Hosting and warning non-vegans

[veganhost]

We are just about to move into a big enough home in a desirable area where it’ll be easy to have people stay overnight. We are looking forward to welcoming visitors, including on a ’hotel style’ basis, ie feel free to crash at ours but do what you want otherwise.

Now, since we’ve welcomed quite a few people to come and stay, not everyone is super aware of our belief and I feel that we need to warn people that we do not want any non-vegan food in our home. Some vegans don’t have any issues with this, but we do, and won’t change our minds. We are really not interested in discussing this or ’negotiating’, so to speak. I feel that we need to warn people about this so that they know before they come (and if they don’t want to come if they can’t have cow’s milk with their cereal eg, ok!).

How do we do this in the best way? I’ve thought of just mentioning it casually in an e-mail – is it then better as soon as a visit is discussed, or once dates have been set? Any suggestions on how to word this in a friendly but firm way would be much appreciated! I don’t really want to explain it, just state it, to avoid the risk of being told that we’re silly eg, but maybe a casual mention won't be noticed…

I wonder if any other vegan has personal experience of a similar situation, or if any non-vegan have a view on what they think. Any suggestions on how to best convey this in a nice but ’final’ way would be welcome!

Thanks for any thoughts 😊

Sorry, but how on earth can you not cope with someone bringing in a pint of milk? It's not poison. You aren't allergic to it,
You say you want people to treat your house as a hotel, yet they can only eat what you beleive is ethical. Since you have such a large house you could even ask them to put it in a small second fridge. Seriously, what do you think will happen if someone brought a formula fed baby to stay? Ask them to leave?

What would you do if you went to a house and they refused to have vegan alternatives? Wouldn't you find rude if they told you you could t bring an alternative?

Sorry but you are being really inflexible. Veganism isn't a religion.

It's your home and you would be doing me a favour. So it doesn't seem like a big ask for me to not bring non-vegan things into your home.

However... I'd be a bit nervous about my allergies. For that reason, I might not actually stay with you after the offer. It wouldn't upset me if I didn't feel safe/welcome in your home due to you eating more nuts than the average non-vegan, but I would be upset if I thought you were offended about that.

If you actually wanted me to stay with you, you would just need to say something like, 'Just so you know, we don't allow non-vegan things in the house, but don't worry, we're keeping everything with nuts in it sealed whilst you're here, so you won't come into contact with anything that will kill you.'

(And if you didn't know I had allergies, I don't think we would be close enough for me to stay over anyway.)

What's the word for a vegetarian who doesn't eat dairy, honey, or non-backyard eggs, and doesn't wear wool or leather or silk?

@Kalevala i don’t know but it’s not vegan 🤣

If they eat eggs, even from rescue chickens, aren’t they just called vegetarians?

I mean we have the term pescatarian, they are not just omnivores. We could do with a word for it.

Definitely not vegan. 🤣

My issue with vegan food is it is so highly processed.

The rest is a mouthful though

@Kalevala they can say they eat a plant based diet almost all the time but beyond that there is no special word for them.

Theres probably a term for it.

Airlines seem to have loads of variations on the ‘theme’ of vegetarian meals.

But vegetarians do wear wool , but not leather or silk.

The basic idea is vegetarians will eat and wear stuff as long as the animal it comes from doesn’t die for that thing to be produced.

Vegans don’t eat or wear stuff from animals at all.

Are they ovo vegetarians?

Okay, this makes sense.

Ovo-vegatarian who is selective about the origins of their eggs.

They don't eat shop eggs though, only from their chickens, and I suppose if they were visiting others with a similar set up where they could see the chickens were living a natural lifestyle, able to forage and peck about freely.

I think they are called Ovo- vegetarian. @Kalevala

Your house your rules. Offering free accommodation in London saves 100s of pounds and as a guest you must respect your host. Just say something like, you're very much welcome to visit but please respect the fact that we follow a vegan lifestyle and as such we ask you not to eat or bring in any non vegan food in the house. Perfectly reasonable.

Which is in stark contrast to many of the people posting on here. Why does a thread about veganism bring out these people? I think there must be a high percentage of people who are allergic to vegans or something.

Oops. Missed your post
You got there before me 😁

This is probably right then, for those who eat the eggs.

Unfortunately I have stomach issues which are a problem for hosts so if I couldn't bring my lacto free milk, or had to eat tofu, legumes I would probably stay nearby so that I could enjoy your company without being a nuisance.

It doesn't have to be.

I think you're being reasonable.

My mum always used to bring her own milk for tea in case I didn't have any in the house. I'm not vegan but I don't drink tea and pre-kids we would often not have any milk in the house when she visited so she took to bringing her own. I think she was quite traumatised. Tea (with milk) comes just under oxygen in her hierarchy of needs. If we went vegan it would be quite a battle to persuade her not to bring milk into the house so I get why you feel this is needed OP.

I think clarifying your position with something brief like "nb we keep a vegan household and look forward to feeding you with some of our favourite dishes if you wish. Although obviously we will respect your right to go out and get non-vegan food sometimes while you are staying, we do ask that you respect our beliefs by not bringing any non-vegan food back to the house." In your emails when making arrangements should be fine.

No worries. I had to google. I don’t think I had never heard the term before despite being veggie as a child and vegan all my adult life.

It’s a very very recent thing and still isn’t in most countries.

The ( processed and fake meat substitutes ) industry has grown as the number of flexitarians have increased.

You only ever hear these terms when filling out in flight food orders.