I would like to make an appeal to food outlets on behalf of vegetarians.
As a veggie of many years' standing I have enjoyed numerous excellent meat-free meals in restaurants, cafes and takeaways.
But I have had a run of bad experiences in the last few weeks that has undermined my confidence in the food I am served.
On four separate occasions recently I have ordered dishes from the
vegetarian options in a restaurant, a café and two takeaways - and each
time I’ve found pieces of meat in my meals. This has included finding a
chicken bone, with meat still attached, floating in a bowl of vegetable
soup and a meatball in a vegetarian stir fry.
On each occasion I have raised this with the establishment concerned
and, with one exception (when they tried to imply I’d ‘planted’ the meat
– for what reason they didn’t make clear) the response was apologetic
and genuine. However, I certainly lost my appetite after my
‘discoveries’ and on each occasion didn’t complete my meal.
I’ve also been reluctant to return to these places because I now lack
confidence in their kitchen practices - if they can accidentally drop a
lump of meat in my veggie dish how do I know they are not cutting my
vegetarian sandwich with a knife just used to cut a meat sandwich, or
frying my egg in a pan that’s still swimming in bacon fat from a rasher
they’ve just cooked?
Read full letter here
