To think it's selfish to eat from special dietary requirements when you have none?

[IndividualMini]

At a work conference, where a catered lunch is being offered. There are specific sections for dietary requirements with limited supplies eg vegan, gluten free, nut free, along with a larger section for ordinary non-vegetarian sandwiches with ordinary bread. The guy ahead of me takes something from every single section including the ordinary non-vegetarian section, so clearly is not a vegan with gluten allergies! Why do people do this? As someone with specific dietary requirements I've been left many times with very little to eat because others have eaten food without thinking about whether others might actually need it.

It's unusual. Most people avoid vegan and gluten free if they're not having to.

At work events or things with family and friends, this has never happened ime.

Everyone taking what they fancy only works when there's an equal amount of items. Special dietary requirements are typically catered for on request, so they have limited supply, therefore if everyone grabs the gluten free items when only 5 people said they needed them, those people are going to be left with nothing to eat...

Yeah I do agree to a certain extent OP. I am vegetarian and it's a nightmare when you attend events where people bring round trays of food (thinking of a previous Christmas party) because people just take anything on offer as soon as it comes out - as most would to be fair - and you sometimes get left with nothing as everything else that comes out are meat/fish options.

But I don't know what can really be done about it because they can't really be banned from eating veg/vegan food. Especially veg stuff as it might be halloumi/potato/cheese & onion etc - stuff lots of people like. It is frustrating though when you're the one with the dietary requirement so I do get it.

How are attendees meant to know other attendees dietary needs?

Those with dietary requirements should be preferably given their own separate food, or at the very least sent up to get first dibs.

A coeliac person may well not risk any buffet, even dishes marked GF, because of the risk of contamination. It's completely inappropriate to mix their food into a general buffet. Ditto I would imagine with peanut allergies, though it's more unusual to serve nuts at these things at all.

I think that if you are only supplying a limited amount of vegetation/vegan food you need to tell people that they are only for vegetarians/vegans. Most people are omnivores and so would eat both. Very few people are strict carnivores.

I was left with nothing to eat at the evening part of a friend’s wedding reception as the gluten free options came out first and were devoured by everyone else. I asked if they could make me a roll as they had all gone, but they had used all the gluten free ones up. The gluten free wedding cake had all gone as well ☹️

Bad planning and signs.
Bad planning - more and more people are reducing meat intake, so would prefer one ham sandwich and one veggie over two ham sandwiches.
Bad signs - if the food isn't meant for anyone who wants it, including random "tasters", it should be clearly separated and fenced. Having it just marked doesn't send the message it is meant as "protected".

Gluten free, dairy free food etc for people with allergies really neec to be kept separate to avoid cross contamination.

Vegetarian food (and vegan) is slightly come complex as omnivores also eat it. So ideally they need to make more.

It's unusual. Most people avoid vegan and gluten free if they're not having to.

Its not usual in my experience. Everyone just want to try some.

I understand your frustration but your problem should really with the people catering. What you often find is that the buffet sandwiches for people with no dietary requirements are 100% meat based, as if when you eat meat, meat is the only possible thing you might want. I'd much rather prefer a mix of things. I tend to say I'm vegetarian now for that reason but what caterers really should do is add extra vege stuff for all those who don't specifically say they eat that too. Allergies, gluten/nut free has always been plated separately at any I've had.

If I'm just catering for vegetarians and omnivores I try to have proportionately more vegetarian food than the numbers would suggest. Most vegetarian buffet items are lower salt and less heavy, probably less processed than the standard meat eater options so will likely appeal more than sausage roll, chicken nuggets etc.

Add in preferences - eg people who don't like mayo, don't eat commercial chicken, don't like tuna and have an aversion to fat on ham and you're quickly down to the generic 'vegetarian' cheese sandwich which is a "safe" lunch for many people.

Would you consider a vegetable samosa (if no meat samosa), chips, potato salad, cheese and biscuits to be "vegetarian specials" or just "food?".

At the work events I attend typically all the food is on the same table but just in separate trays and labelled. I agree that organisers should tell people to leave items but also I don't think it's that hard to imagine that if there's only a small selection of items for special dietary requirements then it would be thoughtful to leave them for those who've requested and need it. There was no shortage of food either - plenty of non-vegan and gluten items, so grabbing gluten free things just because you think it looks tasty seems even more thoughtless imo.

