to chose the vegan option at work cantine?

[redchocolatebutton]

a colleague says iabu. apparently it's reserved for vegan colleagues

I'm neither vegan nor vegetarian.
the vegan option is usually very impressive and tasty. the chef is really creative and the food is very very good.
I want to reduce animal based foods.

sooooo aibu to eat it?

So this is another vegan bashing thread- even if in a slightly new format. (Sod the vegans wanting their special food- i’m going to eat it so there!)

I’m a vegan. I’m not reading this as a vegan bashing thread. I’m reading it as a colleague bashing thread.

I think that is a lot of it button. Far too many vegans are all about the 'look at me, I'm special' label and they're in danger of losing it if you have a canteen like yours where vegan food is presented as just one of the standard options.

Which is a shame, as the best thing we can do for the planet/animal welfare etc is not for a few people to be 100% vegan, because that's never going to happen, but for just about everyone to eat a lot less meat and a lot more plants.

But then they wouldn't be so special and you'd almost think that they want to go back to the 'it's tomato pasta or nothing for you' days.

What others have said – fine if there's plenty for vegans. I'm vegetarian and at a wedding reception buffet last year where a delicious range of curries were served the meat-eaters helped themselves to everything on the table, with the result that the vegans and vegetarians at the back of the queue had nothing to eat but rice and chutney.

YANBU, it's just food! I love it when people choose vegan options (provided it's not pre-ordered and they change their minds from meat when they see what we've got and we end up with nowt), shouldn't a reduction in meat consumption be encouraged?

a colleague says iabu. apparently it's reserved for vegan colleagues

Unless there's a sign/the chef tells you this is true, ignore the silly sausage.

“I’m not reading this as a vegan bashing thread. I’m reading it as a colleague bashing thread.”
Give it 5 minutes.........

ignore the silly sausage.

I hope that sausage is s schroom dog!

Nobody is talking about eating the vegan food as such though, just choosing the tastiest looking option, even if it happens to be vegan.

not vegan bashing.
I like vegan food but am not prepared/ready (yet) to go vegan full time.

Again, that was the fault of the caterers for not providing a balanced selection.

Of course meat eaters at a curry buffet are also going to want some of the onion bhajis, saag paneer and dhals. A curry buffet is the easiest thing in the world to cater for vegetarians and vegans, you just make it about half vegan, another 30% vegetarian and stick a token chicken tikka masala on at the end.

the vegans and vegetarians at the back of the queue had nothing to eat but rice and chutney.

I’ve been to similar buffets before where the hosts made a point of saying that the vegetarians and vegans were to go up first, to avoid exactly this scenario.
I was a bit taken aback the first time, but it’s an approach that makes very good sense when you think about it.

Having had 2 children with dairy and egg intolerances I've had a lot of vegan food out and about - purely because it is the lowest fuss way of getting something that won't lead to several miserable nights!

Even ended up doing the vegan pizza with charcuterie in zizzis once!

As it is I am still bfing my second and have to be careful with dairy - he can tolerate me having some but only well cooked and not loads of it - so cake or pizza slice fine but not butter or a creamy sauce! So I might well go for the vegan choice.

Equally I know so people who only eat meat they have been involved with the production of... not technically vegan but would potentially be vegan if eating out - given the many ethical issues with mainstream dairy production being dairy free isn't uncommon - I'd certainly give up dairy before UK raised red meat on ethical and environmental grounds!

@dollydaydream114

Fascinating nonetheless. Do carry on.

If I didn't fancy some a meat dish in the work canteen, hell would freeze over before I refrained from the meat free version. I wouldn't do this at pre-order events but the work canteen is a completely different matter.

It has never even entered my head that when I order lentil soup or some such from a canteen then I am potentially depriving vegans of their lunch. . I order what I fancy. That is as much thought as I'm ever likely to put into the matter.

Has OP's colleague never heard of Meat Free Mondays and all the other types of meat reduction that omnivores are being encouraged to embrace?

I’ve been to similar buffets before where the hosts made a point of saying that the vegetarians and vegans were to go up first, to avoid exactly this scenario.
I was a bit taken aback the first time, but it’s an approach that makes very good sense when you think about it.

Sounds sensible in theory. However, considering all the pescatarian/chicken/pork/beef etc eating self-declared "vegetarians" and "vegans" there seem to be, this plan could swiftly go awry.

Vegan here! Eat whatever the fuck you want - the more people choose it, the more options they'll give us. It's a win-win!

I’m vegan

It can be a bit of a pain if the limited amount goes before its your turn/you arrive for lunch and there’s nothing suitable left.

But if it’s what you want fine - you may well see the light.

If the food becomes popular and other stuff is left behind then the proportions of dead stuff v vegan stuff will alter.

Generally when we’re out at a self service function we get up to get our food ASAP. Then we’re not faced with food we can’t eat.

(Unless we are at dc#1 or #3 in which case everything on offer will be vegan)

Is this your colleague, @redchocolatebutton?

"Vegan tells meat-eater they’re appropriating veganism by eating tofu"

metro.co.uk/2019/08/18/vegan-tells-meat-eater-theyre-appropriating-veganism-by-eating-tofu-10590534/

I'm vegan. I am always happy when meat eaters eat vegan food. Vegan food is great, I'm not surprised you prefer it.

But if I had a choice of several dishes, but another person had a choice of one or go hungry, I would make sure there was enough of that to go round the people with a limited choice before I took it. Isn’t that just basic manners?

In certain, very specific situations. A work canteen where you buy your own food isn't one of them. Do you seriously check that the food you want isn't limited in quantity before you order it? Unless you always pick the meat plus gluten plus dairy plus nuts option then you're depriving someone else of a choice.

It's bizarre to say that someone is impolite to eat food they want just because it ticks a box that says it's suitable for a subset of other people.

I hope that sausage is s schroom dog!
Of course

“Do you seriously check that the food you want isn't limited in quantity before you order it?”
If it was specifically labelled “vegan” (which it must have been, otherwise how would the op know?) or gluten free or kosher or some other dietary requirement then yes of course I would!

It's ridiculous that people 1) preach at you to be veggie/vegan then 2) complain when you eat a meal with no meat as a non-vegan. Surely every non-meat meal that's eaten helps their cause, so why the hell are they complaining?

YANBU. Why should anyone eat meat all the time just because they are not officially vegetarian or vegan. The only way it would be unreasonable is if you had preordered the food and not specified vegetarian.