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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

‘Tricked’ by vegan sausages

449 replies

Rhubarbpeony · 10/03/2020 10:32

I had a friend round for dinner last night. It was a last minute plan (she lives in another city and only told me on the day that she was free that evening) so I didn’t make anything fancy. I had in the fridge a packet of Richmond vegan sausages and some potatoes, which I turned into olive oil mash. I’ve been vegan for about ten years - longer than the entire time I have known this friend. We have cooked for each other many times in the past.

As we were finishing eating, my husband got home from a late work event and saw that we had had the sausages. It’s not a brand we have tried before and they’re much cheaper than the kind we usually get, so he asked if they had been nice. I said they were good, and I’d happily have them again.

Friend gets a really odd look on her face and then says to me ‘you didn’t tell me these were vegan sausages.’ I said no, I assumed she would know that anything I cooked or ate would be vegan. She said I was wrong to assume, and that I had tricked her. She said it would be like me coming to dinner at her house and being tricked into eating a meat sausage.

AIBU or are these two things not the same?! For one thing, I definitely don’t feel like I tricked her - she saw me cook the sausages, and if she had asked anything about them I would have told her what was in them. For another, her diet doesn’t preclude her from eating vegan items, but mine does preclude me from eating meat, so IMO it’s a lot worse to give a vegan a meat sausage than it is to give a non-vegan a vegan sausage.

(for info: the sausages don’t contain any soy, and she doesn’t have any food allergies)

OP posts:
SarahTancredi · 10/03/2020 11:13

I think sometimes people feel like vegans are trying to manipulate them into eating their food. I'm not saying it's right, just saying that it's what I've observed. When I was vegetarian people were the same around me

I was vege for years. I found the opposite tbh. The meat eaters always made the big deal about things. They would harass you making jokes about needing a steak waving bacon under your nose asking how you could cope without bacon. Couldbt even order a vege burger without being questioned about it. Yet somehow when you turn it down your the problem and trying to convert them Hmm

shittingmysel · 10/03/2020 11:13

She's just annoyed cause she liked the vegan sausage 😂

urinetroubleagain · 10/03/2020 11:14

You friend is a weirdo.

Rainbowcirce · 10/03/2020 11:17

Was she just winding you up perhaps? Also with the current rise in popularity of the vegan diet some people seem aggrieved by this and might be a bit touchy.

Rhubarbpeony · 10/03/2020 11:17

Besides which, Ricmond make pork sausages. In fact that is all they are known for. Why on earth would a company known solely for pork products go into the vegan 'sausage' market? And more to the point, why would a vegan buy them, given they are made by a company whose core business is meat? Seems like a complete conflict of interests to me

I expect they’ve gone into the vegan sausage market because veganism is growing in popularity (along with other less strict movements like Meat Free Mondays / Veganuary / Flexitarianism) etc. I buy them because I think it’s a use it or lose it scenario - the more vegan products are bought, the more are available. That’s good for me, and maybe it would encourage more people to go vegan. But I understand why some people don’t buy vegan products from companies that also sell meat, it’s just not my choice.

OP posts:
SaskiaRembrandt · 10/03/2020 11:18

Whether she chooses to eat vegan food or not, the fact is, she knows the OP is vegan, she saw the OP eating the sausages, so common sense must have told her that the sausages did not contain meat.

ContessaferJones · 10/03/2020 11:18

I've noticed some people have a tendency to be really really scathing about vegan food if it is clearly identified up front as vegan, but are completely happy with it if it's not (e.g. cake taken to work and left in the kitchen, as one does). The back-tracking and 'Oh well it was ok - I was being polite - in fact it's actually vile and I struggled not to throw up my 2nd slice' is actually quite funny if you're a vegan observing from the sideline Grin I wouldn't do it to someone intentionally though! I do also just assume that if they see me eating it then they will realise it's vegan Hmm

Rhubarbpeony · 10/03/2020 11:20

@ContessaferJones I think that’s true. I often see vegan things which aren’t labelled as vegan (like Oreos / focaccia / peanut butter etc) and I suspect it’s because a lot of people think that if something is vegan it’s automatically going to be bad!

OP posts:
Rainbowcirce · 10/03/2020 11:22

I’ve had some lovely vegan cakes and some truly vile ones (not a fan of the flavour of non dairy milks so prevalent in many vegan cakes).

iklboo · 10/03/2020 11:22

Eh? I'd be more 'oh wow they were lovely. Where did you get them from so I can add them to the shopping list'.

