As a vegan or any individual with special dietary restrictions, we often have to extensively research every restaurant and their menu. We can’t simply just show up and expect to find something that meets our needs. Even then, thinking we have found a restaurant with a menu that both we and our meat-eating friends can order from we find ourselves disappointed. Typically our only option ends up being a salad with no cheese, or bacon, or boiled egg, or croutons (shout out to my gluten-free friends) or dressing. In fact, I usually end up ordering a plate of strictly lettuce, tomato and cucumber with a black coffee and water. Of course, when it comes down to this I often get a weird and annoyed look from the server like how dare I want something wholesome and unprocessed. With that being said, here’s a list to officially welcome and enlighten you to the daily vegan struggle:
- Probably the most obvious, but going to a restaurant and trying desperately to find something we can actually eat. I’m tired of ordering just water with lemon when its dinner and I’m starving.
- Feeling anxious when there is a long line of hungry customers behind you and you need to ask what exactly is in the vegan chili. Obviously so you can actually make sure it’s really vegan. Yeah, most vegans will question anybody other than themselves what’s in the food and how it was prepared. We trust nobody.
- Dreading going to the grocery store because it becomes an all-day event. Every time we buy something we have to thoroughly read the label and investigate the meaning of ingredients we don’t know. I can’t even tell you how many times I have caught some weird name for lard being sneaked into a seemingly innocent can of refried beans.
- Constantly wanting to drop-kick the grocery cashier because every time you check out he asks with that stupid face, “Oh, trying to eat healthy, huh? You must be on a diet?” Uh, no. Why is it so hard for you to believe that I actually might enjoy the taste of food that is not processed, loaded with toxins, and one lab ingredient from being used as a bio-warfare weapon?
Anyways, these are just my tops for the day and the ones I believe most people with dietary restrictions can relate to. For my fellow wholesome, plant-based eaters, I hope you found reading this article as cathartic as I found writing it.