food service workers - Discussion Encouraged!
Posted by carrot_wench on Sep 18, 2007 · Member since Feb 2007 · 2080 posts
Who here works/has worked in food service?
Any interesting stories/complaints/rants about the job?
More importantly, how does your lifestyle mesh/conflict with your job?
I worked for about 5 years at a Country Kitchen (family-style breakfast-all-day sort of restaurant), and am now in my fourth year working at one of the dining centers here on campus. With both jobs, I've had to prepare meaty items, as well as wash all their disgusting, bloody remnants in the dish room. While I would love a job that didn't involve all this grossness, I've stuck with it because of the decent pay and convenient location. I also don't feel that it makes me any less of a vegetarian for willingly participating in these jobs. Any thoughts on that?
I work at Starbucks and at my campus' cafe/dining commons.
Being a vegan at Starbucks doesn't bother me all that much, maybe it should bother me more... Customers ask recommendations on the pastries, and I'm usually pretty honest about not having eaten any =P and I like being helpful to people who are trying to get a soy frappuccino, or making soy cappuccinos correctly (some say it can't be done!). The milk is pretty gross, though. It burns and crusts onto the hot steam wands if you don't clean them immediately, and it is a little depressing to see how much milk we go through. But, I also get to see how many people get soy. And then, we started doing "breakfast sandwiches" and now the place smells like burnt cheese in the morning instead of coffee :P
But here at school, in the dining commons, is a little different. I'm serving up meat, arranging the roast beef, doing that kind of stuff, and for the most part what disturbs me is the grossness of it all. You have to wring out the "juice" from the roast beef before putting it out (it's not juice, it's blood), the redness in slices of beef, and the smell of cooking meat. Most of the time I'm in the cafe, but when I work in the kitchen it just makes time go by so slowly and painfully to be consumed with the thought that I'm handling animal flesh and how it looks and where it comes from =(. I guess I'm lucky that my qualifications as a barista got me placed in the cafe for most of the time!
And, I suppose I can always recommend the tofu when someone's indecisive =) and it makes me happy when someone just-so-happens to get a vegan meal or turns out to be vegetarian.
I work at Starbucks and at my campus' cafe/dining commons.
Being a vegan at Starbucks doesn't bother me all that much, maybe it should bother me more... Customers ask recommendations on the pastries, and I'm usually pretty honest about not having eaten any =P and I like being helpful to people who are trying to get a soy frappuccino, or making soy cappuccinos correctly (some say it can't be done!). The milk is pretty gross, though. It burns and crusts onto the hot steam wands if you don't clean them immediately, and it is a little depressing to see how much milk we go through. But, I also get to see how many people get soy. And then, we started doing "breakfast sandwiches" and now the place smells like burnt cheese in the morning instead of coffee :P
But here at school, in the dining commons, is a little different. I'm serving up meat, arranging the roast beef, doing that kind of stuff, and for the most part what disturbs me is the grossness of it all. You have to wring out the "juice" from the roast beef before putting it out (it's not juice, it's blood), the redness in slices of beef, and the smell of cooking meat. Most of the time I'm in the cafe, but when I work in the kitchen it just makes time go by so slowly and painfully to be consumed with the thought that I'm handling animal flesh and how it looks and where it comes from =(. I guess I'm lucky that my qualifications as a barista got me placed in the cafe for most of the time!
And, I suppose I can always recommend the tofu when someone's indecisive =) and it makes me happy when someone just-so-happens to get a vegan meal or turns out to be vegetarian.
Do you mean to tell me that Starbucks can make soy frappuchinos??!??!?!?!? Coffee frappuchino lights were my all time favorite most delicious special treat beverage. When I went vegan I realized I had no idea what they were made out of, so stopped getting them. I thought the mixture was pre-made. I would be forever in your debt if you told me otherwise!
I haven't eaten fastfood in about 4 years after reading Fast Food Nation, and I definitely cite that job as one of the worst I've had. But I really wish the United States as a whole would get off the whole fast food band wagon. Its so incredibly bad, on so many levels- health, economy, international reputation, farming practices, not to mention animal rights!