GinAndNightnurse · 10/03/2020 11:23

This reply has been deleted

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AryaStarkWolf · 10/03/2020 11:23

She’s probably gutted with herself she enjoyed them

This is the answer ^^

Rhubarbpeony · 10/03/2020 11:25

@GinAndNightnurse I name changed in case this was outing, but for your prize you can have a lifetimes supply of vegan sausages, as long as you never tell anyone you serve them to that they aren’t really meat Grin

OP posts:
MyDcAreMarvel · 10/03/2020 11:26

I would be cross if I had ate soy without knowing it, you really should have checked re the soy and told her.

GojuRyuLover · 10/03/2020 11:26

@mumwon Meatless Farm Co is lovely vegan mince! I get it from Sainsbury's, not sure where else it is sold.

canterburytales · 10/03/2020 11:27

@ContessaferJones completely agree. At work I take lots of lovely snacks, it's a nut and sesame free office (my lovely colleague is Ana) so I take things like dark chocolate coated coffee beans, stewed fruit, spicy noodles, coconut cream based veg curry, homemade cupcakes, granary bread and soup and I get 'oh that's looks nice, can I try?' Me 'go ahead, it's vegan and lovely', them 'oh I don't know how you can eat that stuff'.

madcatladyforever · 10/03/2020 11:28

What utter tripe, your friend is nuts.
Does she only ever eat meat and nothing else then?
Does she not eat apples or brocolli or anything else vegan like nuts, rice, pasta, potatoes?
She needs to get a grip. Food is food.

Thinkingabout1t · 10/03/2020 11:28

Given you have only posted unde this user name for the first time today and what with the excessive amount of detail about this specific brand of vegan sausages, AIBU to think that this whole thread was started as a subtle attempt at product placement?

I wonder! Clever idea. I’ll now be looking out for hidden messages in Mumsnet threads Grin

Rhubarbpeony · 10/03/2020 11:29

@MyDcAreMarvel I didn’t realise they contained soy but in any event I know she doesn’t have allergies because I have cooked for her (including soy) many times before. That’s what made yesterday so weird!

OP posts:
MyDcAreMarvel · 10/03/2020 11:30

I don’t have a soy allergy I am ttc so need to limit my soy intake. That’s why I would be cross.

Eckhart · 10/03/2020 11:30

Why on earth would a company known solely for pork products go into the vegan 'sausage' market Because people will buy them

And more to the point, why would a vegan buy them, given they are made by a company whose core business is meat a) because they want to, and it's nobody's business to question an individual's choices unless they're breaking a law, b) not all vegans are trying to convert others and c) the more large companies realise that vegans are part of the market, more vegan products, and therefore less meat products, will be produced. So, less dead/mistreated animals.

P1nkHeartLovesCake · 10/03/2020 11:32

This is so weird!

She knows your vegan, you’ve been vegan the whole time she’s known you so why would she expect you to have meat in the fridge?

She was cooked a meal, she ate the meal so it can’t of tasted awful...

If I’m given food and it tastes nice I eat it 🤷🏻‍♀️ Be it meat, veggie, vegan or made from unicorn juice....

GinAndNightnurse · 10/03/2020 11:33

I've noticed some people have a tendency to be really really scathing about vegan food if it is clearly identified up front as vegan, but are completely happy with it if it's not (e.g. cake taken to work and left in the kitchen, as one does).

Surely a cake would need to be labelled as vegan though? Otherwise I would assume it would have eggs and possibly milk and/or butter.

I am scathing (very, actually) about fake Frankenstein foods that make a big song and dance about being vegan because they are a) vile and b) not remotely natural or healthy, in spite of marketing attempts to have us believe that they are good for us purely by dint of being vegan, which is utter nonense.

I ate some vegan 'cream cheese' recently and it was absolutely revolting. If real cream cheese disappeared forever tomorrow then I'd go without it forever rather than eat that vile stuff. Same as fake 'cheese' and most fake 'meats' seitan, 'spread' and quorn etc.

I am not at all scathing of things that are naturally vegan, or just happen to be vegan and are not trying to masquerade as anything other than what they are. Eg, plain unadulterated vegetables, legumes and grains or certain processed foods like biscuits and crisps that just happen to have no dairy or egg in them.

ElderAve · 10/03/2020 11:34

I have to admit, I dont always understand the ethics. There seems to be a stance against cosmetic companies who seek to China on the basis that everything sold in China is tested on animals but we're happy to buy vegetables from companies who also sell steak.

ElderAve · 10/03/2020 11:34

Sell to China..