To take fruit to a coffee shop

[JaceLancs]

The taking your own tea bag thread reminded me
Would you think I was a CF for taking my own food (usually fruit) to a Cafe or coffee shop
I always buy a drink and if it’s vaguely early enough porridge but I usually take a box of strawberries or raspberries, or something like plums or apricots
I’m on a diet and have lots of food allergies so am pretty limited to what I can eat anyway
Most cafes even if they sell fruit only have bananas apples or oranges which I’m not that fond of

Why not buy a take out coffee and sit in the park?

FizzyGreenWater Why do you think that the bananas go brown and the apples go wrinkly? It's because hardly anybody goes to the cafe to eat fruit

Due to my work I often eat breakfast away from home
Only things on offer are usually bread crumpets toasties bacon barm fruit tea cake etc none of which I can eat
If I order a skinny porridge I get asked do you want jam or honey or Nutella to go with it
No but I would love some dried apricots!

I do think what is available on the average high st is contributing to the obesity crisis from Greggs to McDonalds and coffee shops that only sell cakes or toasted sandwiches

How? Nobody is forcing you to shop there or to buy those things. McDonald's sell salads and fruit, or chicken salad wraps. Greggs sell salads, porridge and chicken salad sandwiches, as well as fruit salads. So do places like Costa, Starbucks and Nero.

Surely you're responsible for what you put in your body? If you don't want cakes and toasted sandwiches, don't buy them.

Only things on offer are usually bread crumpets toasties bacon barm fruit tea cake etc none of which I can eat

Or you could go a supermarket/Tesco express, buy some fruit and have it in your hotel room. You might have to eat on the go, but there are options out there that aren't cafes.

I’m told that even Greggs sells salads now.

“There are no options on the high street so I have to bring my own”. No. I call bullshit on this. Maybe in the nineties this was true, but I also choose to watch what I eat, (mainly plant based whole foods, so fairly restrictive), and even I manage. Black / oat milk coffee, bag of plain nuts and seeds if I’m desperate or I... wait for it... make my own at home. Phew. Dodged that obesity bullet!

I work in a busy cafe. We have fruit. Most of it gets thrown away as we rarely get asked for it. Usually a banana for a child once in a while and its free for kids!
Probably wouldn't pay a small cafe to stock it due to wastage.

I agree have your coffee and eat your own food elsewhere. The cafe is paying through the nose for all its amenities plus staff wages its not paying all that for people to bring their own food and get a cheap bit of r&r.

I do think what is available on the average high st is contributing to the obesity crisis from Greggs to McDonalds and coffee shops that only sell cakes or toasted sandwiches

This type of attitude is why we now have sugar free drinks etc, rather than the option to choose for ourselves. I don’t want aspartame in my Ribena thanks, I would have preferred the sugar, and to have a choice. But people with opinions like yours decided that everyone shouldn’t be given a choice as they can’t be responsible and only have one drink/burger/whatever it is, so everyone is now forced into sugar free. By the way, McDonald’s does salads and fruit bags.

Nobody has to eat in cafes. Even if they work away from home. It isn’t a basic human right.

I’m loving the eat it in a park comments
There is no park anywhere nearby - in winter it would have to be a bus shelter or my car in a multi storey car park which is more likely

Funnily enough I had a Mexican style chicken salad from Greggs yesterday. It was pretty nice. I really like their ham and egg salads too because they remind me of my childhood.

You’re so determined to prove you’re right to do this op. You’re not. But you’re utterly convinced that you are. So why in heavens name did you bother to ask?

Anyway when i go to a cafe for a good coffee i dont want fruit with it! I want a bit of indulgence i dont have at home😀

Why are you ignoring all the posts stating you can get healthy options in cafes and takeaways? The option isn't eat a Danish pastry or starve!

Where do you live, OP?

Somewhere reasonably urban or are you a bit out in the sticks?

Pret, for example, has plenty of things you could eat.

This reminds me of the cheeky requests people used to ask when I was a waitress. To countless party bookings: “Um no you can’t bring your own birthday cake as dessert unless we charge £5 per head for the pleasure of eating it in our restaurant.” They thought that was unfair. The mind boggles .

It's not the cafes fault that you have no where else to go. It's not their responsibility to give you a nice warm space to eat your picnic

Given the way business rates are going I have every sympathy for the cafe owners who are just trying to make ends meet

YABU and rude, all these excuses about why you must eat your own food in a cafe are bollocks. You don't need to eat at all in cafe, especially since you're on a diet.

'Due to my work I often eat breakfast away from home'

You can make your own breakfast and take it with you in flasks and eat it at work.

well OP you might not be fat but you are surely killing the planet with your take away cups.

Selfish as well as goady huh? But not fat, oh no.

in winter it would have to be a bus shelter or my car in a multi storey car park which is more likely

Or eat at home! No one is forced to go to a cafe.

well OP you might not be fat but you are surely killing the planet with your take away cups.

Bring a reuseable cup!

Never ok to take your own food - get a coffee to go and sit on a bench if you need to eat.

Would you book a table in a 5* restaurant, order a glass of wine and then proceed to take out your own food and eat it?

I do not think it is OK to bring your own food to a cafe. It is never about health and safety, it is about respect for the space and services that they are providing to you in return for payment.

Things are difficult if you have lots of allergies and perhaps if you had a discussion with the cafe owner / manager and asked their thoughts, that might be ok...

Fruit and coffee doesn't really go together does it? I would think it a bit strange if someone ordered a coffee and then got their own fruit out to eat alongside it. Nothing wrong with just ordering a coffee and expecting a seat whilst you drink it then eating your fruit later.

If it's not a mealtime do you really need anything at all?

If you must, and it has to be fruit, eat a banana on the way to the cafe.

Cafes have to have rules about brought-in food, otherwise they get people bringing out tupperware boxes and treating the place like a park.