Is it really that hard.....? 🤔

[StillGotBabyBrain]

My family is vegan, not a massive deal.

When the school has events, no vegan option, so everyone gets a bbq or food catered and we don't. Not even a dairy free alternative for hot drinks! (Primary school, high school is better).

When they go for sleepovers I get worried parents asking me what should they do, can I provide food and drinks for them...

Pubs and restaurants barely cater for adults let alone add options for the kids menu.

Went to a choir meeting the other week, nothing I could eat from the food included in my ticket price.

Am I being unreasonable thinking it's really not that difficult to provide bread and houmous or vegetable dishes? They're suitable for everyone, so isn't a waste of food! Blows my mind.

It's difficult for home cooks, but those who are doing it as a business, eg pubs, restaurants or caterers, should be able to provide something vegan. You can make a bean wrap. Most flatbreads can be easily vegan, hummus, guacamole, salsa can be used as spread, some cooked veggies and beans. Indian dal, rice dishes are vegan. It's really not that hard for school to provide meal to vegan kids.

I would imagine that PTA’s choirs etc are working to a very tight budget so can’t cater for one or two people separately. However there are loads of veggies so not hard to adapt veggie food I suppose.Not making veggies eat vegan cheese, I wouldn’t do that to them, but ensuring burgers are suitable for both or adding diary toppings to things at the pint of serving.

DD and I are vegan and it is a PITA for other people so I don’t expect them to cater for us, but it is really kind when they do and almost everyone does.

I always send DD with vegan sweets to sleepovers etc and offer to send all of her food.

Regarding eating out, if she wants to be vegan she has to eat a balanced diet and not me-rail big days out and expect everyone else to work around her, so she has to have whatever the vegan option is, and if it is crap nutritionally then we amend what we eat later to balance it out, luckily she she has quite an adult palate. DS is practically carnivorous so it’s a good job he doesn’t share mine and DD’s views as he would starve, or get poorly from lack of nutrients.

If my DD wants to be fussy she will have to change her moral stance and eat veggie or pescatarian.

As a vegetarian, I find that vegan food is now EVERYWHERE so I'm baffled by this. My problem is the lack of vegetarian options now.

I was going to say this! I'm so tired of slimy, grilled vegetables and fake meat.

It’s logistics too at things run by busy staff or volunteers.
If I need to feed 30 kids toast quickly it’s easier to toast and butter then let them add toppings.
If you serve toast dry and let them butter then the margarine tub has much more used and is full of crumbs and probably has to be binned.
You can’t have peanut butter (banned in schools/clubs for allergies)
Kids will put buttery knife in jam so it won’t be vegan safe.
It’s very different to a cafe with individual orders and sachets.
It’s a busy volunteer dashing in Aldi on way to pick up value bread/marg/jam type scenario.

We borrow a BBQ from a parent. Just one. So we would have to source a second to avoid cross contamination. We would then need to source a volunteer to run that BBQ when it's hard enough to get volunteers at PTA events as it is, since the other BBQ is a two person full time job as it is.

As I said upthread, as a PTA we would welcome someone coming along and taking charge of providing vegan food at our events. We'll fund the purchasing etc. But we NEED the manpower to do this.

Actually reminds me of a Mum who joined our PTA a few years ago. Her child is diabetic and she was fed up of our prizes at events being mostly haribo (because it's cheap and allergy friendly). So she joined to change that. Sourced low cost alternatives. Went out and bought them, wrapped them etc.

That's how you make changes at volunteer run events. Not whining about it on Mumsnet.

This. Be the change you want to see.

No, I’m not being mean. You just don’t like acknowledging how much you are depriving your children.

Would you expect other beliefs to provide food that goes against their belief, or just vegans?

IME that depends on the vegan

Personally I'm only too happy to make an effort, even for those where it's just another in a series of passing fads, but I do object when they make a huge song and dance then swoop on something meat laden with an "Oooo aren't I naughty" or "I'm having an omni day today"

At least make your mind up, then the rest of us can decide to what extent we can be bothered

I agree with you and I'm not vegan - I am absolutely able to cater full balanced meals for vegans/vegetarians/pescetarians/lactose intolerant/coelic (gluten intolenace in my house from things that are in my pantry as a steak and chips ominivore with nary a meat substitute in sight but each to their own.

You are the one who has fucked your kids over here, both in diet and in social scenarios. It really is a very cruel thing to do to them.

Veganism is not a “belief”. It’s a load of fussy eater look at me bollocks.

