School residential vegetarian/vegan only

[vgp1234]

My child had really been looking forward to their year 6 residential, but a new head has joined and had changed the format somewhat.

They have now booked a Sustainability Centre in Hampshire, which only caters for vegetarians and vegans. My child is not a vegetarian or vegan, and across the cohort of year 5 and 6 only one child is vegetarian.

While I appreciate that there is a view that they can go 5 days without meat and they should just suck it up, I find it incredibly frustrating that you would not ask a vegetarian or vegan child to suck it up and eat meat for 5 days. So I don't understand why we do not treat both dietary preferences with equal measure.

The new head is very keen on government guidance, and has changed our lunch menu to comply with the current guidance for school lunches which is that 3 days should include meat or fish (previously we had a meat and vegetarian/vegan option every day). However it seems this guidance only applies on the school site, so you can disregard it at a residential. While they are within their rights to do this, it does seem like quite a contradiction.

I have tried speaking to the Sustainability centre directly but they were very inflexible and just stated it is a against their ethos (may I add that they also offer a day trip at a cost to visit a working farm, who rear animals for meat, so their ethos does not run all that deep). This really goes against my ethos as not only do I think you should treat all groups equally, I can't help but feel that this is forcing their ideas on children verses allowing them free choice and the ability to hear both viewpoints (meat is unsustainable/sustainable) and make their own decision.

In all honesty I'm quite perplexed as to why the school choose the venue when it would clearly be controversial, as this is quite a personal choice for parents and the cohort has so few in it that have this dietary preference.

I'm sure some people will not agree with me, and I am open to your opinions as I'm a big believer in hearing both sides of the argument and our ability to think critically for ourselves and not be told what to think (I want this for my child too).

I do plan to send the school an email initially and request that they provide a rounded menu including meat. But I'd really appreciate any advice on how to word this appropriately as I'm quite upset by it, and I'd prefer to send a well worded email than an emotional one.

I choose not to cook vegetarian or seasonless food. I am pleased for you and DH. Keep polishing that halo.

Yeah @NorthXNorthWest is just a miserable cow- probably deficient is delicious food and so eaten up with jealousy for those of us that can cook. Suggest we all ignore her now.

So you've never eaten a baked potato, or beans on toast or a Margharita or Florentine pizza, or any of the countless pesto or tomato sauce based pasta dishes, or ratatouille, or any of the countless meat free fritatta recipes, or the countless meat free dishes on any Indian, Malaysian, or Thai restuarant?

Have you asked DC’s opinion?

Okay, either you're trolling or so obsessed with meat you decided to "power through" the BSE outbreak 😂

Probably can’t speak from chowing through pure meat stew, or a bowl of mince, or sucking on a leg bone, or chewing a thick steak. After all it’s only meat meat meat that they’ll eat. None of those weirdo and suspect other foods 🙄

Not trolling. Just matching the sanctimonious, judgey energy. I would never tell a vegan or vegetarian they should enjoy meat for a while nor claim they couldn't cook just because they don't eat meat. But that's a halo polisher for you.

It's got nothing to do with "halo polishing". I'm not a vegetarian. It's just that you are so proud of your ignorance and narrow-mindedness that your posts are embarrassing yourself.

Ah, yes. It’s just that the people who have commented thus far have a really low bar when it comes to food. Not that you’re wrong on this one…

Why do you keep maintaining that vegetarian food is ‘seasonless’? I’m not even a vegetarian but I frequently eat meat free meals that taste great. Are you just not a very good cook?

For someone who keeps calling everyone else "halo polishers" you do love talking about your supposed virtues.

In any event - its a school trip to a "Sustainability Centre", which is dedicated to sustainable, ecological living (with a particular focus on food - and specifically vegetarian and vegan food).

Their website confirms (for school residentials) that "All meals are home made by our on-site chef from the Beech Cafe, using local organic ingredients"

So it is bizarre for you and others to keep insisting the kids will be served "mass produced", "seasonless" crap - when that would be the literal opposite of the central point of the trip.

