I recently overheard a conversation while riding on a shuttle from Long Term parking to The San Francisco International Airport Terminal (of Course!?); 2 women, one with purple/pink colored hair and an early teenager (pink hair) and a toddler; the colored hair specimen remarked with a painful pity demanding tone in her voice, “it is so hard to eat when you are a Vegan”!!
NO IT IS NOT HARD ON YOU: IT IS HARD ON THE PEOPLE WHO FEED AND SERVE YOU!
Let’s be honest here; yes it is a noble endeavor to speak out and do your part to protect the animals but it is YOUR choice; it is not a restricted diet because of your religious beliefs which can be very compelling or a dietary restriction which can be intimidating and even dangerous; while even with the pervasive motivation provided by these two scenarios it easy to see why it would be “HARD” to eat comfortably!
As a Vegan; you made a choice to eat a certain way; it would seem to me you would be excited to celebrate the vast and almost limitless variety of food and flavors provided by nature her plants and trees!
That is of course you made your decision for some selfish need to self validate your existence and your perceived suffering provides you with constant boosts of proof of your personal value.
If you were as noble as you want US to think you are; you would be seeking out new vegetables to try and be excited to find so many things to eat that don’t harm animals; “surely this must be how we were created to live!”
You don’t have any need to go to restaurants that don’t follow your creed; you don’t have to eat out ever! When “forced” to travel you could easily research ahead menus or menu items that fill your needs or bring the food you love from home until the next chance get to the produce market!
But since you are not nearly as noble as you want us to believe and are instead feeding an insecurity or ego; you must go out and suffer and display your sacrifice in public; at the expense and hardship of the already overworked and stressed employees of restaurants and food service outlets of your choice!
Even if you find it challenging to your self; it is still a choice; you can’t just go out in public quietly and enjoy a meal and your friends like people like me who don’t like fish; (most fish anyway) or don’t like broccoli; or onions; or garlic. Noooo! You have to make a big deal out of your NEEDS (read – your choice) and make sure everyone hears and meets your demands.
I don’t vocally ask/demand that the server check with the chef to make sure there is no SALMON in the Shrimp Omelet before I order one and make sure everyone at my table and near-by tables hear that I don’t like salmon! I don’t like salmon but it won’t make me sick!
In your shallow search for self validation your you have likely come to believe that seeing Vegan items show up on the menu is Proof of the Value of your Agenda and that it is widely supported!
While I agree it is a noble goal it has not yet be proven to be even a diet for improved health except in isolated circumstances and I have heard more evidence that it is actually unhealthy especially for developing fetuses and young children but anyway; your self righteousness has hidden from your view that in most cases; Vegan items are added to menus to “Shut You Up” and let our staff get back to working efficiently.
As a Chef of course we accept the challenge to come up with Vegan Items that meet our high standards of quality and creativity but there is plenty of creative opportunities already out there and with a more appreciative audience.
To be fair; I love animals too; I wish we didn’t have to kill them and don’t enjoy the occasions when as a chef I must be the one to end the life of a creature but it seems we were designed to consume a large variety of foods as humans.
So I am sure there are challenges coming from the large variety of restricted items (Honey!?! Really!?!) that a Vegan can’t eat but it is still just your choice and since you wont’ break out in hives or need an epi-pen if you eat something with honey in it, then no, “It Is NOT Hard To Be A Vegan”; it is HARD to be the people you force to play in your little charade.
The Grumpy Chef 