Wow. I'm a vegetarian (not vegan) and I resent the incursion of nouveau popular veganism into the fast food and restaurant scene (especially pubs) ... but your views are really vile and narrow-minded.

And those vegans were ridiculous - most vegans are not like this.

Are people seriously doing a full a la carte for sleepovers and play dates? 🤭

I go to great lengths (time and money wise) to provide organic, non-UPF, cooked from scratch stuff, and have never had a child guest refuse anything. If I was asked for chicken nuggets or fish fingers my answer would be “we don’t have XYZ in our house”.

Veganism is not a “belief”. It’s a load of fussy eater look at me bollocks.

😂😂😂

I've been vegan over twenty years.
I've also got a real phobia of eating in public that I've mostly overcome now, but only recently-people looking at me while I am eating would put me in a full on panic and even talking about food was difficult for me-I only ever tell people I am vegan if It's totally necessary and/or is going to be useful for conversation (e.g. someone is wondering how to cater for a vegan or someone is asking 'can vegans eat....)... This is an absolutely ridiculous statement!

Veganism is also a belief under the Equality Act.

Why throw it away or only use it for specifically vegan dishes though? The Hellman's one at least really doesn't taste much different from the non-vegan version. You could even mix it with the original version for non-vegan dishes if you were concerned about flavour being affected. Absolutely no reason to waste the food/money.

Yes, my best friend is vegan and she would never be like this.

It is admittedly more expensive but no reason to throw away partially used jars.

Organizing an event is stressful enough without having to think about how to cater for ONE person's food choices. If it means so much to you, join the PTA and get involved.

Bread?! Packed with gluten!

Houmous?! Lemon juice is a known allergen.

Any one particular restricted diet like a vegan diet may not be hard to cater for, but when you are catering for lots of restricted diets, it can become almost impossible to predict what people will eat.

Pretty life altering if you're coeliac, though. Couldn't have any of those, not even just the jam or peanut butter, because the jars will have been contaminated. And the toaster if somebody has a loaf of GF bread.

It can feel shit not being able to eat anything you want. I understand feeling angry/hangry/a bit shit because you've told a kid who wants something all their mates are eating 'you can't have that because we're different'. But you are making a conscious decision not to have those things. Which is the point of Protected Beliefs - you have the right to make those choices (and it's arguably good for the soul in terms of religious beliefs to have to go without outside starvation, which is where the established religious dietary rules cash out and say 'survival is more important').

You do not have the right to rant and insist that you are catered for at the PTA stall. You're not. Like the coeliacs and those who are allergic to sesame aren't. Bring a packed snack and deal with it.

Veganism is not a “belief”. It’s a load of fussy eater look at me bollocks

Actually it can be either, but IME rarely both, and as a rough rule of thumb I find the more of a carry-on they make about it the more likely they are to be in the second group

I'd say please don't spoil things for the many thoroughly decent committed vegans, but with the number of "Look at meeeees" around these days that's probably wasted

It’s not that hard and you’re really not asking a lot. I’m sure everyone knows someone vegan now? I know loads and tend to do just vegan buffets if I’ve got a group of people as it’s easier than labelling things. Plus there’s loads of nice vegan foods now, it’s much easier than it used to be.

If you have a belief that it morally worths to be vegan than you should embrace the sacrifices, too. If it doesn't maybe your beliefs are not that well founded, and if so, then it's nothing else but a lifestyle choice.
I don't think you should expect others to please your lifestyle choice if it takes too much from them. And probably it does. As they don't share your beliefs they don't want to spend energy looking up vegan options.

A lot of us Brits cba to spend time cooking. I don't know why - I imagine it's to do with our culture. Cooking is seen as a chore rather than a necessary process to be enjoyed, and as a result we eat horrible processed food. DD is a vegan chef and the food she produces where she works and at home is awesome. Much of it is Middle Eastern inspired (also Turkish and N. African). She even manages to make stuffed aubergines taste delicious, and I can't usually abide the blighters. But anyway, I rely quite a bit on nuts for my protein, and I can imagine why that would be a problem when catering for other people's dch. But healthy and nutritious vegan food is out there if you do your research about food combining (eg chickpeas are protein). People cba to find out about alternatives to the usual crap we feed our kids and ourselves. .

I check in for food requirements as I'm not a selfish arsehat.

Okay but if they’re a friend or family or whatever that’s just rude and a bit pathetic tbh.

I’m vegan but cater to my family and friends wanting to eat meat and animal products when they come to my house because I’m not a dick.