If you think this is loony, you will love today's "Ask Amy" (not our Amy) column:

https://www.arcamax.com/healthandspirit/lifeadvice/askamy/s-2152487

Amy's (not our Amy) advice is awful. It is the type of advice which helps the self-entitled drama queens to proliferate.

My advice: tell the poor little waif you are having a party and are terribly sorry but you don't have the time to sterilize your home and also to call the other guests with her wishes.

If you have a dietary restriction, you are the one who must handle it, as Amy (our Amy this time) does.

Hm. The other Amy says that she hostess should tell her that she can not accommodate her (with different wording) then she proceeds to tell her that she should not only bring her own food, dishes, and eating utensils but should still remember to bring a dish to share!

How is this feeding the drama?

Umm... isn't this the very thing the Supreme Court ruled was unlawful in the "cake trial"?

You can't keep somebody from coming to your event, but the attendees cannot tell you what or how to perform.

Right?

So, who eats the cost when nobody eats the soybean wieners or cauliflower schnitzel? ~ Amy

This is what happens when you elect people who don't understand how markets work. If there were enough vegans going to these events, there would be vegan food served at them.

I worked for a large company that had frequent cookouts to celebrate new product launches. The company was very progressive and always made sure to have plenty of veggie-burgers at these things. When the food was served, you got to the grill as quickly as possible because the real meat burgers went fast and if you got there late, the only option you had was to go hungry because, no matter how much you season it, grilled cauliflower is not an entré.

At the end of these events, there were always lots of veggie burgers left to be thrown away. I always wondered why they didn't order more meat burgers and fewer veggie burgers. At least then someone would have eaten what the company paid for (the employees actually, in the form of raises and benefits they didn't get when that money was spent on uneaten veggie-burgers).

Speaking of seasoning food, I've always found that vegetarian food to be way over-spiced, as if a gallon of Tabasco will somehow overwhelm your taste buds and disguise the fact that you're eating fried cauliflower.

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If you think this is loony, you will love today's "Ask Amy" (not our Amy) column ~ Grandma Elizabeth at December 8, 2018 4:26 AM

I kinda liked Not-Our-Amy's advice: have Crazy Barbara reach out to everyone to let them know she's crazy, have Crazy Barbara bring her own food and utensils, leave your grill as is, and get on with your life.

That way, anyone who wants to sign on for a ride on Crazy Barbara's train is free to do so. Everyone else is free to ignore her and have a good time.

I had some gluten-free oatmeal once. I don't know what gluten is, but apparently it's delicious, 'cause that oatmeal wasn't.

Most people will try to accomodate those with special diets and needs, but some such demands are impossible to satisfy. The universe is totally unaware of your existence, and other humans only barely so. Don't push your luck imposing on people or you won't get invited anywhere. There are often foods at a party that I don't like and I just work around it, never say anything.
As to busybodies--the conceit is that a) anything that bothers them is a problem that b) they are authorized to solve and c) are capable of solving. The fact that markets have successfully brought ethnic, diet, diabetes, salt-free, gluten-free etc foods to the grocery store without any help from the gov simply escapes them and maybe even irritates them.

I'm friendly with a couple that owns nearly a dozed restaurants across the US. They're basically high-end grills with a good meat and seafood selection along with a few pasta and salad entrees.

The wife told me that they'd tried to offer vegan at one point but it proved too much of a problem. Because not only does the food need to be vegan, but all of the handling and preparation as well.

The vegans demanded that the kitchen utensils and equipment be reserved for vegan food and even the water used to wash things. On top of that, they tended to be very picky reviewers and would ding the restaurant because there was meat served - again, it's a grill.

So they quietly dropped the vegan stuff and didn't notice any difference in their business, except that they had fewer pissy vegans to deal with.

Quick pause for comedy - Conan be sure to watch this, enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AvVAPA0by4

Gluten free oatmeal is called rice porridge. At least if you are doing it right. And it's ok for what it is.

Conan be sure to watch this, enjoy. ~ gcmortal at December 8, 2018 10:10 AM

👍🏼

As a veg, I've had many an event meal of bread, butter and salad. It sucks... but it's fine.

I would say if you have pasta, a vegan dish should not be hard to whip up when the need arises... and you don't have to worry about the grill issue.

I mean seriously, add olive oil, some cooked veg, and garlic and there you have it. Just don't cook the veg in beef stock.

The cow was vegan, and I only eat vegan animals, so I'm just as good as a vegan - better, even, because I'm reducing the flatulent methane-producing cow population, whilst they are only eating harmless plants.

Did you read what was written NicoleK? It wasn't enough to do that. They had to have vegan only cooking utensils, pots, pans, and even sinks.

I can get that you are vegan and are not loony to that degree. But vegans have a reputation for a reason.

There exists am excellent demonstration of the effectiveness of free market, voluntary, private sector solutions to meeting the needs of those who, for some personal reason, are restricting what they eat - the Kosher food industry. No government standards (in fact, not even a single standard) no government inspections, no government regulations - just the enforcement of trademarks. Multiple private certifying organizations give consumers the ability to choose their desired standards and level of rigor. It's been working for over a century without any government involvement. Furthermore, the Kosher certification system has a better track record for safeguarding food safety than the USDA.

Similar organizations exist to help consumers buy Halal food.

Vegan, organic, gluten-free, non-GMO, free-range, cage-free, Kosher, Halal, they're all the same thing - some special way a group of people want their food produced. Why should any one of these groups get special government treatment? You'd think the vegans had a multi-millenial litany of persecution to hang over peoples' heads (oh wait, the people who want Kosher DO have that and they still don't use it to demand we underwrite their food preferences.)

Oh, and vegetables are not food; vegetables are what food eats.

"How is this feeding the drama?"

I see what you did there.