There is this woman who has been coming into work lately who has ‘just turned’ vegan. Today I went onto our Facebook page which I moderate and there was a wall post from her asking if we could please consider putting a vegan option on the breakfast menu “and not just *menu item* without the eggs”.
I guess it is an innocent question but it really annoyed me. A vegan diet wipes out a good majority of popular breakfast foods and making an entire breakfast option vegan will be awesome…for about three people. Veganism is a choice. Whether you make the choice because of morals or weight or just because you feel like it, is irrelevant. It is a choice all the same and if you are choosing to have an incredibly annoying food preference then you should accept the fact you will have trouble finding whole menu items that cater to your needs. You will often have to get things without certain ingredients, you will have to adapt menu items to suit you, it is annoying but so is your diet that nobody is forcing you to follow.
We have recently upgraded a few recipes to make them gluten free. Gluten intolerance or coeliac disease is a real condition that sufferers do not have a choice in and I am sure that if you asked anyone suffering from gluten intolerance they would wish they did not have the problem. Veganism? Not a disease so I have little sympathy.
On the flip-side to needy vegans, most vegans who come in are extremely appreciative that we will alter any menu item to suit their diet. We remove meat and eggs, cook things in oil instead of butter, add extra vegetables. We have no problem, at all, catering for vegans. We just don’t have and probably will not ever have specific vegan meals.
Thanks
Love Carrie xoxo xxxx
Haven’t you seen Scott Pilgrim Vs The World? Don’t you want vegan super-powers? :-P
Comment by Steven McG — October 24, 2011 @ 12:24 am |
Gelato isn’t vegan??
It’s milk and eggs, bitch.
Oh I love that movie!
I just googled Vegan Breakfast and my tastebuds almost evacuated my body in disgust at how boring the food was. I am trying to think of some sort of vegetable stack with nice big mushrooms and capsicum and tomato but I just keep thinking about how much better it would taste with fetta!
Comment by Carrie-Anne — October 24, 2011 @ 12:36 am |
Hehe :-)
Outside of specialist vegetarian / vegan restaurants, i have never seen a vegan menu option _anywhere_. In fact it is surprisingly progressive to have gluten free options and that your chefs don’t take it as a personal insult to be asked to prepare something vegan friendly :-)
Vegan breakfast = fruit salad … maybe Porridge (made without milk) and maple syrup … i was going to say honey but i’m not sure what the vegan moral stance is on bees.
The other thing you forgot is that no-one is forcing them to try to eat out. Possibly kinda harsh, but if their food preferences are sufficiently esoteric it seems a little pointless, no-one is going to specifically cater to 0.1% of customers.
Comment by Steven McG — October 24, 2011 @ 12:50 am |
We have two gluten free cakes and one (mostly) gluten free breakfast <– it has bread that can be exchanged for gluten free corn chips.
Vegan options…
Muesli with soy no yoghurt; fruit salad no yoghurt; spanish beans no egg no fetta; toast with tomato and mushrooms no butter; fruit toast; breakfast burger no bacon or aioli. There are plenty of options really.
Comment by Carrie-Anne — October 24, 2011 @ 1:23 am
I absolutely agree … It’s a choice. Whilst Im off the less extreme variety (vego) I have maintained since day one (about 5 years ago) that this was indeed my choice and that no one else should have to alter their lifestyles because of me (I had a few friends feeling “guilty” about eating steak in front of me, to which I replied “wtf! I’ve been eating that stuff for 20 odd years, it doesn’t all of a sudden start ‘offending’ me!)
Bottom line: do your research if you have something veganistic in mind, check out options before you go. Unfortunately wa probably isn’t as vegan friendly as say Melbourne is, but smaller
population etc. That’s life. As you pointed out most places are happy to accomodate (and us freaks are very grateful for it) but if you want pure veganism it’s time to go open your own place (I wonder how popular it would be !)
Comment by Ali — October 24, 2011 @ 12:42 am |
Thanks Ali, very glad to hear from an actual vegan/vego on this issue!
Comment by Carrie-Anne — October 24, 2011 @ 1:14 am |
[...] Dear Diary – Vegans are sometimes lovely. Sometimes annoying. Share this:TwitterFacebookStumbleUponEmailLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Leave a Comment [...]
Pingback by Dear Diary: Vegan Update « Get Served: Diary of a Hospitality Worker — October 28, 2011 @ 8:55 pm |
Thanks for sticking up for Coeliacs, we don’t have a choice.
Comment by Nicky — October 30, 2011 @ 9:15 pm |
[...] A New Life After Celiac Disease SymptomsThe Critiques For that Eating habits Option ProgramDear Diary – Vegans are sometimes lovely. Sometimes annoying. #header { [...]
Pingback by Suggestions about Selecting Gluten Free Meals — November 7, 2011 @ 10:16 am |