I honestly can't figure out how people are still consuming that stuff. It's along the same lines as someone who will buy a Hummer. Like...hell-O!!!
I work at Starbucks and at my campus' cafe/dining commons.
Being a vegan at Starbucks doesn't bother me all that much, maybe it should bother me more... Customers ask recommendations on the pastries, and I'm usually pretty honest about not having eaten any =P and I like being helpful to people who are trying to get a soy frappuccino, or making soy cappuccinos correctly (some say it can't be done!). The milk is pretty gross, though. It burns and crusts onto the hot steam wands if you don't clean them immediately, and it is a little depressing to see how much milk we go through. But, I also get to see how many people get soy. And then, we started doing "breakfast sandwiches" and now the place smells like burnt cheese in the morning instead of coffee :P
But here at school, in the dining commons, is a little different. I'm serving up meat, arranging the roast beef, doing that kind of stuff, and for the most part what disturbs me is the grossness of it all. You have to wring out the "juice" from the roast beef before putting it out (it's not juice, it's blood), the redness in slices of beef, and the smell of cooking meat. Most of the time I'm in the cafe, but when I work in the kitchen it just makes time go by so slowly and painfully to be consumed with the thought that I'm handling animal flesh and how it looks and where it comes from =(. I guess I'm lucky that my qualifications as a barista got me placed in the cafe for most of the time!
And, I suppose I can always recommend the tofu when someone's indecisive =) and it makes me happy when someone just-so-happens to get a vegan meal or turns out to be vegetarian.
Do you mean to tell me that Starbucks can make soy frappuchinos??!??!?!?!? Coffee frappuchino lights were my all time favorite most delicious special treat beverage. When I went vegan I realized I had no idea what they were made out of, so stopped getting them. I thought the mixture was pre-made. I would be forever in your debt if you told me otherwise!
Yes, sort of. If you ask the cashier/barista, they may act like you're crazy. The frappuccino base is pre-made, and very dairy, but all you need to do to replace it with soy is make an ice soy latte (without the ice added, yet) and then proceed as normal. I always made them if anyone asked, but apparently there's sort of maybe a suggestion out there not to make them because we want to promote our original frappuccino stuff. Since the base is thicker than regular milk, not all soy frappuccinos come out the same; most melt faster. Soy works really well as mocha frapp, java chip, strawberries n cream, blueberries n cream, and green tea (matcha). I haven't tried it with chai, but I did try a cinnamon dolce one (like the coffee frap), and it melted real fast and the texture wasn't the same... if you don't mind chocolate, i'd try a soy mocha one, and if you really like chocolate, i'd absolutely positively recommend the javachip. (the chips are vegan, but full of hydrogenated-ness...)
the not-vegan things at starbucks are...
frapp base
caramel sauce
white chocolate/white mocha sauce
pumpkin spice sauce (very depressed about that one)
and the chai tea concentrate (honey), but you can get a chai tea misto made from the tea bags (vegan), and it's basically the same thing but unsweetened.
agh, P.S.:
the regular frapp base is sweetened. a lot. if you make a soy frappuccino the way i said it will either be not sweet/less sweet. It'll need sugar/extra chocolate/something.
I mean, unless you like that sort of thing. I'm personally a fan of sucrose.
I was really fortunate to cook in a vegan restaurant for a while (they're closed now :'( ). Working there was amazing, but in order to make enough money I had to get another job at a little cafe/diner place that was not vegetarian. My boss there was really amazing though and never made me handle any of the raw fleshes. But she was also really funny. I worked at the cafe during the summer, and hamburgers were a regular on the menu. She has one on the grill, then pulls me over to ask me how to cook it! This wasn't meant as any sort of vegan slam; she just honestly didn't know when the burger would be done cooking. So we're standing at the grill, which is in plain sight of the customers, our backs forming a wall to block their sight, poking at the burger with a spatula really lost faces on. She says, "I don't know, it looks dead enough." and I nearly lost it laughing (I have a pretty good sense of humor about vegan/meat things). I just couldn't get over the absurdity of a clueless woman and a vegan trying to figure out how to cook a hamburger for someone. We just cooked the thing until is was even grosser looking than before, practically a hockey puck with clear juice. I was just amused by the whole scene.
agh, P.S.:
the regular frapp base is sweetened. a lot. if you make a soy frappuccino the way i said it will either be not sweet/less sweet. It'll need sugar/extra chocolate/something.