It would not be unreasonable to eat ‘seconds’ from those sections IF the guy has waited a polite amount of time to make sure that the people who actually have dietary requirements have already served themselves as much as they want. At that point, it’s just spare food and fair to share it among everybody who is still hungry.

It would also be ok if there’s a relatively unlimited amount of the food (eg, a hotel buffet, where you can expect that vegetarian food will be restocked regularly).

If, however (as I’m guessing applied in your situation), there is a limited amount of food earmarked for actual dietary requirements, then it is definitely poor manners to ‘load up’ from those sections if you don’t need to, as that clearly could mean the people who actually are gluten free or vegan don’t get enough to eat.

Hopefully it’s just a case of the guy you saw being oblivious rather than selfish/greedy!

I think it’s best just to let the vegans, vegetarians those with allergies go first at a buffet so this doesn’t happen!

I think it's very poor organisation. What if the special dietary food got contaminated?

It depends on the food and the situation.

Ordering from a menu in a restaurant, I would order whatever I fancied. If it happens to be gluten free or vegan, then the more people order it the more similar items will hopefully be provided in future so that people with particular requirements have more and more choice.

At a buffet, if I saw a large platter of sandwiches and a small plate to one side labelled as gluten free, I would leave those. They're clearly meant for people with specific dietary needs. But if there were a selection of items including some which were labelled as gluten free but that was just because of what they are rather than being special variants of a 'normal' (for want of a better word) option which was also provided, I might take some. I wouldn't avoid taking fruit salad just because the alternative was a Victoria Sponge with gluten in it. Or if something like a flourless chocolate and almond cake was provided, I might well have a piece.

In a situation where a limited number of countable items (e.g., packs of sandwiches) had been provided for the number of people present, I would absolutely avoid taking anything vegetarian or gluten free etc. We had a work thing where this happened, and everyone in the team checked with colleagues we knew had particular requirements (as well as a couple of people who are just known to be a bit choosy!) to make sure they had something they could eat before we divvied up the rest.

In this case, I might choose a cheese or egg sandwich despite not being vegetarian, but I wouldn't go for the vegan/gluten free/dairy free ones and the like because they tend to be the ones you have to specifically request and in that case it's not for me! Although usually at our work events such bits are put on a separate table to avoid x contamination and the staff make a real effort to identify who needs them.

I do sometimes order the vegan option in a restaurant though. I guess that's ok, hopefully they won't run out of vegan ingredients because of me.

You don't need to know everyone else's needs, you just need to know your own. If you haven't specified a dietary requirement then it seems obvious that food marked for people who have isn't for you.

I go to quite a few of these things and it's becoming more common for those with dietary requirements to have a separate box made up and labelled so no one even gets a chance to touch it.

I am not sure this is selfish or greed. I think it’s simply as it is all laid out together and simply labelled people don’t think about it, and just pick from the overall buffet.

i think if hosts only cater a certain portion for those who need it, it should be stated on the invite, please note, although buffet, catering is specific to need so only eat from the section you indicate. Anything else and folks don’t really understand they don’t know how many folks said gluten free or how many said dairy free and how the catering works.

Allergy plates should be covered and named for safety as well as fairness to ensure the right people get the right food without cross contamination.

Vegetarian / vegan food should be provided in enough quantities for those who only eat them and those who do eat meat but also like vegetables, pulses etc. Many many people these days eat meat but also enjoy vegetarian and vegan meals.

My husband has this problem a lot, he's a teacher and gets a free school lunch but the school has different sittings to get everyone in. Sometimes by the time it's his turn all the vegetarian option has gone and he just has to have chips or nothing. I don't really know what the solution is, if the vegetarian option looks nicer than the meat option people jump on it.

You are asking someone with probably no understanding of dietary restriction to act non-selfishly in a free food environment. It’s up to the organisers to make clear that the area for dietary restriction is limited for those who have specified that option.

I think caterers/organisers should make it really clear if there's only a limited amount of food for a specific dietary requirement, and I think that's poor organisation to only cater for the specific number of people that replied that they're vegan/gluten free/other dietary requirement.
I've been at many buffets where people have eaten all the vegan/dairy free/allergen free food without even realising, leaving nothing for those with allergies, but equally I've been at many buffets where the buffet is replenished as items are used up so I can see why people don't think about it.