So on Saturday 7.0 I'm at a dinner thing, the kitchen is accommodating my vegan meal request (very nice considering the only options presented were steak, chicken or vegetarian), but they send out the first course salad with crumbled cheese on top.
Does a vegan
A) send the salad back and request a new one with no cheese?
B) eat around the cheese?
C) just eat the salad as is?
This is where I struggle. If I send the salad back it is wasted. It's not that big a deal to eat around the cheese, but then the cheese gets wasted. Eating the cheese goes against the whole vegan thing.
What Would Vegans Do?
(iphone pics...no flash...crappy quality, I know)
I ended up going with Option B. That's my cheese on the saucer at the top of the pic above my vegan meal of vegetables, potatoes and marinara sauce...not particularly inspiring but I was grateful to have it. So filling that I was ready to hit up KFC for a veggie burger on the ride home.
I know there are some hard core vegans out there, those who refuse to eat something that has made contact with an animal product, or was prepared with a cooking utensil that has come in contact with an animal product. But what about the average vegan? Is it better to waste the food that has already been prepared or to just eat it?
I'm trying hard not to waste food on this Kind journey. I found a loving home for my massive Costco bag of bacon bits and bricks of extra sharp American cheddar. The ice cream in my freezer is being consumed (oh, the sacrifices I make). My ridiculously handsome Galahad is slowly helping us clear out our meat, as is our equally handsome Curious George, but he only gets a little bit because of his frequently runny bum. And I do meal plans now to anticipate what kind of produce we will need in the immediate future and therefore limit wasting perishables.
But when something non-vegan ends up on your plate, what is the kind course of action to take?
Tough call. Kinda like trying to figure out which is sexier...
serious Wesley Crusher:
or smoldering Wesley Crusher:
I might just have to stare at them both for a while to figure it all out.
LOL! I say you eat the salad, without the cheese, in fact donate the cheese to another table mate. You did the right thing.
ReplyDeleteBeware the path of anal veganism as you mention here; in my opinion, life is too short to make it more difficult than it already is. You are already living an exemplary kind life with all of the choices you are already making.
Since you're still in the beginning of the journey, embrace the journey itself, and maybe in the future your kind life choices will evolve into 100% pure veganism. Until then, take it easy on yourself!
Just go with your meat-free, dairy-free gut feeling when your faced with choices, and remember not to judge.
Congratulations Yolanta! You are making amazing strides in your vegan journey! I applaud you!