I mean, unless you like that sort of thing. I'm personally a fan of sucrose.
Aw man. That all sounds so complicated! Too bad I couldn't just go to YOUR Starbucks and have you make a perfect one for me. ;)
Yeah, it is. There's a reason why I didn't get around to creating it until I was actually a barista there :/ ... You could always just ask for a soy frap, and if they make they make it... and if they have no idea what you're talking about... uh...
Actually, I got some people who asked for a nonfat this-or-that ice latte thrown in the blender. You could just ask them to blend your soy latte, and see what happens!
Or you could visit Los Angeles when I happen to be home and happen to be working, and be like "hey, I'm from vegweb"... it could happen...
(too bad I don't wear a tag that says "faunablues" and i don't look like my cat)
I work at two jobs were food is involved. One is the nursing home where I am a caretaker but my job does include both preparing, planning and serving omni meals. When I am actually going to be SERVING the meal (not just preparing it for one of my coworkers to serve) I go with something ovo-lacto veg. I will however cook animal fleshes if I can just throw it in the crock pot for meals the next day (when I work third shift) I actually cannot remember what meat taste like- I have not eaten it since I was a kid. So I cook it with no inhibitions...I throw in everything...left over veggies, pasta, seasonings, fruit, whatever...I don't know what will taste good and we never have recipes or appropriate ingredients...so I improvise. The residents are constantly telling me that I'm a fabulous cook and its too bad I don't eat meat because that apple, cinnamon beef with broccoli was SOOOO good. They also tease me about putting vegetables in everything...
Resident A:"Zealia---carrots don't go in meat loaf!"
Resident B:"They do when Zealia makes it, shes a vegetarian. She puts vegetables in everything!"
But then next time I come I'm complimented on my creative and tasty recipe. And to tell you the truth, I hate that!! I don't want to be good at cooking meat. I find meat disgusting! In fact, there are some days when i am so grossed out by it that I have to tell the next shift that they will have to cook it cause I was gonna throw up. ::) I hate contributing to the consumption of an animal. But I comfort myself with eh fact that I'm nourishing people who have been eating meat for the past 80 years and are probally too old to change their diets. And I do give them lots of veggies ;)
My other job is at edible arrangements. So I work with fruit! There is some chocolate involved but I feel that is okay...I think I do more good by promoting eating fresh fruit than I do harm by dipping a small number of fruits in cow juice...
My biggest gripe about the job with edible arrangements is, its pretty much eh only place I ever break down and eat dairy! ::)....Sometimes I get so upset with my "cheating ways" I think the only thing I can do to stop it is to stop working there...
But as everyone pointed out: you gotta make money some how... :P
I must also ad that i would never get a job that had the primary purpose of serving non veggie foods (ie: my primary purpose at the nursing home is care-taking, not meal prep...and my primary work at edibles is with fruit not with chocolate.)But although I would not do it...I don't think it makes someone less veg... 8)
*bumpitty*
Hey everyone.....I wanted to bump this thread back up to open up discussion. It did not go well at first because the only opposing viewpoint was not expressing his/her opinion in any sort of constructive manner....
but having seen this issue brought up again in another thread, I'd like THIS to be the place for ANYONE to state their opinions regarding those who work in the food service industry and also claim a veg*n lifestyle.
