[Nikih]

Hi, will you please help me?

Our company is having an off site meeting. It's a small company. An email was sent out stating, "We will make box lunch arrangements."

I have been here for 5 years, 3 of which I have been vegetarian, but no one knows. Our president is very into hunting. He has at least 10 dead animals stuck on his wall!

Do I respond to the email? If so, what in the world do I say? Or should I just keep quiet and eat what I can out of the lunch, and bring along a granola bar.

Please help! Thanks

 

[codemonkey]

You could pack your own lunch.

 

[Michael]

Quote:

Or should I just keep quiet and eat what I can out of the lunch, and bring along a granola bar.

That's what I would do. Just give your sandwich to someone else.

 

[4EverGrounded]

Tell them you either want a salad or a veggie sandwich.

If you don't want to out yourself as a vegetarian, just say you're on a diet (if asked).

And keep a cliff bar or some other sort of snack stashed in your desk/purse/car just in case they screw up the lunch request.

 

[steinbock]

or even, reply to the email, and tell them that you're a vegetarian (or on a diet as previously suggested) and that you are willing to bring your own lunch if it's an inconvenience for the company to provide one for you. That way, there will be no wasting of omni foods, and you can go in knowing what the plan is (you eat their lunch or you eat one you brought along)

just be friendly and prepared, and everything will work out

good luck!

 

[steinbock]

stupid double post...sorry!

 

[Gita]

You might e-mail them. I am sure if you were a person with religious food restrictions you would e-mail to make sure they were not serving something inedible. It is strange, but at my company, usually when there is a lunch at a meeting, they actually serve a vegetarian dish, something like veggi lasagnia, to avoid any problems with food-- as we have many people of all religions, nationalities and so forth here. They also usually have garden burgers at least if it is a cookout-type event, and when ordering pizza, they will get "veggie." They still do not destinguish between Vegan and Vegetarian though-- like most people who do not know what Vegan means, they go with the cheese eating concept of vegetarian. I think it is a good idea to bring a sandwich though "just in case" the lines get crossed.

 

[Brandon]

I'd reply and request a vegetarian lunch. I work for a deli that makes box lunches, and we have 2 different vegetarian-friendly box lunch options. Either of them can be made vegan by leaving off the cheese and the guacamole (my stupid work puts stupid mayonnaise in the guac).

Why not try- if you succeed, then you get a lunch you can eat. If not, you tried and showed that there is a demand for veg*n lunch options.

 

[froggythefrog]

I always pipe up and ask Human Resources in an email if they can make my lunch vegetarian. I have not had any problems yet.

 

[Dumali]

I agree that you should request a vegetarian lunch. I work in the catering department of my school, and while it may be different for whoever is preparing your lunches, vegetarian meals are usually only provided if specifically asked for.

 

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Eh, I'd suggest you at least ask and see what they can do, but maybe bring along a snack if you can't bear to subsist on whatever they provide that fits your dietary requirements....

I work for a school district with over a thousand employees - they still haven't grasped the concept of a "vegan" lunch when they cater for staff enrichment days ...(there are only two vegans that I know of - sad...)... we pick around the cheese (or whatever) and eat what we can and then just send back a nice note to HR every time, reminding them what vegans eat...

It's about the meeting and all anyway - I figure it'd be nice if they catered to me, but in the end I'm there for other reasons than to eat, so no big deal...

 

[GhostUser]

yeah i agree..i would ask...but bring something just to be safe.

 

[kpickell]

You could just tell him not to bring you one because you have special dietary needs and will bring your own food. I don't see why they would care.

But I'm also lucky to work for a very vegan-friendly company that bends over backwards to make sure any meal I'm served has no meat, dairy or animal products. They're more thorough about my meals that I am! (Now if only they would offer vegetarian meals to the residents they serve!)