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?

Seriously? You think a chicken sandwich is more dangerous than, say, egg and mayo that's been sitting out for hours?

It does seem to me that vegan food is quite high carb - soya milk for example is 2x cows. (6%)
We have been growing chickpeas (60% carb) in the UK for a few years, but soya has a very long travel from N and S America and huge water processing costs. Avocados (13% and highish fat) also travel that far.

If they are really using the carbon footprint, they need to factor this in and set menus to choose from.

You don't have to have a vegan meal. Nobody will force you to eat the free food. And, in this specific case, there will be non-vegan food available.

I do find it funny that you complain about the carbon footprint of some fruit and veg while also saying that you only want to eat food with a much higher carbon footprint. In your search to find fault, you are saying that they are going too far, while at the same time not going far enough.

You can’t eat wholefoods?? You can ONLY eat processed food?

But aren’t bananas and avocados whole foods? And one could argue the same for yoghurt… @TidydeskTidymind

I'm guessing they meant wholegrains.

This

A NIGHTMARE!!!

Read about a low fodmap diet. Basically beige food and absolutely no lentils and pulses.

Yeah well some people are easily impressed by corporate bollocks, like wellbeing days, free mindfulness and yoga and having a sofa in a breakout area and ooh we are all green now look at all these soya products from a chopped down Brazilian rainforest.

And others see it for the box ticking exercise that it is, without actually needing to do anything that would really benefit staff like employing enough people to do the job, more annual leave, no presenteeism and toxic bosses getting the sack.

Sounds great but Pad Thai is made with fish sauce, prawns and/or chicken. Definitely not vegetarian.

I suggest you look for another job. Not all workplaces are like that.

Some do nice things for staff as well as employing enough people and having decent managers.

@Kalevala @shearwater2 @PumpkinsAndCoconuts @Trufflump

I can't eat the skin of fruit or veg or the husk of any grains. So yes - no wholemeal, no lentils, no beans, no peas, no seeds, no nuts (unless buttered). I also can't eat refined carbs and eat no upf's.

So modern vegan food is a nightmare for me. Undescribed samosas, falafels, wraps and sandwiches filled with vegan pastes and concoctions are a no go. A cheese or peanut butter and lettuce sandwich on organic white bread would be ideal.

I am not vegetarian. I can eat any meat or fish. eggs, all dairy, potatoes, rice, all fruit and veg as long as no skin or seeds.

I work somewhere there is absolutely none of this nonsense, thank you, but have worked in corporate places in the past. No breakout areas and open plan, but our own private offices and a shared kitchen. Good salary, plenty of autonomy, job satisfaction and low stress. We can order whatever food we like for meetings within a budget, no diktats from on high from mangement. I also cook and eat mostly vegetarian food. Yet would be against this (or more particularly, that which involves vegan meat and cheese replacement products) being enforced in catering at work, because as many other people have pointed out, it is cheapskate box ticking and greenwashing. They have done the green veggie thing so now they've ticked all the dietary requirement boxes and met their net zero targets for the month. Except in real terms no carbon has been saved, they have created a ton of food waste, and clients will gradually trickle away from events, but the male stale pale management will congratulate themselves about it somehow. The more workplaces do what is presented as "nice things for staff" the worse they are to work in.

Those claiming it isn't better for carbon footprint, eat local meat etc. please share some sources. It's widely acknowledged that a plant based diet is better for the environment. Take a read of the below article, but the highlights are

• CO2 emissions from most plant based foods are as much as 10-50 lower then most animal based products

• transport would only have a significant impact if it made up a significant % of a food's total carbon footprint, which it doesn't, as most foods are shipped. Land use and farm emissions have a far bigger impact.

- What you eat is far more important than where your food traveled from.

Most of the world's soya crop is grown for animal feed - if you don't care too much about animal welfare, but like maths, when it comes down to it it's just massively inefficient to get your protein from animal sources. Growing plants to feed to animals (that are also infected with B12), to then kill and eat is obviously going to be more wasteful then just eating the plants.

There are 20,000 species of edible plants: nuts, seeds, legumes, grains, fruits and vegetables. It's possible to eat a hugely varied, colourful, nutritious and tasty diet without intentionally killing anything (or eating heavily processed foods) - it just blows my mind why people continue to eat meat when we know so much now about the impact on the environment, on our own health and wellbeing, and about the sentience of other species.

ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local#:~:text=The%20most%20important%20insight%20from,higher%20footprint%20than%20plant%2Dbased.

" Yet would be against this (or more particularly, that which involves vegan meat and cheese replacement products) being enforced in catering at work"

Just as well there's no suggestion of people being forced to eat vegan meat and cheese alternatives then, isn't it.

True dat. Also, companies typically provide catering for occasions where staff are expected to work through their lunch break.

I continue to eat a bit of meat and fish as I like the taste of it and do not want to cut out any food groups. it is so much easier to get enough protein, B12 and iron while having meat and fish in my diet, and I easily get low in iron, and I'm definitely not going to piss about with it coming up to menopause when my diet is nigh on perfect nutritionally and I'm losing weight slowly, and have already lost weight and kept it off, and also need to support my workouts with a balanced diet. I eat tofu, wholegrains, nuts, pulses, beans, love pretty much all veg and eat more like 7-10 portions a day, but also enjoy eating out and being able to choose absolutely anything on the menu.

I also cook for family and also cater for several different food preferences, mostly vegetarian. Much easier to be vegan if you are only cooking for yourself. A lot of people have kids who will barely eat veg or can barely afford food. Veganism just isn't realistic or desirable for me as someone who is very into good nutrition, cooking and exercise, so it sure as hell isn't realistic for the majority of people.

Just as well I said that "it depends on how much processed vegan replacement meat and cheese there is" at the start.

You are very naïve if you think the catering will not involve that. They will not be spending enough money for many actual vegetables to be involved.

That's exactly the point.

The company is paying, so they get to choose what they pay for.

It's free for the person eating the food. If they were paying, of course they should get to choose. They aren't, so their choice is to eat it or not

Ime vegetables are one of the cheapest food sources available. Definitely cheaper than vegan 'cheese'!

Yes but they are not calorie dense and nutritionally complete. We can't live on veg alone, we are not rabbits.

I came here to say this. Vegetable proteins are not grown in significant quantity in the uk, so most vegan/veggie foods are flown around the world to get to us. This is not eco-friendly at all. Insist the food served is all locally grown seasonal produce, with nothing imported, and see if they still want to do it.

Its been a while since I worked in a cafe but I remember being shocked that the salad was more expensive to buy than the burger it went on. The meat was very very cheap, chips very very cheap, if someone wanted salad instead we had to make sure it wasn't too big.

I didn't claim that to be the case.

But you can buy a kilo of carrots for 60p or less. 2 kilos of potatoes for £1.30. A lettuce for 70p. Tesco chicken pieces are £7.50 per kilo and the cheapest vegan cheese I saw, £11 per kilo.

There is no reason why a catered event can't have a good selection of vegetables, based on cost.

And you absolutely can get all your nutritional needs met from a vegetarian diet. And most from a vegan one. You'll need to watch your B12 intake - but us omnivores would need to do that too, if they didn't add the supplements to animals that are being bred for food.