I would first like to re-state my position...I work at one of the dining centers on my university's campus. At the moment, I do not have a car, and public transportation is practically non-existent here...So my options for employment are limited to whatever is within reasonable walking distance. As for the jobs that are available in this immediate area...there are NONE for which I am qualified that would offer the money/hours that I'd need to survive AND would be in NO WAY contributing to the amuse/exploitation of animals.
This is how I see it: Most jobs could somehow be connected to an industry that I oppose, the exception being any industry that directly has roots in veg*n causes.....If I worked at ANY job on campus, I would still be employed by people who ultimately support the meat industry. In fact, any student who eats at the dining center, even if he/she eats only vegan items, is "supporting" that establishment that also offers omni food. you see?
think about it.....
Do you shop at a grocery store that ONLY sells vegan items? If you order a vegetarian option at a restaurant, do they also offer non-veg dishes? Might the brands of clothing you buy ALSO manufacture clothing made with silk, fur, or leather?
DO you know that many companies are owned by much larger corporations, many of which seem to have no connection to that company?...When you buy Boca burgers, you're ultimately supporting Kraft/Philip Morris....the list goes on. what I'm saying is that this is an issue of how far we can possibly take our efforts. Just about everything we do could be somehow connected to something that we actually oppose.
Who owns what?
My paycheck is not solely based on the dining center's support of the meat industry. We also support many local farms, we offer vegetarian and vegan options regularly, and we even have a special dietary needs program that is catered to with the utmost care--I've been in the kitchen when they prepare So-and-so's gluten-free, vegan, low-sodium meal that has been pre-arranged, and they use separate electric skillets and utensils. We do a lot of good things, but we do a lot of bad things, too.
TRUST me, I don't really like washing the slime of dead chickens off of the dishes that I handle in the dishroom. I don't really like having to clean with the freaky chemicals that end up in our water supply. I don't really like the fact that the brownies I cut up and arrange on dessert trays are loaded with milk and butter pus and blood (though all our baked goods are made fresh in the bakery downstairs, which is kinda cool). But if someone could find me a job here that in NO WAY contributes to the suffering of animals or other humans, and also pays enough to cover my living expenses (I am completely independent, but I do live pretty cheaply), then by all means, tell me where to apply.
***
I really would like to encourage open and honest discussion here. This is a very important issue to me and many of you vegwebbers, and this is the appropriate thread to express how you feel. Go for it!
Edited by sharway to tidy up the long link
ha ha. i don't really remember what i said before. but i know i still stand by that. i do, though, find it harder and harder to tolerate even looking at meat... i have to completely disassociate myself from it -- huh, kind of like most people do when they EAT it? i don't know why i went through years that it didn't really bother me, but now it does... hmmm...
I don't work in the food service industry, and I'm not sure if the story I am about to relate is where you really intended this thread to go, but here goes . . . .
The employee cafeteria where I work is run by a large company that specializes in running cafeterias. It's a pretty big cafeteria with a lot of choices, and at one of the hot entree stations they usually have two or three entree choices with a couple of side veggies from which to choose. About two years ago they introduced a vegetarian meat substitute entree into the hot entree lineup they offered each day. One day they had vegan salisbury steak, and another chickn parm, etc. It was great and I was very excited.
HOWEVER, the food server at this station was a little old lady who had been there forever. I think the idea of these kinds of meat-substitute entrees must have violated her established principles of the universe, and she was clearly hostile to them. Whenever someone would come up an order one ("I'll have the cutlets") she would proceed to try to talk the customer out of it. "It's not real chicken you know. Did you know it's not real chicken?" And so on. She would stare the customer down and make no move to pick up the serving spoon to dish out the meat substitute entree. In the face of this kind of persistent resistance, most customers would then just select something else. I watched her do this a number of times and then, about a month later, the meatless entrees were discontinued. I tried writing a note to the food service management pleading for them to be resinstated, but my efforts were in vain.
Had the little old food service lady been the slightest bit encouraging, a lot of people might have tried a meatless entree whom otherwise would never had. And I think that even if she had just kept her opinions to herself, they might still be in the lineup. But no, and I'm sure the meatless entrees are permanently inscribed in her management's memory as a tried-but-failed experiment.
