If you choose not to read listen to the audio conversation on this topic.
Vegans are often looked at like outsiders. Some people will praise your efforts thinking you are participating in a grand movement to save the planet or animals. Meanwhile a much larger majority just views you as a pain in the ass.
Being an outsider doesn’t bother me at all what bothers me the most is others inflexibility. This is most often displayed in the food service industry. It doesn’t matter if you are in a restaurant or a gas station convenience market your options for something to eat are limited.
Understanding what and why you choose to eat the way you do is important. If you are trying to save the world by protecting animal rights you are admiral. If you are a vegan to help make the world more sustainable you are also a hero in my book. That being said it leaves all of us at a food variety disadvantage. Just as the world is shaped around a hetero normative society we are also in a meat and dairy dominate society. Global stats suggest 55% of crops are grown for direct human consumption the remaining 45% are used for animal feed or biofuel with the majority going towards animal feed. These numbers aren’t nearly as lopsided as I had assumed based on my observation of peoples culinary choices.
The limited choices for a vegan diet aren’t reflective in the numbers of plants grown for our consumption. It is what it is I guess and like other fringe groups we need to find a work around.
Restaurants were always my biggest concern. North of 90% of restaurants I have visited don’t have a vegan option on the menu. meanwhile more than half of them have vegetarian options. The cheese and cream sauces are an issue for vegans and many of these foods are already prepared in such a way that they can no longer be substituted or replaced.
The enjoyment of going out to eat became a drag until a came up with a work around. Allergies, all restaurants are sensitive to food allergies by now and can accommodate most people’s sensitivities. Therefore instead of saying I was a vegan and turning the argument political or environmental I simply said I was allergic to animal proteins. This happens to be true in my case, but the change in service was exponential. The biggest problem isn’t what is available in the kitchen it is what is programmed into their billing system. I’m sure i have paid for a lot of meat products just so they could find away of charging me for a meal using their automated systems. I was so frustrated for so long and heard many no that’s not possibles in order to go out to eat. However the allergy trick kind of forced the issue and they found a way to adapt to my dietary restrictions.
To be continued…