Who said vegetarianism was getting more acceptable?

Not good I imagine. :astonished:
But just as vegetarians don’t eat just veg. Meat-eaters don’t eat just meat either.
Some do unfortunately compensate with too many Carbs. But the fruit and other options are still important for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike.

We will have to agree to disagree but am grateful for your view.

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I used to eat red meat all the time when OH was alive. He would come home with huge slabs of the stuff.
Now as it is just me it’s a rare treat.
I often have chicken instead and love the versatility it offers with different sauces, flavours and accompaniments.
I don’t miss eating red meat at all, and on the rare occasion I do have it, it makes it all the more special.

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…well, they will DO veggie food, they are not aggressively anti veggie…they just don’t do it unless you’ve made a reservation.
So That sounds OK to me.
I thought “sans reservation” was a way of saying …“NO CHANCE! FORGET IT!!”, when I first read it!
If its in a right wing zone, maybe the inspiration is Le Pen, too, who insisted on sausages , sans reservation! for the school kids in her town, to show support for the pig farmers. (I could be wrong about some of the details!)
,

A big bowl of mixed nuts! That would make most veggies happy…and you can keep them in a tin for ages. Maybe a super big coconut with tools.
Walnuts, current favourite food.
They look expensive, shelled.
But who can eat a whole bagful!? The most filling, yummy food in the world.

You would have to make holes in the lid so they could breathe! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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:stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: I’m nodding off here. Sorry canned veggies… Fogies nap time!

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Hi, I’m new here but not new to France as I had the pleasure of teaching in Paris for several years and have returned on vacation pretty regularly since. We came back because when we got home we realized we’d seen a lot of Paris and other must see European sites on any Americans must see list (and visited old military haunts in Germany) but hadn’t actually seen that much of France. We’ve been busy putting that right.
Over the years we’ve seen a lot of the country and for the last couple of trips have discovered our little bit of paradise where the Lot, Dordogne and Coreze come together. We stay not far from Terrasson Lavilledieu and often eat at La Mandragore.
This thread just shows the danger of writing about a restaurant that you have never visited. We first went there because of its quaint position high in the old town overlooking the river. We’ve been back regularly because of the excellent cuisine. To say that the business should adapt to a changing market, that it has an old fashioned menu and is too heavy on red meats and fats shows a total lack of understanding. La M is a small restaurant with a small staff that has found its niche. They use a lot of traditional local produce but their chef cooks and presents them in a very individual way. The dishes are delicate, subtle and modern. They do cater for vegetarians but probably because the kitchen isn’t huge and their normal menu has a very limited choice (the decided that they couldn’t maintain the quality they offer if they extended their carte) they ask that any vegetarians book a table and discuss their requirements in advance. Is that too much to ask? To be honest to get a table on their panoramic terrace during the season would require you to book anyway.
I hope that members of this forum aren’t put off eating at La Mandragore because of the views of one person who has never been there or because an American raves about the place. We don’t just eat burgers and fries, honest. We even have friends who are veggies too.

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What a helpful answer. You have really give a feel for the kind of people who would enjoy eating there.

I think they could perhaps word their instructions to vegetarians positively not negatively tho’. As in “we welcome vegetarians who do x” rather than the negative “we reserve the right to refuse vegetarians” which I find gives a dreadful impression of the place.

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Surely it’s up to the restauranteur what he wants to put on his menu. If he goes out of business as a consequence that’s his worry. Just as I don’t go around preaching the benefits of eating meat , I don’t see why I have to accept being preached at about the benefits of being vegetarian . Not that there’s anything wrong with being either . It comes down to personal choice. Surely it’s up to each of us to decide what we wish to eat and not to try and impose our views on others . If a restauranteur wants to make it clear he doesn’t serve meat or meat based products that’s his choice . He’s in my view just making it abundantly clear that he doesn’t have a strictly vegetarian option on his menu. I agree with John Hall’s view that catering to vegetarians when all others are “omnivores” can be stressful . I certainly found it so when I went out with a vegetarian and the change to soy based products caused me a lot of discomfort. I discovered years later I’ve a thyroid problem and shouldn’t eat soy or soy based products . The restauranteur’s choice doesn’t make him “ old fashioned” as you imply , it’s just how he wishes to run his restaurant .
Just as cats are obligate carnivores my personal view is that humans evolved to be omnivores . A balanced diet seems to work well for most people and doesn’t involve complicated mealtimes for families and young children in particular and the elderly benefit most from a balanced diet . My parents lived to 90 & 93 . They ate small amounts but often and always had balanced healthy meals . My dad always had a small fillet steak (about 100g) and a sea bass fillet once a week plus a tot of whiskey most evenings . He and my mum sailed their 33’ boat all around the Med until well into their 70’s and only became frail in their late 80’s. A mixed diet clearly did them no harm.
My sister on the other hand was advised by her doctor to cut out all red meat. She was given a very specific diet to follow. In fact two diets . The upshot of following them was that she became so severely anaemic she had to be hospitalised and now has to have iron injections . Not proven to be the culprit and perhaps coincidence but red meat is the only source of haem iron. She had comprehensive tests which failed to find any physical cause for her severe anaemia. I’m not making the case for eating loads of meat just saying that cutting one element out of one person’s diet made her severely ill.

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Did I preach? I recall I said I was disappointed, which is somewhat different.

I don’t care if you want to eat red meat. But I merely find it depressing that so many people don’t recognise that the world needs to change, if only because of the cost of the health implications if not the planet.