Carrot-Wench,
Geez, I don't know whether to speak up or not here. :-\ On the other thread, I was defending animal rights activists against two people who wrote that animal rights activists were not compassionate people. That prompted me to point out that one of those two offenders still eats dairy and supports the meat industry by doing so. The other offender works in a fast food restaurant and makes his money off of the meat industry. The only reason I pointed these things out was because I felt they had some nerve to talk so negatively about the compassion of activists. Had they not made the statements they had made, I would not have even brought up the issue of vegans working in non-veg restaurants.
I am not out to offend anyone.
Do you want my honest opinion? All details aside...I do know personally what I would do. Try so hard to find a job that aligned itself with my beliefs. If you feel that is what you are doing...than that is what is right FOR YOU.
Would I? Work in a non-veg place? Honestly? No. When I was a teenager and in my early 20's (while I was a vegetarian) I took numerous low-paying jobs, some of them for minimum wage or less (many of them shitty, but took them to make ends meet): serving frozen yogurt, selling toys, modeling for paintings, housecleaning, data entry work, receptionist, secretary, selling art, personal assistant, dog walker, pet sitting...
And about influencing people to eat vegan while working in a non-veg restaurant...there are many, many ways to influence people to become vegan...not sure if that is the best or most effective way.
I hope I haven't offended anyone!! I was asked to be honest, and I am trying to be in the most tactful way possible. I think you're fabulous Carrot-Wench, and I KNOW you are a great person!! My ideas come from a hardcore place, I know...and also an honest place. But a caring place as well. I once ate cheese, sour cream, etc. I even went through some years where I ate meat in my late 20's! So we all must answer to ourselves. And ask ourselves honestly if we are okay with our practices at the end of the day. If you are, and you feel that you are making a difference in your customers' lives, then that's what's good for you at this point in time. We all change with time and who knows how you will feel a month, six months, a year from now.... :)
By the way, I really admire the fact that you are posting this and encouraging an open discussion! That's awesome. I like that. And I like that you want and are willing to hear what we have to say--everyone. SEE! You prove my point that ANY subject can be discussed in a way where it can be open and honest, and ideas and thoughts (even opposing) can be exchanged in a way that may enlighten everyone. And I WAS enlightened by what you (and Little2ant on the other thread) had to say about working in a non-veg place. Everyone's situation is different. Thank you for reopening this thread and for sharing your side of things. :)
Peace
jkl...boy, that story pisses me off and makes me sad....it's kind of like how I've been talking to my managers about offering more vegan items at every meal, to give people like us on campus more variety of options--I've even offered to provide recpies that could be easily make in massive amounts, and I said I'd help in the kitchen when making the test batch. But they're not really taking me seriously, saying that we have enough veg items, that there wouldn't be enough of a demand for these additional options and it'd cost more... >:(
SB...Oh, babe, I completely understand. And you most certainly are welcome to speak your mind here, I want you to! Really, that's how I personally feel about it, too....this job is NOT right for me. :'( And really, I've looked! it's just that everything that's even possibly available to me is also NOT right for me in some way, so it's what I'm stuck with until I graduate next May. I'll finally have a degree, hopefully find a job in graphic design (some of which might still be "supporting" inhumane causes*), and have more freedom to choose what I really want...
..In fact, at that point, I will be moving to a different state, possibly to a different part of the country, and most likely in a more veg-friendly area. Pretty much the only thing keeping me from going beyond lacto-veg is the fact that I sometimes feel obligated to eat non-vegan food that's offered to me. I've said before, if I'm a guest at someone's home, and they say, "ohh, so-n-so told me you're vegetarian (usually "vegan" doesn't even translate here), so I made this cheese lasagna for you!" I gotta be grateful...how I was raised, I guess.....if that's the only thing available for me to eat, and someone was trying to be considerate of me, I can't turn that down. Not here.........So I think that once I'm away from all the non-veg people I know here, and in a more, uhm, "enlightened" area, I'll be more able to communicate my beliefs and have them clearly understood and respected. I'm just kind of limited to how much I can do right now...
