good, but I think it is up to your daughter to educate herself on what things are not vegetarian ie lard.

I don't think YABU

I know very few people that don’t have a good ‘quirk’ that would probably seem strange to many others.

For instance, DH can’t eat a sandwich with only one filling, FIL detests cucumber so much that if a salad is being served the cucumber has to be placed in a separate serving dish and I have not eaten meat since 1998 and also choose to not eat food that has touched meat, raw or cooked. It might not bother some vegetarians but it does bother me. I don’t like the idea of it and I think that’s what ‘psychologically alergic’ was supposed to convey.

I respect DH and FIL and accommodate that, even though I think they’re both a bit odd, because I respect their right to choose what they eat. It’s not up to me to dismiss others eating habits and food preferences.

For myself, firstly I loathe discussing being a vegetarian. I just am, it’s not fascinating, it’s just a fact. Secondly, I am responsible for what I consume but I think it is fair enough to include asking people to avoid putting meat on my food is a reasonable part of that. And if they don’t respect that I don’t eat the food, whether in s restaurant or at home. It is MY choice and does not impact on anyone else.

And in the case of the OP and her DD I don’t think she’s asking for anything strange but, as I said before, needs to help her daughter to articulate those needs, or as others have suggested, provide alternative food.

But I stand by my initial reaction - it is not unreasonable to have your own feelings and wishes on what you consume and nor is it unreasonable that her DD has been upset by these incidents at school, however trivial it might seem to others.

MN doesn't seem to really like vegetarians for some reason.

Probably because they don't like their own poor ethical choices being shown up. Hey ho.

I eat meat but I respect the right of a veggie not to have their sandwich made with meaty gloves!

I think a busy lunch server, serving hundreds of kids would expect a secondary aged child to be able to tell them that they're vegetarian - as opposed to saying nothing, expecting the server to miraculously know and then going home and complaining.

Shasta, yes my son's school (440 kids) has a photo of children with documented food allergies, and the cook knows about them all.

My son had a terrible incident in Spain once where we didn't read the ingredients properly on some crackers, which he remembers vividly, so he now loudly asks about sesame whenever we eat out. Precocious middle class child alert cringe

Someone on the vegan board has a vegan friend who eats salmon. Apparently they identify as a vegan ethically but don't mind eating the nervous systems of fish.

I was puzzled by that.

Actually a vegetarian is psychologically allergic to meat, as in eating it, even accidentally goes against everything that you stand for & hurts your soul.

And this, this, is why after 10 years I still come back to Mumsnet time and time again: absolute gold! 😂

Re biscuits, yanbu.

Re gloves, yabu.

This is the kind of nonsense that makes non vegetarians despair, and makes a mockery of vegetarians.

Presumably your dd is a vegetarian because she doesn't like animals killed for food. Marvellous, well done. So, how are any more animals killed by the caterer touching ham then salad??? It makes no difference whatsoever to the animals, except dolphins and other animals because of the plastic.

Thus wanting the caterer to change gloves harms animals, totally contradicting the point of being a veggie.

A veggie harms animals already - milk, leather etc - so I don't think they get to be holier than thou about their food having touched ham in the past.

FluffyWuffy .... could it be because a lot of the vegetarians on mumsnet seem to be quite selective about what they choose to consume for "ethical" reasons?

If they were doing it for ethical reasons, they'd be vegans.

Some sweets contain various ingredients that come from cows, especially the chewy gum ones. Some sweets are off-limits to veggies

Yes, I know that - but not all of them!