So, you eat meat or fish for breakfast, lunch and tea every single day?

Are you a cat?

And why do you think vegetarian food is seasonless? Tacos, curries, onion bhajis, fajitas, teriyaki mushrooms, bean chilli, sushi, nachos? All tasteless and lacking in texture? Really?

And you never eat cakes and desserts, all of which are vegetarian unless they contain gelatine?

Seasonless makes no sense in terms of vegetarian food - it is highly seasonal. Does anyone really know when fish finger season is? Not many people only buy beef in the Autumn when it is traditionally in season, after fatting in the summer, or only eat spring lamb etc.

I think the term thick as mince might be appropriate here - pun intended.

And yes, I do eat meat. I just get exasperated at people with such narrow minded, bigoted views who are totally lacking in imagination about food, and who are so incapable of critical thinking that they don't realise that a lot of foods they eat are vegetarian - chips, mashed potato, Yorkshire pudding, tomato soup, baked beans, any vegetable, eggs etc, etc.

As an atheist, I don't really buy into halos, but ok. You seem to think that veggie = tasteless which couldn't be further from truth.

I recommend checking out NHS guidance on recomended meat amount in diet, and link to high BP, cholesterol and bowel cancer. All the best.

So your entire diet is meat and fish? Really?

Because as soon as you cook any other ingredient it is vegetarian! Vegetables, rice, pasta, cheese, eggs etc etc are all vegetarian.

And this insistence that vegetarian residential venues provide low quality food because they won't spend money/can't afford good quality. What on earth do you think venues providing meat are serving up? It will be even lower quality, because meat costs more.

Don’t worry OP, I haven’t eaten meat for 34 years and I’m healthy enough. I reckon your child will survive the 5 days.

Guilt expiation is a very common cause of anger amongst meat eaters. They feel guilty, so they project that guilt onto people who don’t eat meat and call it sanctimony (or ‘halo polishing’, which is a new one on me!). The ones who genuinely don’t feel guilty don’t tend to whinge this much.

Of course you can see why theyre treated differently. One is a moral or health choice not to eat something. The other is pure preference. Surely your child already eats say, beans on toast, a jacket potato with cheese on. They’re not being asked to eat something they morally object to. You say you want to understand what he reasons here - but it feels more that you perhaps just don’t like it and want to object. Try approaching this with some curiosity and respect for other views - look at how live stock are transported and slaughtered or sustainably benefits. A lot of people feel attacked by different diets or morals as it makes them look at their own. And if the anxiety is just that you’re dealing with a fussy eater it’ll be fine and they’ll get on with it much better without fuss from a parent.

Have you bothered to check out the links to the actual menu made by the actual chef at the actual venue? Or are you really this determined to argue over a menu you've dreamed up in your head at a venue you know nothing about?

Is the OP on this thread MNHQ? 🤔

asking a meat eater to eat veggie is not the same as asking a veggie to eat meat. A meat eater actually already eats veggie food but with some meat added (depending on how frequently they eat meat) whereas a veggie doesn’t eat meat at all.

you’re being ridiculous. It will be good for their health and the environment.

PS I’m sure most children eat veggie food often…. examples of bog standard food that’s veggie - beans on toast, sandwiches, spaghetti and sauce, cheese on toast, baked potato with beans, salad

I was also wondering why it said that…

What kind of meat was on the menu at the other residential site?

Grass fed? Higher welfare? Possibly organic?

Or sausages, burgers and nuggets?

I can understand wanting to feed children the best quality food possible when on a budget. Lentils over economy burgers fits that bill. (BTW, economy burgers only have to contain something like 44% meat to be lablled as a burger. The majority of that burger is actually likely to be wheat or similar filler).

The price of decent quality meat actually makes it prohibitive to use in mass catering. Cheap meat full of crap is the only way you can include meat in this kind of setting. I don't blame them for choosing not to do that.