to hope that my friends won't eat meat?

[gabbyfemale]

hi there we are vegetarians - our friends are coming for a few days does anyone think I should ask them not to bring meat, or should I not say anything and just hope that they realise we don't want meat in the house?

Surely even the fussiest child (DS is a pretty dedicated meat eater and won't go near a lentil, chick pea or nut...) can survive for a couple of days on egg and chips, cheese on toast, pasta and pesto, baked beans, macaroni cheese, hoummous and dips.....

I would not dream of taking meat to a household I knew to be veggie, unless I knew the host was cool about it.

But if you really don't want them to bring meat into your house, you have to tell them, and not just hope.

It's your call as to whether you ask them not to, or not.

Oh, I hadn't realised you'd asked them to bring food. I thought this was to prevent people turning up with stuff.

This could be an ideal opportunity to intoduce them to soem fab veggie meals.
I'm a dedicated carnivore and make no apologies for it, but I'd be OK with your ideals if I was staying at yours.
Perhaps they can get their meaty fix out and about during the day?

Well, strictly speaking, the visitors said they would bring some food, rather than Gabby requesting them to.

If you tend to prepare lunches for your own families, i think there is a chance they will bring what they generally eat.

So if you don't mention it, I think you should expect that they might bring some.

In that caes, they might be intending to bring meat.

Are you eating separately? Lunch for separate families? I'm getting lost.

How long will they be staying?

How close are you?

How about you email them, chat a bit & then throw in that you can't wait for them to try out these fab veggie recipes that you have been planning, nice to share them etc etc.. & hopefully they will get the hint that way??

if they are bringing food for their children then I think you'll have to grin and bear it. You can't really expect to be able to dictate to others what they feed their kids. Make sure they prepare it themselves.

I think it depends on the reasons you don't eat meat. If it is ethical then YANBU. The smell can turn the stomach. If its purely health YABU.
I would suggest taking them out for meals though if you feel this strongly and offer to pay. Not fair for them to have to eat food they dislike because they want to make the effort to visit you.

Ask yourself if they would insist you eat meat when visiting them. How would you feel if they said 'no meat free produce in our house please'.

Actually, I think it's unreasonable to forbid a guest to feed their child meat in your house even if it is for religious reasons. I don't care what religions people practice, but I don't see why superstitious beliefs entitle anyone to make other people comply with them. They're not making you eat it, and meat is not radioactive - you can always wash the plates ffs.

I still don't quite understand how the weekend is supposed to work out. Are both couples going to be in the kitchen at the same, one lot preparing cheese sandwiches for the children's luch, the other preparing something else?

I think you are being entirely reasonable not to want meat in your house. And you should definitely explain this to your friends.

Blimey, am shocked by all the meat eaters who are affronted at the idea of having to eat a few meals without meat. And lol at the idea that it's somehow 'unfair' to expect them to eat your sort of food in your house. I never liked my stepmother's cooking (she was a rubbish cook, bless her) but I wouldn't have dreamt of demanding my own menu!

i think a bit of ham for sarnies would be ok but i would think they could refrain from eating proper meat for a few days!

We are a veggie household and it is surprising how often visitors do turn up with meat - it's like they think they'll be deprived in our house of lentils. The worst time was when MIL was on some kind of salmon-based diet, and the whole house smelt like catfood.

I am always torn between wanting to be a good host & wanting guests to feel at home, and wanting to heave when I open the fridge to be confronted with some skanky ham bumping up against the cheese.

TBH I think it's quite likely that your guests will pitch up with meat in some form, so I guess you need to prepare yourself as to how you might deal with that.

To be fair, it's only speculative at the moment. The OP's guests may have no intention of bringing meat. My understanding is that the question was about whether or not it's okay to ask them not to.

i dont get why everyone thinks op is being unreasonable!its her house!
surely a fussy meat eating child will eat something veggie!
if your friend is that good a friend and knows your veggie they probably know not to bring meat.

Well to be fair Edam, I have veggie friends who eats lot of nut products for their protein. DH has a severe nut allergy and as yet, DTS have never had nuts so this would be something we would have to coordinate with our friends if we visited them.

Similarly, when they visit us, I routinely make veggie dishes that we all eat but I use real ingredients like lentils, not synthetic bilge like Quorn.

elr.whats proper meat?

As the type of person who hardly ever has a meal without meat - i would be fascinated to visit a dedicated veggies household to sample the delights (and get a few ideas of my own).

Ask them.

LOL at ham not being proper meat.

Although Billy Bear might qualify there

Sorry, perhaps I'm just being a stupid carnivore here but what exactly is the problem with having meat in the house even if you're vegetarian?

People I know who are vegetarian tend to be so because they're against animal cruelty/ killing animals for food not because they're so repelled by a slice of ham that they can't bear to be within a hundred yards of it. Is the OP worried that the meat will somehow contaminate other items with its flagrant 'meatiness'? Or that her visitors' kids might chase her kids around the house taunting them with a slice of spam?

I'm not suggesting that people who are hosting other people can't set the rules in their house, but it's not a blank canvas is it? If someone said "You're welcome to stay at ours but we spend all our time indoors buck naked and trust that you won't offend us with any nasty textile wearing ways" you'd think that was a tad unreasonable... (um, I would imagine anyway)

kids can eat chips or beans on toast can't they?
And just what is wrong with people having rules in their own houses. If guests arrive with a me me me attitude then they wouldn't be friends for long. What is wrong with guests taking into account their friends feelings. It wont kill them to go meatless and many veggies do feel sick at the smell and sight of meat.

They haven't objected NMC. The OP is wondering if it's okay to say something.

and its not like meat eaters don't eat anything else. All of them eat plant food at some time or other.