Vegetarian at work buys chicken pasta but picks the chicken out??

[rhysella]

She claims she's a vegetarian for moral reasons but still BUYS the chicken pasta at work, but picks it out. I've suggested to her that she's still funding the animals death and that if she likes the chicken, she may as well have eaten that.. probably fairer to the chicken that died. She looked disgusted at me and apparently I don't understand vegetarianism and that she physically can't bring her self to eat "the poor animal that should never have been food". I fully understand why vegetarians have that view, I do. However, surely you don't then BUY chicken??

I know this is is pointless

Yes, but unlikely in this case isn't it. If by eating disorder you mean anorexia as pasta has more calories than chicken.

There are more eating disorders than anorexia. Anyway I think she just wants the attention.

Could she have some wafer thin ham?** 

Could she have some wafer thin ham? 
Oops that was supposed to be bold.

God ham is the one thing everyone should avoid. Go into your local supermarket and read the packets, even “high end” shops or brands it will be formed ham.

Always buy ham from a butcher where you can see them carve it...

She's not a vegetarian, she's an attention seeker, or incredibly thick. No true ethical vegetarian would knowingly do that, even those doing it for health reasons wouldn't do it more than as a one off when there is no choice

This sounds like Pam in Gavin and Stacey. 'You're eating ham, Pam.'

One of the few times I'd suggest showing her the thread! Unfortunately I suspect you've used your usual name.

She's an idiotic hypocrite! NOT a veggie.

30 years veggie for ethical reasons. Wouldn't do this, don't eat any meat stock etc, don't wear leather, silk or wool.

This kinda thing pisses me off cos SOME of the people she comes into contact with will wrongly think she's an example of a vegetarian when she CLEARLY isn't! (Although I think they're idiots too if they do).

Attention seeking bullshit!

Persona she is NOT a veggie because she IS eating chicken, just ostentatiously removing the larger pieces won't remove all the chicken! AND by buying it in the first place is still creating demand for the product ie causing the death of the animal.

Molehill I have OCD and can relate to much of what you say BUT I don't think you claim to be an ethical veggie do you?

User...620 you're not a veggie then. I've travelled to and even lived in places where vegetarianism is very rare and still managed, even across language barriers to be clear about what I will and won't eat and chosen food items I know I can.

Reallyanotherone - also not a veggie!

Agree with positivelyPERF all of you and the op's colleague who SAY you're veggie but AREN'T make it a damn site harder for those of us who ARE.

'Oh but my sil is veggie and still eats fish' when trying to persuade me veggies eat fish

'Oh but my brother is veggie and still loves and eats my soup made with meat stock and bonds' when trying to persuade me to eat the NOT VEGETARIAN just because it's not got lumps of meat in it!

'Oh but my colleague just picks the chicken out' when trying to persuade you to eat a MEAT DISH

NO! If you're a veggie you don't eat meat, fish or poultry end of!

You could just stoo having lunch with her.

Or even stop...

NO! If you're a veggie you don't eat meat, fish or poultry end of!

If i don’t say i am veggie I will be served meat. That meat will then go to waste.

Personally i think the black/white thinking is detrimental to the cause. It’s like everything- if you say to someone you cannot eat or use any animal product, that may be unsustainable for that person.

So they give up and go back to eating meat. Which is better for the vegetarian cause? A person who eats meat once or twice a year, or someone who thinks that doesn’t make me veggie, i might as well go back to eating meat 5 times a week.

I say I’m veggie. That means i can avoid meat. It means I’m not taken to restaurants with no veggie choices, or served meat at other people’s houses- “oh but you’re not vegetarian”.

The attitude that you either eat meat or you don’t is wrong. It stops people from reducing meat intake because they think there’s no point.

So if people say they’re veggie they’re veggie. I don’t particularly care if they have a bacon sandwich or a mc’d’s once a year when they’re hung over after their birthday. They’re still veggie.

They’ve made a choice to change their eating with genuine intentions, and will be making an impact on the meat industry. Why belittle it?

Picking meat out of food is still wrong though. If you’ve bought it you may as well eat it.

Reallyanotherone - totally disagree. Use your words to explain what meat you do/don't eat for whatever reason but DON'T say you're veggie when you are clearly not, it's disingenuous, hypocritical and makes life MUCH harder for actual veggies.

Personally i think the black/white thinking is detrimental to the cause.

Personally I think people, like you, that lie about being vegetarian, are detrimental to ‘the cause’. BTY, it’s not a cause, it’s a way of life.

