Vegetarian at an Office Picnic: What to Do?

[bmichaelh]

My department at work is having an picnic pretty soon.

This is my first year working for this company.

Some in the department tell me that in the past, that they usually have burgers or barbecue chicken.

Also, some in the department tell me that it would look bad if I did not make an appearance.

I am a vegetarian in a culture that really does not cater to vegetarians.

I cannot forgo vegetarian for this instance, because I also have Crohns disease and certain foods make me physically sick such as red meat, pork, fried foods, barbecue chicken, etc.

That is one of many reasons that I am a vegetarian.

Any advise on what I should do?

[hlthe2b]

1. Make an appearance... eat before hand

and bring hummus and fruit salad to share.

Anyone asks--you had a prior commitment that also involved eating, but you did want to come to the work picnic as well. ...

[elleng]

2. Bring contributions that are suitable for you,

and appetizing to others, a GIFT from the newbie!

If anyone asks, mention your Crohn's 'disability' to inform people.

[silverweb]

3. Bring your own food.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Once at the event, eat what you can and will enjoy of what's offered, and otherwise supplement with the food you brought for yourself.

Mention your vegetarianism, or "allergies" or a "special diet" if someone asks and you want to respond, but you don't even have to do that.

[dflprincess]

6. I second that

One of my coworkers has a gluten intolerance and is very careful as she doesn't want it escalate to celiac disease like one of her aunt's did.

She brings her own food for group events and, when it's just our team going out, we pick restaurants that she is able to eat at. And our whole team has cut way back on bringing treats in because it would be just too rude to bring in stuff one of us can't eat - this has been a good thing for all of us.

[Warpy]

9. I'll give that a third

If you have found a diet that helps to keep you symptom free, stick with it.

You might have to make an appearance but nothing says you have to eat their food and land in the hospital. Crohn's is life threatening.

[rocktivity]

4. Surely there will be things like potato salad and corn on the cob you can eat.

You can let them know you're on a "special" diet (no need to go into any detail), and ask if some vegetarian foods be could provided (suggest some recipies). You can bring your own food for the same reason. In fact, bring enough to share!


rocktivity

[kentauros]

11. You have to be careful even with the seemingly vegetarian side dishes.

Just this past weekend, my father had his 84th birthday, and my brother and SIL went to some BBQ place that's famous in Austin (Franklin's, I think.) I figured I'd still bring something I could eat though I was looking forward to having some potato salad. No such luck. It had bacon in it.

Although my sister did like the bit of gardein-brand "beef tips" I offered. I just used some of the sweeter BBQ sauce provided on those and another veggie-sausage I had with me.

With the way the "bacon-craze" is going these days, expect it to be in literally everything, even the dessert.

Now, bringing a dessert is often universally loved, so that's an option, too

[CrispyQ]

13. I went to a restaurant with some friends.

We picked the place cuz it had a nice salad bar. Someone had taken the bacon bits & sprinkled them on everything. It was in the potato salad, the garden greens, the couscous, all of it. When I pointed it out to our waiter, he said they knew, but they were told to wait until the food had been consumed before replacing it! He offered to bring me a garden salad from the kitchen. Needless to say, I never went back.

There are some donut shops around here that put bacon on the top of the donut. Retch.

[kentauros]

14. I was looking at the menu of a "gourmet" donut shop here.

They're actually quite good and reasonably priced, just located in what's always been known as the wealthiest part of town, River Oaks (we don't have rivers there, just bayous, though we do have some lovely oaks.)

I wasn't surprised to see they do have two types of donut with bacon in/on them, Maple with Bacon & Jalapeno, Maple with Bacon. I only hope they keep those separated from all the other delicious donuts they do offer. We may be in Texas, but we do have plenty of vegetarians here.

Your story of the salad bar would probably make me turn around and leave, and let them know why they just lost a customer.

[truedelphi]

17. very good take on what going on.

I think that there are now chocolate chip cookies with bacon, and bacon brownies as well.

In my old age, I am now eating meat, but I do have to avoid MSG which is in almost all BBQ sauces out there. Unless of course, I make it myself.

On edit -actual "bacon brownie recipe,andit" comes with a four star rating. Don't know if I should hurl or what! (This is over the top, despite that I am an occasional meat eater.)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bacon-brownies/

[kentauros]

19. I haven't eaten bacon in almost twenty years

though I've "only" been a vegetarian for 14 of those years. I do still remember the flavor, and yet, I still can't figure out how it could go with chocolate. Kind like the fad now of adding rock salt to chocolate. Yuck! I just don't get it.

