Vegan Practically

I think “Vegan Catering Fail” and “Vegan Catering Win” are going to become blog series because bad vegan catering is just so common and good vegan catering is just so refreshing. I know some people might think I should be happy, grateful even, that there was any option at all that I could eat. But honestly sometimes the available option is almost insultingly terrible.

Domino’s gluten free pizza without cheese is about as bad as it gets. Neither the vegans nor the gluten free folks are likely to be happy. Had I not been extremely hungry I would have passed completely. If there is ever a time in the future where I know this will be the vegan meal provided, I will pack a lunch.

There is an unfortunate tendency to consolidate vegan and gluten free. As a vegan, I feel as if I am giving up enough already that I don’t need to give up gluten too. Indeed, there is no reason for anyone other than people with celiac disease or some other form of gluten intolerance to forgo gluten. It makes everything better. Gluten free pizza crust (in my experience, which is the one from Domino’s) is about as close to cardboard as it gets. I can attest that you would only eat if it you had no choice and were really hungry.

Also, almost every single pizzeria in London now offers dairy free cheese. Many even offer a selection of such cheeses. Surely Domino’s can come up with a vegan pizza on a regular crust that has vegan cheese on it? But no. According the the internet, Domino’s currently has no vegan cheese or vegan meat options. The university is a big contract. If Domino’s can’t do better the campus should find a new pizza provider who can.

This was one occasion where the gluten free people had more choices than the vegans. There were a variety of gluten free choices; just one for vegans–the gluten free, dairy free pizza with a few peppers on it (you can see it pictured above).

I think that the general view is that it is a lot to ask to accommodate various dietary preferences when you are feeding a large group of people. And I do understand that. But as someone who makes my food choices for ethical reasons, it is sometimes difficult not to feel completely demoralized by the reality of people not taking harm to animals or the environment into account, as if this is just another inconvenient food restriction.

Lately, as I have been reading a lot more for the book project and for the blog, it is becoming more difficult to eat beside people eating animal products, and who are not just immune to the concerns but act as if being concerned is an annoying and over the top inconvenience. It feels similar to how it might feel to politely stay silent while sitting in a room with people who are telling racist jokes.

It’s that world — our world — that makes things like the very worst pizza you can imagine be the only vegan option provided. And that’s why I think bad vegan catering is blog-worthy. It says so much about the vastness of the lack of concern.

It’s not that hard to do a little bit better.