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?

Jus rol products are all vegan for instance

Which brings us to palm oil... 🤔

Yes I was just responding to the point about providing vegan food which isn't substitutes of animal products, I always take my own food anyway as I don't eat carby products (most of the time) and these events are always full of sandwiches, crisps and pastries/samosa type things, or fruit salad or lacklustre salad with very low nutrition, I try to make my food fairly nutrient dense

I'm a carnivore and love meat but the thought that meat eaters won't entertain the thought of a sandwich without meat in it, is just absurd 😂

Low carb doesn't mean Gluten free

God, people are so ridiculous and unimaginative about this sort of thing.

When we get catering in at work, we have:

veg samosas and onion bhajis or falafel, hummus and crudites
green salad
tomato and onion salad
crisps and breadsticks, perhaps crusty bread
a grain salad with beans or chick peas in
selection of sandwiches - cheese, egg, something vegan like hummus and veg
maybe pizza with real cheese but no meat
fruit, yogurts, cakes, always something like a brownie that is vegan and gluten free

Plenty of choice, all vegetarian, enough vegan and gluten free so people can at least have a decent lunch plate, low on UPFs.

It's rare that anyone comments about it all being vegetarian, because I'm not sure anyone notices or cares because it's all just normal food that most people eat.

Palm oil is an issue for a lot (if not most) processed food stuff.

Luckily you don’t have to eat just rol if you don’t want 😀

If meat products have a bad carbon footprint why are dairy products okay? Do dairy cows have a better carbon impact than beef animals? What measures are they putting in place to check the carbon impact of the vegan products they are buying. If this is actually due to moral reasons around eating meat then they need to be honest about that not just hid behind the carbon argument.

I'd only find it reasonable if it has been properly thought through (eg locally sourced, seasonal etc). A vegan diet doesn't automatically mean lower carbon when considered in the round (rainforests being cut down to grow soya, v high water consumption of growing nuts, shipping these ingrediants from the other side of the world).

The cynic in me thinks this sounds like management looking for a quick way to meet an ISO standard they want to brag about rather than thinking about these kind of pesky details however.

Vegetarian fine andwoukdnt have a priblem with that

But a large amount of vegan food is either ultra processed or has travelled a good distance

Loooking up vegan essentials, inclydes

Tofu
Tempeh
Cashew Nuts
Babanas
Chick peas
Lemons
Sesame Seeds
Avocados

And similar

Seriously, they have smaller carbon foodprint than home produce?

I don't see why you would ban anything. Why not just ordered a mixture of both and then (most) people are happy.
Obviously hard to cater for everyone but I don't see the value in banning certain foods rather than striving to add other alternatives?

I'm not convinced it's as inclusive as people are suggesting. Vegans and vegetarians are making a choice to restrict their diet, there are lots of people because of allergies or food intolerances or mental health issues are very restricted in their diet already and so really don't need another restriction arbitrarily placed on them in their workplace. This reminds me of my DS, who had a CMPA, not being allowed to have peanut butter sandwiches when the other DC had cheese sandwiches because another parent didn't want to introduce peanut into her child's diet yet because she was worried about allergies. So her putative allergy worry trumped by DS's actual allergy. See also: nut free schools that happily splash (the most common allergens milk and eggs) all over the place.

It would be more inclusive to have good quality catering that always provides a good range of foods including (naturally) vegan and vegetarian and the more common allergy options. But that wouldn't be as cost saving as cheap vegan pretend chicken nuggets so companies don't want to do that.

Are those things really classed as vegan essentials? Because if they are I must be doing veganism wrong 😂

Because that wouldn't get them lovely greenwashing credentials...

"If meat products have a bad carbon footprint why are dairy products okay? Do dairy cows have a better carbon impact than beef animals"

I'm guessing here, but I would imagine that dairy products have a lower carbon footprint because you get more food per animal - you get milk every day, and then you can get the meat once the cow isn't as productive, rather than just getting the meat.

Whynotusehis

Seriously, they have smaller carbon footprint than home produce?

Yes, yes they do, if the "home produce" you are referring to is meat. Take a look at some of the articles and carbon calculators linked above ^

It wouldn't bother me as long as it was genuine vegetarian food made with dairy, eggs, proper cheese and not fake cheese and soya milk.

Oh dear. Im an excellent cook and my own cooking of meat, fish veggie or vegan dishes is excellent. However mass catering events, ready vegan food on the hoof and even some restaurants and the suchlike are unfortunately a real let down when it comes to vegan food ( not veggie) because of the overrealiance on processed products, meat substitutes and vegetable protein. That's why people don't want it in that format. HTH

I'm really not convinced that a few slices of British ham are worse than farmed avocadoes being flown in...

Fine, it's much easier and more inclusive. It's one meal, you won't die without meat.

Sounds like a great idea.

There are separate dairy and beef breeds of cattle.

Here you go:

Is Avocado Bad For The Environment? Stats, Trends And Facts (greenmatch.co.uk)

Water intensive, deforestation, etc etc...

Yep, why not stick to the kind of pure, unprocessed meat products you tend to get at a work buffet. Sausage rolls, scotch eggs, cheap ham sandwiches.....😆😆😆

😂😂😂