To believe that people should stop expecting special treatment for “food preferences” (not allergies) at events?

[TheCoralReader]

If it’s just a preference, it’s on you to manage. AIBU to think events shouldn’t have to cater to everyone’s diet choices?

It’s a lot easier for meat-eaters to eat a vegan / vegetarian meal than it is the other way round.

I’m always amazed on these threads how many people claim not to be able to ; enjoy eating meals that don’t contain meat.

Yeah, like those bloody Italians, serving only Italian food at their parties and imposing it on everyone when SOME PEOPLE PREFER CURRY! 😡

Meat eaters wind themselves up over the strangest things, yet are absolutely fine and dandy about 6 month old lambs being sent to the slaughterhouse. I can't cope with illogical humans!

Due to my IBS there are certain foods I can't eat and avoid if eating out my family know about this and cater for me appropriately

All meat eaters eat vegan food
No vegans eat meat.
Why is this concept sooo difficult.

Its the older folk of the meat and two veg type who don't believe in people that eat meat free/produced from animal free.

Remember Nana from The Royale Family asking Anthony's vegetarian girlfriend (played by a young Sheridan Smith) asking could she eat wafer thin ham.

Not really. Vegan proteins are connected with intolerances and allergies, some are very unusual processed things and just aren't suitable for everyone.

Someone prefers to not eat meat, someone not to eat fake meat and some prefers not to eat tomatoes. There is no reason why meat-ommiters should take precedence over tomato-ommiters, both are just preferences

I can't stand tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers or avocado. Many catering establishments use these to bulk out their food and add flavour, so unless I stress that I cannot eat these things, I can end up with just crisps to eat.

I don't necessarily expect to be fully catered for, but I do expect an event to have a sufficient variety of food that I can have something substantial to eat...or to give me notice that I need to bring a packed lunch.

Yes really.

Vegan food is not just fake meat. Fake meat is a relatively new concept. Vegan food has been around for an awful long time. The vast majority of meat eaters eat vegan food, vegetarian food and meat. The vast majority of vegetarians eat vegan food and vegetarian food. Vegans only eat vegan food. Meat eaters who do not eat vegetarian or vegan foods are likely to be very, very unhealthy and malnourished.

It is highly unlikely that anyone will eat all food from a particular food type. For example, one meat eater may eat ultraprocessed crappy meat products whereas another meat eater may not. Some vegans will eat ultraprocessed crappy fake meat products whereas another vegan may not.

I am vegetarian. I will not eat ultraprocessed crappy fake meat or fake cheese products. I do eat fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains and pulses, all of which are vegan. I also eat dairy and eggs.

Yes, of course that omnivores eat some food which vegans would eat as well.
Still, majority of vegan meals would not automatically be a good choice for the general population for many reasons mentioned in this thread.

Exactly - I'm allergic to the mycoprotein in Quorn, for example (the night I discovered this was one of the scariest of my life). It's the irony...if any event has vegan or vegetarian food that's a "meat substitute", I instantly can't touch any of the food there unless they can guarantee that it was prepared in an environment isolated from the fake meat they can't name. They're usually pretty confident until I ask how good their liability insurance is.

If it's all freshly-prepared stuff without any meat substitutes, I'm game to try it. It never tastes particularly good, but I'll at least give it a go.

My main issue is that I have a lactose intolerance so have to avoid dairy to a certain degree. However I like meat. So vegan w aren’t always a preference. As it’s an intolerance I can have some dairy so I stopped telling people as I was getting melon balls to start and then a fruit salad for desert. We have an issue with a Xmas lunch menus. They have a gluten free menu, a vegan menu and a regular menu. So I’m choosing the beef (over the turkey that I hate). We aren’t allowed to cross menus. But all of the deserts on the main menus have cream/ice cream which I really can’t eat. Basically I’m ok with cooked dairy but not milk, cream or ice cream. I also suspect I have an allergy or intolerance to raw egg as I can’t eat mayonnaise or coleslaw. This once again restricts me or I have to ask to have those things removed. Steak sandwich at the weekend had mayo on. Hasn’t even dawned on me. Usually it’s mayo on chicken. But if I want to avoid the raw egg I’d need to go vegan and miss out on the meat.

I am also a bit fussy but I don’t give my fussiness as dietary requirements (I won’t touch sea food for example or curry (o can’t tolerate any kind of spicey food even black pepper I can’t manage) but I usually make do than provide lists of preferences. A recent conference I went to was curry and rice. I had the tiniest drop of the curry and liked my plate with plain rice.