I cannot wait to get out of this job...and in fact, there have been times that I've seriously considered quitting, but I'd be screwed otherwise. I'm going to tough it out as long as I have to.
*I've also wondered what's going to happen if I take a job with, say, a design firm that takes on clients from all kinds of areas of business...suppose I've got to create a magazine ad or a new logo or packaging design for some client that I absolutely hate (like Wal-Mart! Or Tyson!!!), but I can't opt out of it because I'm just a first-year peon...like I've said, LOTS of jobs could be considered somehow connectedto, or supportive of, some form of animal/human cruelty. So I'm just hoping that my beliefs will be respected wherever I end up.
I've just finished up classes to get a degree in Restaurant Management. My forte' is in developing/modifying recipes for "specialty diets" (read: non-omnivore) and educating people on the assorted diets, and implications thereof (IE it is NOT meatless if it has BEEF STOCK!!!). Growing up lacto-ovo, I had a difficult time when it came to cooking meat correctly in my cuisine classes (read: could not taste it w/o becoming violently ill), but I STILL managed to get "A's" in them!!! When it comes to feeding meat to others, I have the belief of if it is their will to eat meat, then let them have it. All I try to do is make sure it is the "healthiest" meat available. Carrot Wench, if you send me some of the recipes you recommended to the cafeteria, I could perhaps help in the costing of them, and maybe if you could show me one or two of the non-veg ones, we could do a comparison....Because often times, it doesn't cost more, and for things like "garbage soup" you just wind up using the scraps that would otherwise have been thrown out!! This post is apropos for me right now.... I'm taking over my church's New Years Eve Ball buffet, and am at a quandary as to what and how to cook the dead animal.... BUT the veggies at the church are MUCH happier now that I've stepped into the kitchen to help, AND thanks to you wonderful people when I made the traditional tasting tofurkey this Thanksgiving, I had many omnis tell me they liked it better than the real thing!!!
I'll be back on this one....but I may just copy and paste what I wrote in the other thread so that it will be in the appropriate thread. Thanks!
My boyfriend works in the deli department of a certain corporate HFS. They (of course) serve a lot of non-vegan food. They also serve a lot of vegan food, now that he's there to encourage them to do so. There really isn't a huge population of vegans where we live, but he's always there making sure that they have options. He has also had the opportunity to talk to countless customers about veganism. It comes up in almost every conversation because, when customers ask if a meat/dairy/egg dish is good, he tells them that he's never tried it and why.
exactly. that is the kind of influence i am talking about. at my job (in a hospital) i usually have about 30 pts. a day and if i am cashiering countless people come through the line. so many people ask me what is good and i tell them i have never tried it because i am vegan, and i can tell them the stuff i DO eat. In addition, we always have 2 entrees in the cafeteria and the cook will often make one of them vegan so that i can eat it (and that just saved TONS of meat) and i am able to make those that are 'vegetarian' (like i have said... california is weird) aware (meat stocks and gravies) or make those that are cooking for veggies aware of what they can and can not have.
overall, it is not my ideal working conditions, but it is kind of like anything else. if you hang out with your own little group you sure as hell aren't going to be coming in contact with a bunch of other people that you can influence for the better (whether passively or aggressively); whereas, if you go into groups that no nothing about veganism (or whatever else you may be promoting) you will have your message heard.
