So I don’t eat meat. It’s not a moral choice, and I don’t care what you eat. I don’t proselytize, and I don’t judge (though for some reason I can’t stand watching people eat lobster). I don’t call myself “vegetarian,” because frankly to me it seems that the term, for some people, is loaded with the sort of smug judgementalism I’m desperately trying to avoid.
But there is one thing that really sets me off. This is when, at events with buffets or some kind of communal eating situation, meat eaters eat up all the vegetarian options. I don’t actually blame the meat eaters. Just because you eat meat doesn’t mean you have to do so all the time. Vegetables are good, and we are constantly bombarded with health messages that claim a meatless diet is good for you (though I can’t see how a grilled cheese sandwich could be considered any better than a grilled chicken one).
No, I pin this problem on event organizers who think something like this: “well, there might be a few vegetarians, so well order a bit of vegetarian food.” I don’t blame them, but I’d like to enlighten them: you see, since meat eaters do, can, and often like to choose the meatless option (and why not?) vegetarians might end up with nothing to eat.
This is why I am usually rushing for the front of the buffet line at events. Not because I’m desperate to eat, but because I don’t want to be left with meat lover’s pizza when everyone else is noshing on the mediterranean. In other words, I don’t want to be left hungry.
This is why it might be easy to be mistaken for a self-righteous vegetarian. Asking simply that people leave something that I can eat can come across as demanding special privileges. When all I want is the same crummy meal opportunity that everyone else gets.
So if you’re an event planner, go ahead and over order vegetarian options. I don’t think that there is a dietary choice that requires people to need to eat meat, so you’re not really disadvantaging anyone. I refuse to play either the “it’s healthier” card (because often it is not) or the “I’m better than you because I’m vegetarian” angle (because I’m not). I just want everyone to be able to eat.