The bacon-in-everything topic came up recently with my family, and even though I'm the only veg*n among them, none of us could understand this explosion in wanting bacon. However, my father did mention that the bacon he buys is without nitrates, and he found it far tastier than "normal" bacon. You might consider looking for that if you want a "healthier" form of bacon. (I know, maybe not the right place to recommend someone eat a certain form of meat, but I do try my best not to judge others based on what they eat.)

Good luck with your diet, however you do it!

[truedelphi]

20. Thanks for your rec about bacon. However, I don't do pork.

However, if I found out that a meteor was going to fatally impact the planet in three weeks, between now and then, I would be going out for dinner to every BBQ joint with pulled pork that I could find!

I really miss bacon, sausages, and all that. Even though I only ate them very occasionally.

Dick Gregory mentions in one of his diet books, that whenever he was in the midst of one of his food fasts, he would dream about hotdogs.

And that is true for me too. I have done three week cleanses, and in the midst of those, I am dreaming about hotdogs. (Even though normally I don't have them.)

Why I am not dreaming about things I really crave, like filet mignon, I have no idea.

[kentauros]

21. It is weird what our brains determine for dream content.

I can remember dreaming about eating pepperoni, even if it wasn't a big favorite (corned beef is the one I'd still like to see at least attempted by the faux-meat producers...)

I've never done a 3-week cleanse. I'd hate to end up dreaming about hotdogs or pepperoni

[Warren Stupidity]

5. Ask whoever runs it to provide veggie burgers or bring your own.

Otherwise just do the salad. Here in the northeast there are enough vegetarians that alternatives to dead chickens and cows and whatever the heck is in hot dogs are routinely available. Same with the west coast.

[gwheezie]

7. My daughter is vegan

She brings something for everyone and eats what she can

[truedelphi]

18. I am loving your Shirley Chisolm photo and quote. n/t

[JohnnyRingo]

8. I understand your dilemma.

Frankly, it never occurred to me that vegans would have nothing to eat at a picnic, I hope not because I'm inconsiderate, but because I'm old enough to remember a time when it wasn't an issue.

I agree now that some accommodation should probably be made for people like yourself who don't eat meat, but how does one calculate the amount of substitute food to be made available? What approximate percentage of a typical company picnic attendees does this affect? To be honest, I'm not sure what the alternative to traditional picnic fare even is. I could joke that corporate burgers are mostly cereal anyway, but that probably doesn't help.

I'm not sure what you can do other than bring your own burger substitute and ask that it be prepared for you. I doubt the grill guy would mind. It's certainly not that uncommon these days. Good luck, and I hope you have a good time anyways.

[lunasun]

10. Yes it is not uncommon . No worry ! Do what you want for food and really the picnic is

Being recommended to you for networking , company get together outside of the work place a place perhaps for others to get to know you while not on the clock . I do not think most people are coming for the great food anyway ... So if you bring something really good you could get a lot of takers

[ginnyinWI]

12. trust me, nobody will notice what you are eating. if they do, they are rude.

Everyone mostly looks at their own plate. You can take or leave what you like. Nice offices will think to have a vegetarian option, but usually you can find something. If it is "make your own sandwich" you can leave off the meat, etc.

At the last thing I went to, I did that, and ate a moderate amount. And some piled their plates really high and ate it all--and complained that they were too stuffed. I wonder why. As a formerly fat person I know where they are coming from, but you have to use your brain when you eat, whether for weight or food sensitivities or whatever. It isn't smart or even fun to say, "oh just this once". And there are a lot of people eating more intelligently now--they just aren't in the majority.

[CrispyQ]

15. Asking them to provide veggie burgers is not out of line these days.

Years ago I asked a company's HR department if garden burgers were available at the BBQ. They said they'd send out an email & see if anyone else was interested. A few men replied, but a large number of women wrote that they were thrilled to have a lower calorie option. After that, we always had garden burgers.

[yewberry]

16. Absolutely go and bring food.

I have to attend these things sometimes-- the last group outing I attended turned out to have a few vegetarian/ veg-curious people and some folks with gluten sensitivity. I usually make a big bowl of baba ghanouj with crudite and some kind of gluten-free chips or crackers. Black bean salad is also usually welcomed at picnics & barbecues.

I completely agree with others here: do not eat any potato salad or pasta salad unless you yourself make it. You'll probably be safe with corn on the cob, green salad or bread, but better to bring a protein you can eat/something a bit heartier so you won't feel deprived.