Supermarket meat

[coulditbeme2323]

Friends inviting us around for BBQ.

I don't eat supermarket meat, do I just bring our own stuff?

You take the risk of being served something you don't like anytime you are a guest at someone's home.

Why don't you just eat whatever sides they have or say you're not well and drink water.

Are you the only guest or can you hide your actions behind whatever everyone else is doing so you're not drawing attention to yourself?

Why don’t you eat supermarket meat? Most big supermarkets have in store butchers. It would be very rude of you to take your own. If you were my guest I would be very offended

Lamb shoulder, Lamb and Chorizo merguez, black garlic fillet steak skewers, all at my local shop and unlikely to be there.

How do you navigate this most of the time - restaurants, invited to dinner, family, work trips? Easier just to be vegetarian for the evening I imagine.

I just don't like it, but yes I agree the more I think about it - it will come across rude.

Family all know.

I don't work.

Restaurants not so easy.

@coulditbeme2323 You can't take your own bit of meat. That is unbelievably rude and you will look like a right knob, I promise you. You either eat the veggie offering or offer to supply farm shop meat for the whole party. Do not take the lamb shoulders. They might not get eaten and I don't think the host will thank you for bringing something else to faff around with. If these are hobby group people and not really close friends, then you don't want to "other" yourself. So you either eat the veggie option or supply meat for everyone. Or don't go.

How do you know they are buying supermarket meat?

I don't!

I would just not say anything and have a veggie option once there. If anyone noticed and asked why I would say I was trying to lower my meat intake.

I don't think there's any way of doing this without seeming weird and/or offensive.
Eat the bread and salad and leave the meat. Have something to eat before you go or when you're back. I'm vegan and do this to avoid drawing attention to myself with new people or making them feel they need to make a fuss for me. If you don't make a song and dance about it, no one pays much mind to what you're not eating.

Go veggie. Or say you had a bad reaction at the last bbq you went to. Is food poisoning too extreme?

I voted YANBU - I only buy meat from the butchers. I'd feel sick at the thought of eating supermarket meat..

For those who claim the butchers are more expensive - nope, not in my area, it's far more cost effective to buy from the butchers.

I agree the difference isn't always what people think it might be!

Some producers/wholesalers sell meat to both butchers and supermarkets so you may be eating the same meat regardless of where you purchase it.

Nope - not at the butchers I use. They are open about the farms where their meat comes from and encourage questions about the meat.

Why don't you just offer to supply all the meat then?

You can use it as an opportunity to show everybody else there how superior your taste is farm bought meat is.

I think it's weird to offer

You’re completely reasonable to only want to eat higher welfare better quality meat, but you’re completely unreasonable to declare as a blanket fact that the latter is unavailable in all supermarkets.

Fine to take your own, but don’t take three lamb shoulders - that’d take far too long to cook on the bbq, it’d take up all the room. And if you take enough for everyone, it looks like you’re trying to supplant the hosts entire food plan.
Take a couple of packs / small wrapped artisan paper and string bundles of one thing - a few lamb steaks, a few kofta, whatever. Something that will cook quickly, not take up all the space on their bbq, and easily identifiable by you as the thing you want to eat.

I'd just ask if there'll be veggie options as you're a bit funny with meat.

I do get it, I'm easily grossed out by meat so I'd struggle too. I've been served undercooked meat and very cheap turkey burgers at bbqs before. I didn't used to be as fussy but I'd probably just not go or go veggie if I was asked now 😅

I seem to be in the minority as it wouldn’t bother me at all if someone I didn’t know well explained that they have a quirk with meat and had brought some lamb for others to share. I wouldn’t think you were rude - I’d rather that than you pretending to be veggie (I’d think of you like Pam 😂) or even worse forcing yourself to eat something you didn’t want to eat. Surely no good host/decent person would want you to do that?

OP if you don’t eat supermarket meat do you normally buy meat directly from a local farm/butcher? What is it about meat sold in the supermarket that you don’t like? No judgement I am genuinely curious.

If they said don't bring food, then don't.
Just eat veggie for the day.

For what it’s worth, we have lots of bbqs and I’m never offended or weirded out if someone brings something of their own to throw in the grill - especially someone with a special dietary need/quirk. I’m fine with them bringing whatever food they want to eat and will happily cook it for them. It’s not a biggie surely?

I too am fussy about where my meat comes from, and will buy from the butcher in the village where all meat is local and of higher welfare and for that reason I’ll always choose veggie option when eating out. Having said that if I’m invited to friends for food I’ll eat what is served.