Food orders for work related events are to be vegan and vegetarian only

[ValerieVomit]

We all received an email at work to say that when we order catering in future for work related events we can only order vegetarian and vegan food. The management team has imposed this. It's to reduce our carbon footprint. I don't think that this means there is to be no carnivorous food available for the rest of the organisation but our department won't allow us to order any.

Reasonable or not?

Yeah vegan stuff is horrible, we had this awful vegan lunch, harrisa roast veg, couscous with mint, pomegranate seeds and charred chicory leaves.

Personally I object to eating ultra processed foods and most commercial vegan foods are. Far better to eat local from a carbon footprint point of view too. I personally struggle with cheese too, due to health issues

What are you? Five? You are actually hilarious. In the same way, vegetarians/ vegans/ religious persons/ allergy sufferers have to do without meals when they’re in spaces which don’t cater for them, I’m sure you can deal with the occasional meal without screaming discrimination.

If you don't like it, buy your own.

The vast majority of soya produced in what was rain forest is for animal feed.

Totally wrong for this to be imposed on people. Came across one council sets of meetings who tried this and most of the food had to be binned at the end as people didn't want to eat, particularly, vegan food. They ended up with all food ranges in the end.
Look at all the vegan food companies going bust/reducing their ranges as there isn't the interest in it.

The problem is I think a lot of places do it as a cost-cutting exercise rather than really doing it for dietary or environmental reasons so you then get the shittest of shit vegan buffet that everyone complains about.

im not adverse to it if some money is spent on the catering. The best wedding food we ever had was an Indian wedding where all the food was vegan. That is quite different to a dried up carrot sandwich.

I'm not vegan but do enjoy a lot of vegan dishes. I never buy anything processed, vegan or otherwise. Vegan dishes are full of lovely fresh ingredients much more than a ham, chicken or cheese sandwich is

How is it being imposed? Nobody is forced to eat it are they?

As a vegan I get meat-eating shoved in my face as 'the done thing' on a daily basis and am expected to endure this constantly without complaint. Yet some meat-eaters whinge and moan at this initiative. How pathetic!

It's a great idea and I'd be so proud if I worked for that company.

It is a lunch on someone else’s dime.

Get over yourselves.

I think this is pretty standard in my experience.

Would slightly irritate me, because I don't enjoy vegetable sandwiches, usually find they are mushy and a bit unpleasant would stick with the fruit platter.

Less reasonable that it might seem:

Many people don't eat vegan food because much of it is so highly processed.

Vegans don't eat all vegetarian food.

Slightly healthier for everyone else.

Not necessarily no.

@Mumofoneandone it's much worse to impose abuse, pain, suffering and death needlessly on billions of innocent animals every year.

Notwithstanding allergies is it not exactly the same thing? Vegans/vegetarians choose that diet?

Those ssaying they will not attend if food is vegetarian and vegan - it sounds far more like a promise than a threat.

That's not good enough for a Coeliac, as there's no visible bottle to check in the case of a random dressing.

This gives a long list of things that have to be checked - including tofu, soy sauce (and no, not all Thai soy sauce is wheat free, any more than all fish sauce is) https://www.coeliac.org.uk/document-library/6679-gluten-free-checklist-january-2020/

I have notified caterers in advance before. That's how I've ended up with soya mince - with barley and wheat in the ingredients that they didn't expect me to want to check. No salad because it had croutons, couscous or pasta mixed in. No cheese because it was on plates with crackers and bread. No falafel because of wheat in it. And so on...

At least with a standard buffet, there's a fighting chance of being the first to a sealed packet of antipasti and a few olives before the breadstick snappers fetch up and render everything inedible.

Yes I know that I'm not thick

Every single type of farming harms animals.

The vegan sandwich offering by our work caterers is 'carrot, sultana and hummus'... the only good thing is that it unites everyone in agreement that it is disgusting.

So grateful to be a Coeliac and used to bringing lunchbox everywhere.

My best friend's dietary requirement often gets lumped in with the vegans for convenience and while she doesn't mind this for individual meals, she does stress for an overnight event or longer that she expects a balance of the foods and foodgroups that she eats, because she was getting things that didn't meet her nutritional needs over a day or more.

A PP said "vegan dishes are full of lovely fresh ingredients", well this is sometimes true and sometimes not; for example a dry salty 'cheeze' sandwich, even if it's got a bit of salad in it, is definitely no more healthy than anything else on offer and probably less so.

I also note that when I cook meat and fish at home, or go to a restaurant, these meals are usually also full of lovely fresh ingredients including plenty of veg. There's a lot of falacy on this thread (and generally) around this issue.

@Wonderfulstuff I actually love carrot and hummus sandwiches. Nasty to have sultanas though.