This reminds me of someone I know who proclaimed to anyone who would listen that she was a vegetarian apart from the odd bacon sandwich because she LOVED them.

It would have been more truthful to say she wasn’t a big meat eater because she wasn’t fond of the taste of meat (apart from pig meat!).

If i don’t say i am veggie I will be served meat

I can relate to this so much. My relationship with meat is very complicated, 99% of meats I won't eat because they make me sick (literally) but every time I've tried to explain that to someone they have tried to give me meat to eat and get offended when I say I can't eat it.

I tell people that I'm veggie because it has happened over and over again, people actually get quite aggressive about it and I have been shouted at about it to the point where I've cried before.

ShartGoblin

Used to expat in Indonesia. I was told that it was a common belief that too much red meat made you angry.

Sounds really weird to me when veggie pasta salads are available to buy.

I am vegetarian and I have, on occasion, had meals where I have picked the meat out - vegetable soup with lumps of ham in, or salad with tuna sprinkled on it

This. I am not vegetarian but I don't like tuna and I don't like ham (and don't eat red meat generally). Both seem to get added to soups and salads with depressing regularity and sometimes there aren't many other red meat free options. If it's just one or two bits of ham floating in a soup I will take them out and eat the rest. But I'd never buy a ham salad and take the ham out!

In an interesting counterexample, a friend of mine who is vegetarian once did the opposite and ate someone's leftover steak because the animal was already dead and otherwise the meat would go to waste. That seems much more principled to me.

Yeah I get that una. I hate food waste, especially meat waste. It’s actually quite abhorrent to me if it’s done intentionally like this.

"all of you and the op's colleague who SAY you're veggie but AREN'T make it a damn site harder for those of us who ARE. "

I don't agree. People who eat some meat, but very little of it, increase the demand for vegetarian food. It's easier for you to find the food you want because there are more people interested in eating that kind of food.

"Use your words to explain what meat you do/don't eat for whatever reason but DON'T say you're veggie when you are clearly not"

For me there just isn't the time to make a list of what I will and won't eat.

"a friend of mine who is vegetarian once did the opposite and ate someone's leftover steak because the animal was already dead and otherwise the meat would go to waste. That seems much more principled to me."

Makes no difference to the animal does it?

“Personally I think people, like you, that lie about being vegetarian, are detrimental to ‘the cause’. BTY, it’s not a cause, it’s a way of life”

Why are you veggie then? Is it just your “way of life”?

I am veggie to reduce animal killing. In particular to reduce inhumane ways of rearing animals for meat. It isn’t a way of life, it is an end goal.

So are you saying you actually don’t give a shit about animals and farming methods, if someone can’t go full on veggie they may as well just go back to eating meat every day?

Like i said, someone eating mainly veggie with a steak or a bacon sarnie once a year will make a difference. If every person who doesn’t want to or can’t go full veggie did this, it would make a massive difference to meat demand. To insist they never eat meat again -so they just don’t bother is counterproductive.

Up to you if you want to call them a liar and feel superior because you are a “proper veggie”.

And btw, i’d quite happily say I’m not veggie if people didn’t think like you and then assume i was happy to eat meat any time and get offended when i refuse.

As a vegetarian, I find the colleague’s behaviour weird. Don’t get me wrong, it can be hard to find nice vegetarian food (especially vegan food), it seems like a lot of options are basically trendy-yet-bland houmous, avocado, lentils etc which aren’t particularly appealing day in day out. Sometimes the ‘meat option’ without the meat would sound more tempting - by that I mean the dish prepared the same way but without the presence of meat from the start. Some stores/restaurants have completely different veggie options from meat options, eg couscous and salad vs a chicken pasta dish. However this is different from getting the meat dish and picking the meat out afterwards!

I think your colleague is just attention seeking honestly. There’s absolutely no way I’d go out of my way to buy meat products and then dramatically mourn the animal as I throw the meat in the bin???

You can try to justify it to yourself all you like. You’re still not a vegetarian.

Gwen I'm sorry but I heartily disagree. It's actual vegetarians that campaigned and asked for more veggie food, clearer food labelling etc.

Non-veggies jumping on the bandwagon make it harder for us to get restaurants to accept that veggies don't eat fish or meat stock, to get manufacturers to be honest about meat derived ingredients.

How long a list is either what you do or don't eat? Surely just give whoever the shorter of the 2. I find it hard to believe either is that long and in a restaurant you choose based on the menu information (vegetarian indicators campaigned for by veggies for many years) If eating at a friend or relatives a conversation is no particular hardship - we veggies manage it.

Why don't you eat certain meats?