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Jane, you wrote
. Sorry I think it was you creating your stress, not your vegetarian guest. You have bread, cheese, a packet of nuts and salad veg? Either that or actually talk to the veg person about what you plan to cook. OH has been a vege since a youngster and the happiest most comfortable meals with friends are where they don’t make massive efforts, but just make sure there’s stuff on the side he can eat if it’s a one-pot meal

I have read with continued interest the various comments and opinions and on balance would agree that you are not preaching but are pretty close. Why do veggies bang on about the virtues of their lifestyle choice when meat eaters generally just get on with life. Turning your scenario on its head of feeding the veggie at the table nuts, green salad etc then if I was to attend a dinner party when I was the only meat eater then would an exception be made and meat given just to me?
As for discussing with our veggie guest what is on the menu, of course we did but the simple fact of having to do that takes the shine off the meal as you are stressing with the fact of will they like it which is at the possible expense of all other diners.
I do agree that red meat is not good in large quantities but a nice steak takes some beating just once in a while. Our own meat consumption is now poulet and dinde but very little fish. Sadly school dinners in the 60’s has to take the blame for not eating fish as back then it was full of bones and the white slab of fish swimming is white green speckled sauce that the dinner ladies served up OMG pass me a bucket.

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When my vegetarian guests are coming I find it easier to just do all veggie, but not sure if I could do more than 3 days.
I agree we all need to eat less meat but a carrot is better than a stick when influencing people’s choices.

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[quote=“John_Hall, post:32, topic:27304”]
Sadly school dinners in the 60’s has to take the blame for not eating fish as back then it was full of bones and the white slab of fish swimming is white green speckled sauce that the dinner ladies served up OMG pass me a bucket.

[quote]

I went to school in Scotland and we had lovely fish and game and all sorts for school meals. And delicious kippers for breakfast :heart: I love fish.
Actually I love food.

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Firstly I did not accuse you personally of preaching vegetarianism . You seem to have jumped to that assumption by yourself . That said as someone else on here has also said , you came pretty close. Many certainly do preach vegetarian and veganism . I don’t go round telling people to eat meat but if I went to a vegetarian restaurant I’d be unlikely to get a meat dish. You are entitled to your viewpoint . That doesn’t mean I have to agree with it and trying to make people feel guilty by throwing in comments like vegetarianism being “for the good of the planet” are neither proven not helpful. If we were all going to care for our planet as we should be doing we’d walk everywhere naked and barefoot and live in caves . Any other mode of transport requires using the planet’s raw materials and manufacturing them into a vehicle - similarly the footwear & clothing you wear has to be manufactured and the raw materials houses are built from comes from somewhere on this planet. Extreme yes definitely but in my opinion so is asking everyone to adopt your way of eating.

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Do vegetarians bang on about their lifestyle choice or is just that sometimes it’s a topic of conversation…???

If I was your host and all my other guests were vegetarian then I’d be quite happy to cook you a steak or whatever you fancied…I might have to ask you into the kitchen to oversee that I didn’t cremate it…:slightly_smiling_face:

If I was invited to a meal then I would only mention that I don’t eat meat in order to prevent them from wasting money on an expensive steak for me that I wouldn’t be able to eat…I would eat whatever else was served up though and enjoy the atmosphere and the company and would feel dreadfully uncomfortable if I thought all eyes were on me wondering if I was enjoying the meal or not…

My son (my youngest) has never been vegetarian and will eat anything (except now maybe andouilette which was in a meal he ordered once when we went out for dinner…:grinning:)

When he’s here we cook all sorts of different things and if we’ve decided on a meat based meal then I just eat whatever it is but without the meat…

Likewise I’ve had one of my daughters here with her partner along with my son and all of us with different preferences…it’s just not a problem…

I remember going to an engagement celebration when I was younger…it was a set meal so I just quietly passed the meat over to my then partner and he gave me some of his chips…next minute the girl who had just got engaged was quite frantic about it and I ended up with everyone on the table giving me some of their chips and salad and battered shrimp and I couldn’t eat it all…:grinning:

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Some veggies I have met that ‘bang on’ about their lifestyle choice tend to voice a lot!

Agreed :falafel:

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For me personally Lily it’s the slaughter house process…intensive farming practices and the transport of live animals both locally and to overseas destinations that made me think twice…

In fact my first introduction to the abuse of animals in my very early teens was via the U.K. BUAV…it was my actively campaigning against vivisection that first made me question how I personally felt and where I might ultimately draw a line in the sand…

All these years later I still feel the same way about vivisection and my lifestyle choices now reflect that too…

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Actually John we do provide meat for non-veggie guests as we have several friends who are virtually 100% carnivore. I have no objection to doing so, especially as it means we can select quality meat raised with high welfare standards.

And I am actually a meat eater. But in the same way I try to avoid buying plastic, or turn lights off I’ve realised that it’s good to change my habits for the sake of the planet. So I eat meat very rarely now - and only properly raised meat so I wouldn’t particularly choose to eat meat it in a restaurant.

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I repeat - come to Brittany Jane! Not only is it full of creperies that always have vegetarian options, and is also of course famous for its fish and seafood - there are several restaurants around us that only serve locally-sourced organic meat - and there is a great all-vegetarian cafe/bookshop in the next village to us.
Brittany is, I know, a bit ‘alternative’ - which suits me fine - but is it really that different from the rest of France? I’ve visited most regions, but I guess always assumed its hard to find something that little bit different without local knowledge.
(I’m not a vegetarian either by the way - though I was once, still love vegetarian food, have always been into un-processed and organic food, and am trying to live an ever-more-environment-friendly life.)