Would you eat at a non vegan/vegetarian retraunt if they had a good vegan/vegetarian menue?!
Answers: They may serve some meat and fish dishes but if the menue had a good selection of vegan/vegetarian would you eat there??
Absolutely! I am a vegetarian, so I won't EAT the meat or animal-sourced foods in a restaurant, but I will most certainly eat the veggie choices! There are several reasons why I believe it's important to do this:
1) Let restaurants know there IS a consumer population that supports vegetarian menu options! One of the most effective ways to communicate consumer demand is to show support for the types of products you care about. Sometimes, the best way to show your consumer belief is to withhold patronage (as in, KFC has very, very bad animal standard care and I would NOT eat there at all). Other times, businesses look at their bottom line to determine where they should grow. So going into a nice "regular" restaurant and ordering vegetarian choices, and making a positive comment to the server like "I really appreciate the vegetarian selection here, please let the manager know I am grateful for these options on the menu" can be very powerful.
2) Lead by example. A lot of non-vegetarians have a misconstrued idea about "who" vegetarians are...all out-of-touch with reality hippies who live with their heads in the clouds, etc. It's a wonderful way to "advertise" vegetarian living to go to mainstream restaurants with friends and family, and without making any sort of stink or negative impression, demonstrate by example that being a vegetarian is a choice that works for all sorts of people in all sorts of situations.
3) Socialization. It's not as if vegetarians should only socialize with other vegetarians...unless that is what one wants or believes personally. One day, it would be lovely if the mainstream was vegetarian and the marginal population was eating meat, but until then, a friendly, peaceful lifestyle can include diversity of dietary preferences by friends! :) Professionals should not be penalized socially or professionally of their own doing by NOT joining in office lunches, etc. simply because another person doesn't eat like s/he does. Networking opportunities, friendships, etc. shouldn't be ONLY available to non-vegetarians. Vegetarianism is less about being judgmental and more about being peaceful.
4) Choices. A vegetarian is much LESS likely to STAY a vegetarian if there are so few choices available that s/he is inconvenienced beyond being able to keep up the lifestyle. If EVERY meal of EVERY day is a chore and something that yields few choices or variety, a person is more likely to start veggie and end up returning to meat eating. If vegetarianism is to be a true lifestyle choice and not just a phase, it typically requires a sense of flexibility, creativity, and resourcefulness in order to maintain it for decades on end.
I hope this helps! :) One final thought. The great sage Gandhi said "my life is my message," and "be the change you wish to see in the world." What better way than to actively demonstrate your values in a world where others can be positively influenced by your example?
I eat at non veg. resturants all the time, there are no veg. resturants near where I live.
hi.
Yes, I would! I go out with my parents and brother once a week and we got to meat/vegetarian places!!! =] The places we go to have vegetarian options and they have meat.
=]
sure, do it all the time. I even shop at grocery stores that have a butcher section.
:)
You make me laugh with the question.
I see no problem with such. But I was involved with someone that would throw FITS at the suggestion.
It isn't like I haven't eaten such in the past - nor like I still don't have relatives that eat that way. It isn't going to be any type of shock.
I wud not actually. I seem to hav developed this phobia around any meat, fish, etc. I get images of particles tranferring fron them goin INTO me through my mouth, or nose as I breathe, etc.
I eat only in veggie places
yes! We must realize not many rest. have veg. options, so we have to support them, or they might get the wrong idea, like since we are not supporting small businesses they choose to withdrawal all veg. menu options, that would suck.. We must support those rest. that have veg. options or we might never receive any, because they get the wrong impression, just like companies. We have to support those who give us veg options or we might not end up with any.
Yes, I eat vegetarian dishes all the time. Lots of Asian restaurants give a large selection of vegetarian dishes.
Of course. Otherwise, we'd never eat out!
no i would not
it depends upon the food and the quality of the food and the service.
Of course. As long as they do not cook the foods in the same oil, etc. There are very few vegan-only restaurants/fast food chains in the world. But, there are many places (and it's growing) that offer vegan-friendly meals (which a lot of vegans buy or else they wouldn't offer it!). But, still with that said there still are places I would refuse to eat at no matter what, such as McDonald's, or any place that has the word *steak, beef, chicken, or fish* in it's name or it's main food is an animal such as a steakhouse, chicken restaurant, or seafood place.
I prefer not to, but then i am in a fortunate position to be able to travel at will, many people cannot.
Second best would be to support resturants with creative veggie options so they can see there is a market for stuff other than Pasta.
Having seen the state of commercial kitchens, and having seen the lack of veggie food sources available to resturants via commercial delivery and wholesalers, i doubt there are many vegetarian or vegan "options" that are actually veggie or vegan.
Ask your typical pub chef if the cheese is veggie and they will look at you in a glazed manner. I've seen it done on many occasions, they dont' appreciate cross-contamination issues and don't stop to consider sub-ingredients.
Why should they understand ?, its not in thier moral compass.
Our local 2 Michelin star resturant was asked if thier cheese was vegetarian. Their response was "No, that's just going too far"
So, quite clearly, thier "veggie" options are not veggie and I doubt many other places are.
And thats is a resturant known throughout the county for its quality and service.
If thats the case at this high quality resturant, how do you think your local highway diner run by Fred and Wilma will cope ?
All it takes is a bored person to challenge them at thier local environmental health department and all will change once precedence is set. Initially it will probably result in all veggie options being taken off menus, gradually returning as actual vegetarian dishes.
I can't be bothered doing that, and think it will ruin the situation for those that are happy to eat at those places. i'll eat at veggie places where i can, and stay at veggie hotels where i can, some of them are fantastic and I'm more than happy to show them my support as they do to me.
I dont' beleive mixed resturants are run by Satan, they are just trying to make a living and good luck to them. I just don't beleive i will get vegetarian food there.
I'm with Michael H. on this. Most carnivores don't get the whole vegan thing, and may add eggs and not disclose it, or serve beans with lard, etc. - just because they don't know better.
Also the cross-contamination issue is a concern. I just don't want my veggies fried in a pan used to cook meat in it.
And while I agree with Michael that the moral issue simply isn't on their compass, I still sometimes experience a distaste for eating food prepared close to meat. It's not that I never do, as sometimes my family will want to eat out, but more and more often I find myself choosing to eat at home over a restaurant that serves meat, where I know what's gone into the food preparation (including the attitude of the preparer, which I suspect is also transferred into the food).
We don't have any strictly vegetarian/vegan restaurants in the little town where I live, but I have eaten at a couple of veg. restaurants in the next big city, which is about 90 miles from me. I definitely prefer that!
Yes.
I have to! There are no veg restaurants for miles of where I live. Needless to say, I order a lot of salads, potatoes, and pasta dishes... I get excited just to see a veggie burger on the menu around here!
I do all the time. There's a restaurant in my town that isn't 100 percent veg, but they can make almost anything on the menu vegan. Of course I'm going to eat there. The food is good, and they cater to veg*ans.
I also eat Ethiopian every six to eight weeks--the place isn't vegetarian, but Ethiopians observe a Lenten period where they are forbidden from consuming animal products, so they know what vegan is.
I believe if we support vegetarian options at nonvegetarian places, they'll keep offering them and hopefully offer more.