However I do understand that some people have major sensory issues respond food but these are often seen as preferences. I’ve worked with autistic people on particular who would starve than eat something they have a sensory issue with.

so I don’t think it’s always black and white.

What, like being veggie or vegan?

Technically this means they may have to just opt out of eating altogether. It's not really the point with hospitality, is it?

I think most people planning an event would ideally like to try and offer a variety of things that will suit most tastes.

Some things you probably can't cater for, most kitchens for example aren't going to be able to offer much if anything to an Orthodox Jewish person. Who know this, and plan for it.

But people in recent years have become really entitled and also I would say almost faddish, and that makes it harder to try and accommodate those who really can't be flexible. I've seen a few restaurants in recent years say they will not do gluten free. When I inquired at one, they said it was because, although in the past they had accommodated people who were celiac, it was a lot of work and so expensive for them - which was fine right up until everyone was wanting gluten free because it was a fad.

I loathe sprouts. I hate the smell and taste. I just push them to the side of my plate and don't eat them. Although, I do think they contaminate the food around them but I don't make a fuss!
Saying that, they never enter our house as I think they are the work of the devil!!

People really need to take responsibility for this themselves. I am a fussy eater plus I have allergies. Any time there is an event where food is involved, I make sure I bring my own food and keep it in my bag. Take a small amount of food at the function and sort of push it round my plate so people don't notice I am not eating, or just claim that I am fasting as part of a diet then eat later. No point making a drama out of it.

Really, I'm sure that people can cope with meat for one meal!

Makes as much sense, why is it that certain groups expect to have their preferences catered for yet other groups are told they shouldn't?

Nobody has actually mentioned any reason why the majority of vegan meals are not suitable for the general population. Most vegan meals do not contain fake meat and so are perfectly suitable for an omnivore who is not allergic to the ingredients.

The reasons given are mainly referring to fake meat. Most vegan meals do not contain fake meat, although unimaginative chefs do seem to have a tendency towards that.

True enough. But when put in a situation where they have to guarantee a lack of Quorn (or similar allergens), they generally can't.

The reason I finally gave up meat was because I so rarely ate it, that I started feeling sick if I did eat it so no, I would not be able to cope with meat for one meal.

Who generally can't? Any decent chef will not be using quorn or any other fake meat.

I am going to an event this weekend. The food will be 50% vegetarian, 25% meat and 25% vegan. There will be no fake meat or cheese. There will be no UP meat either.

In the last 7 or 8 years, I haven't been to a single mass-catering event that catered for vegetarians and vegans, where they could tell me unequivocally and on pain of liability that there was no Quorn or unidentified meat substitute present in the kitchens where the food was being prepared.

Admittedly, it's not a widely-known allergy, so it's not something they tend to watch out for. It is, however, a massive problem for me (for obvious reasons), so I tend to make plans based on the assumption that I won't be able to eat at any such events. I'm still waiting for one to pleasantly surprise me.

At home, on the other hand, roughly half of the food I eat is vegetarian (makes life easier, OH is veggie), but that's only because I cook most of it.

I think the vast majority of mass catered events would not be able to guarantee on pain of liability that there were no nuts/dairy/garlic/fish/tomatoes/etc present in the kitchen where the food was being prepared.

Vegan food is of course suitable for a large percentage of the population but there is a sizeable minority who would have issues with many vegan recipes. Nuts, seeds and legumes are all fairly common allergens (my son has multiple allergies covering all 3 of those groups) and allergies to allium and nightshade vegetables whilst less common are not rare. Ditto allergies to avocado, bananas and various other fruit and veg.
There are also quite a lot of people with gastrointestinal disorders who would struggle with vegan meals, including IBS patients on a low FODMAP diet, or those with a variety of conditions such as Crohn's disease, diverticulitis or those who have had bowel resections who need a low residue diet.
Of course most people would be fine with a vegan diet but definitely not everyone.

Jesus! I despair. You believe that there are meat eaters who eat no foodstuffs that contain no animal products 🙄

Seems we are reading different threads.

Different level of intolerances of different vegetable groups were mentioned several times - garlic&onions, peppers, pulses. Texture issues with mushrooms. People were talking about IBD and IBS.

And there is still the fact, that someone's preferences to not eat meat isn't any more worthy than someone else's preference to not eat soya.