My boyfriend works in the deli department of a certain corporate HFS. They (of course) serve a lot of non-vegan food. They also serve a lot of vegan food, now that he's there to encourage them to do so. There really isn't a huge population of vegans where we live, but he's always there making sure that they have options. He has also had the opportunity to talk to countless customers about veganism. It comes up in almost every conversation because, when customers ask if a meat/dairy/egg dish is good, he tells them that he's never tried it and why.
exactly. that is the kind of influence i am talking about. at my job (in a hospital) i usually have about 30 pts. a day and if i am cashiering countless people come through the line. so many people ask me what is good and i tell them i have never tried it because i am vegan, and i can tell them the stuff i DO eat. In addition, we always have 2 entrees in the cafeteria and the cook will often make one of them vegan so that i can eat it (and that just saved TONS of meat) and i am able to make those that are 'vegetarian' (like i have said... california is weird) aware (meat stocks and gravies) or make those that are cooking for veggies aware of what they can and can not have.
overall, it is not my ideal working conditions, but it is kind of like anything else. if you hang out with your own little group you sure as hell aren't going to be coming in contact with a bunch of other people that you can influence for the better (whether passively or aggressively); whereas, if you go into groups that no nothing about veganism (or whatever else you may be promoting) you will have your message heard.
YES! I'm so glad this has been brought up. I really do feel that it's important to promote the vegan lifestyle in any non-pushy manner...allowing people to be informed when they might not have otherwise...and it certainly should include "infiltrating" the non-vegan avenues.
Like I said, I've tried encouraging my managers to try adding some more options to the menu...I'm still working on it. Perhaps just before I leave I can really give them a piece of my mind, like--Okay look! You people have got to realize that there are MANY more people who are interested in eating this way, and you're only limiting their choices, which is probably WHY you don't realize how many of us there are here! There will be more of a demand if enough people KNOW what alternatives are available!!...and so on.
And actually, I have been able to help out a few times in the kitchen in making sure "vegetarian" labeled items were actually prepared as such....
See, we have color-coded menus posted outside the door and at every single venue inside the dining center. Black = omni, Blue = vegetarian, and Purple = vegan. These menus are also online along with nutritional information for all of our menu items. There has been more than one occasion where I've been in the kitchen helping to prepare a veg/vegan-labeled dish, and I see something like bacon bits, chicken stock, or Worchestershire sauce on the ingredient list...I've had to tell them repeatedly to either change the labels, or omit/sub out these ingredients as they ARE made from dead animal flesh (no matter how far-removed or bastardized as they may be) and NOT vegetarian.
So I guess my time there has not been totally wasted.
Carrot-Wench,
And about influencing people to eat vegan while working in a non-veg restaurant...there are many, many ways to influence people to become vegan...not sure if that is the best or most effective way.
By the way, I really admire the fact that you are posting this and encouraging an open discussion! That's awesome. I like that. And I like that you want and are willing to hear what we have to say--everyone. SEE! You prove my point that ANY subject can be discussed in a way where it can be open and honest, and ideas and thoughts (even opposing) can be exchanged in a way that may enlighten everyone. And I WAS enlightened by what you (and Little2ant on the other thread) had to say about working in a non-veg place. Everyone's situation is different. Thank you for reopening this thread and for sharing your side of things. :)
Peace
Well, obviously my reasons for working in this non-veg environment are not so I can preach to people and influence to become vegan. I'm not some secret undercover worker trying to make a difference. It is something that has just happened and I was trying to point out the positive sides of working in this environment. Of course there are better ways to influence people, but I might as well make the most of it while I am stuck in this situation. Maybe I am becoming less of a pessimist than I used to be. :)
Ok, I take that back.
Is there really a BEST and MOST effective way? I don't think there is. There are MANY ways, and I think all of them are important.
I have also started a recycling program there-before I worked there they threw away ALL of their glass and plastic. Now we recycle most of it, at least when I am there. I used to take it home, but now people are actually storing it there for recycle day.
We can all make a difference, even in the littlest ways.
I am glad SB, that I enlightened you, even if just a little (and that you admited it! ;))
There was this once story that was pretty funny. One time someone in drivethru pressed the alarm button by accident. It wasn't me though.
And there was this cop who always came in for lunch. Another cop came in talked to him and the cop who always had lunch there came up to me and said,"Are you being robbed while I'm sitting here and eating?" ;D ;D
but he was a d**n Turk!!!!!!
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