How far would you go to accommodate a vegan?

[Juicyj1993]

In a few weeks we're hosting a bbq for my Husband's birthday.

We have about a dozen guests coming, one of whom is vegan. As we don't normally buy vegan food I've started looking at what we'd normally buy and what is and isn't vegan. To make sure the vegan has the same variety of choice as everyone else I'm going to have to spend quite a bit on alternatives. As we have the non vegan alternatives we won't be eating the vegan versions, so they'll either go home with the guest or be thrown.

How much would you accommodate a vegan?

Would I be unreasonable to provide vegan burger with vegan cheese, plus bun and nothing else or do I need to go the whole hog and get vegan sausages, vegan condiments and vegan coleslaw?

Ps they are vegan by choice, not for medical reasons

Again, I didn't state it was but as one of papers I linked in a previous post said, phasing out animal agricultrue would have the same cumulative effect as a 25 gigaton per year reduction in CO2 emissions, providing half of the net emission reductions necessary to limit global warming to 2°C, so it is significantly better.

Claiming that you won't stop eating meat because other things are also damaging the planet is a flawed position. It's like saying, 'I won't stop littering because other people do it too'. I bet if you found out a company had been dumping hazardous waste into a local river, park or even your garden and when approached about it said 'Well, the alternative is only significantly better for the environment so not much point in doing that, plus other things are fucking the planet so who cares?' You wouldn't say "you're right, carry on dumping!"

I'm not sure why you keep coming back to comment on this thread given you have no intention of changing habits. There's no need to keep telling me how unbothered about it you are.

Odd, because according to most dictionary definitions (including the OED), I’m a vegetarian (and would be even if I frequently consumed gelatine or started eating rennet), but you seem to feel otherwise.

Why are you choosing to buy meat?

I know this thread has moved on from the original question but I think the issue here is that there’s not really a word to describe someone who doesn’t eat animal products but isn’t vegan. Veganism is a way of life and not just about diet.

HOWEVER, ‘plant based’ just doesn’t cut it imo. My diet isn’t plant based it just plants!
It’s Vegan, although I’m not vegan.

WTF is plant based anyway?

Indeed. If people think saying 'I'm vegan' leads to sneering and animosity, just try out 'I'm plant based' for size. There was actually a thread on here once where someone had described their child so. Page after page of people ridiculing the term, professing it wasn't 'a thing' because they were ignorant of it, excruciatingly unamusing jokes about it, accusing the woman of being so special she needed a new term...
Most people broadly understand 'vegan' when it's necessary to give dietary requirements which is the only time I ever say it. I tend to just follow with 'for health not ethics' if necessary to head off all the noise.

If that is truely the case that you would rather self harm in grotesque ways than avoid a few products you might need to consider seeking help

I enjoy hosting, so would always be very accommodating. If you’ve invited them, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t provide them with adequate options!

I’m vegetarian, and cannot tolerate a lot of the fake meats. It always feels a little humiliating to get somewhere and realise there is nothing you can eat.

I would get some vegan burgers, vegan sausages (M&S do some lovely vegan sausages), rolls, salad & accompaniments. You can always offer the vegan to take home the uneaten food if it’s things you can’t make use of.

Replace Vegan with allergies/religious beliefs and I don’t think you’d be questioning being a gracious host.

Don’t panic! Everyone will eat the vegan food so plan on that. Don’t cook them first, just keep separate. As veg is mostly water based it goes cold fast. Make a lovely big green salad with simple vinaigrette. Grilled corn is lovely and doesn’t need butter. Potatoes rolled in foil and put among the coals (turn often) or just cooked in oven. Grilled halloumi with sliced tomato is lovely. Courgette and sweet pepper skewer eg. They are nice with meat too. Don’t spend much. You’ve got this!

@CherryPieface

Very good idea about separate throw away bbq as few people think about vegan/veggie stuff being coked where meat stuff has been cooking!

I've heard various versions, but they all start with a fly, (perhaps she'll die?) and end with a horse (she's dead of course!). The animals (sort of) get bigger each time e.g. fly spider bird cat dog goat cow horse

We use 2 x barbecues and a griddle on the hob for our family barbecues 😂

@ExpatAl halloumi is a dairy product unless there is a vegan version, please enlighten me if there is?

Perhaps I'm not vegan, I swallow many a fly while running (they don't taste very nice either).
I agree, nobody can be 'fully' vegan, we all contribute to animal death in some ways or other. Donald Watson said something about 'as far as is possible'.

Can anyone say they're 'fully' Christian, Muslim or (insert any religion or philosophical belief)? We do our best. It is all we can do.

I did actually meet someone once who was a fruitarian. She seemed a bit unhealthy (as well as, obvs, cranky).

Oops, good spot! I had in mind to mention well pressed firm tofu but thought that might be too much and forgot to take the halloumi out.

I'd aim to have a range of vegetable based side dishes that would appeal to most people, but might portion some of them on separate plates in case some meat eaters might cross-contaminate with serving implements.

@ExpatAl

Can anyone say they're 'fully' Christian, Muslim or (insert any religion or philosophical belief)?

I had a relative in the Salvation Army who told me that Roman Catholics were not 'proper Christians'.

You are hosting so it is just good manners to provide something for everyone.
On the flip side how would you feel if you were going to a vegan’s BBQ & they would not provide you with meat.
Being vegan isn’t easy, a lot of the food tastes nasty although it is getting better with time & the food is expensive too so not a ‘choice’ those choosing to be vegan make lightly.

Just contact the person in question & ask them what food they like to eat, what you can make for them or if they want to bring stuff from home for themselves.
Beetroot burgers, nut cutlets, veggie sausages, burgers, veggie fingers etc are all readily available in most supermarkets, can be easily cooked separately in an oven, but the tastes can vary wildly so the person who’s dietary choice you are accommodating may have a favourite. Having pasta & salad available is a safe choice too as long as you check the ingredients for anything you are adding to them.

I am dairy & gluten intolerant my daughter is mildly gluten intolerant - both issues were triggered by traumatic birth that nearly killed myself & my daughter - so when we are invited for meals or to events with food at people’s homes I contact the host myself to ask what they are providing, I offer to bring something from home to help them with the day - it is often just me with the dietary issues - & I will always bring enough for a few people so that if others want to try something different they can.
I would not choose this diet, if I had a choice, but I do consume some vegan products due to them being guaranteed dairy free. Sadly many contain gluten so my choice is limited there but something is better than nothing in my book.
I miss proper bread soooooo bad, gluten free bread just isn’t the same, but on the flip side dairy free yogurts are so much nicer & they don’t go off as fast as dairy yogurts.

Great youve asked this, so many just dont cater for vegans.
Im not vegan, im vegetarian but i wouldnt touch fake /pretend meat either.
Id be happy to eat salad (no dressings) baked pots, veggies, corn on the cob, baked beans cooked first then put in silver foil trays so no meat has touched anything.
Cathedral city do lovely vegan cheese £2.30 a packet for i think 5 slices, or Violife smoky cheddar slices £2.80.
Sourdough ,pita, Focaccia bread is vegan. Some kingsmill breads and rolls are vegan, check labels.
Tesco do a nice Pinot Grigio wine Trentino £6.50
Most beers and lagers are vegan, Tennents, Carlsberg. Although Fosters is not.
If dont drink Alpro do dairy free mile for about £2.50.
I dont think some bread, cheese and a bottle of wine or milk for a brew is going overboard under £10.00.
According to stats ive read, vegans are 3% of uk population, its expected to be 30% of population this year to be vegan/veggie. Not rare now to expect a little bit of thought for vegans/veggies.
Also agree with earlier post, veggie stuff ALWAYS goes first, recent garden party i went too all the food ordered and kept separate for me and 2 others was cleared before id had anything.
Enjoy your day.

Having read all your replies & some of the comments I think the options you have suggested sound great.
Just be wary of cross contamination splash from meat below your onion griddle on BBQ.
Again I will reiterate… speak to the person with the slightly different diet as they may have a preference or want to bring their own dish to share with the party.

Hope you have a great party.

Personally I would buy meat free sausages & salad … cook them separate to where the meat is. I’m pretty sure ketchup is meat free anyway.
I would text them ahead and just say you’ve got them some meat free sausages and if they’d like cheese etc could they bring a small amount as you don’t want to buy in stuff that will be wasted

Definitely a cow. " I don't know how she swallowed a cow...."

Having read all of this thread, and having already said that I probably won't ever go to or host a barbecue for the rest of my life, I have been provoked by some of the most recent (mainly anti-vegan) posts to double down and declare that I have no intention of going to the back garden of a suburban semi and mingling with a bunch of smug probably Tory voters composed of blokey blokes in football shirts, mumsy women going on about babies, schools, and dresses, to be offered a Quorn burger cooked on a grating covered with beef grease, and for DH to get an asthma attack from the smoke into the bargain. As happened the last time.

I think this take has been proven to be ignorant and misinformed. Apart from the fact that playing certain music helps plants grow, an experiment was done in America some years back. Two identical plants. People were encouraged to say really nice things to one plant, and the other, they were encouraged to call the plant names, like you're ugly, you should be chopped down etc etc etc. Both plants fed exact amount water at exact same time. The plant that was being verbally abused started dying off whilst the plant that was praised, thrived.

Even when lawns are cut, the scent they emit is to warn other blades of grass what is happening.

To say because plants are rooted to the spot and don't move, that they are therefore non-sentient and aren't aware of what is happening is so very ignorant, misinformed and has been debunked. Plants are sentient alright. The only difference is they can't move. They still have feelings and sentience, this has been proven.