Omitted from the question in the article about eating at nonvegan restaurants, Jen asked about the trouble with food preparers who contaminate vegan products with nonvegan products. This is a problem in any restaurant that serves nonvegan items.

The best solution is to eat only at vegan restaurants, but that’s not always possible. Maybe you live in an area where there aren’t any vegan restaurants. Or maybe you don’t have access to transportation.

The second best solution is to prepare your own food. (Or maybe that’s actually the best solution, not second best.) This way you can make sure it’s vegan. But that’s not always fun, is it? And sometimes you’re traveling, at the mercy of omnivores, or you’re a terrible cook and you just can’t make your own food.

The third best solution is to be very clear and precise when ordering your food. Make sure your food server understands what you want and how you want it. Use the words they’ll be most familiar with and don’t assume they have specific knowledge about veganism. For example you can say something like this,

“I’m vegan so I don’t eat any animal products. This soup sounds good. Does it have any chicken or beef stock? How about butter or cream? Is it completely, 100% vegetarian? Thank you.”

If someone makes a mistake and you are served nonvegan food you can choose how to deal with it. You can send the food back and request another meal. You can scrape off (if possible) the portion that’s not vegan and eat the rest. Or you can simply leave the meal uneaten and not order a replacement. It’s up to you.

If you accidentally eat nonvegan items, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just try not to do it again. That might mean abstaining from eating at that restaurant or it might mean ordering your food more precisely next time, again it’s completely up to you.

There is no gold standard when it comes to “how to be a vegan.” There is no one, true way to be a vegan. All you can do is abstain from using animals as much as possible. It’s easy to refrain from eating meat. It’s pretty easy to refrain from eating other animal products. It’s easy to refrain from wearing animal skin and fur. It’s pretty easy to avoid many obvious animal products. But animal products are everywhere - in our car tires, in our home’s wall paint, in our mattresses, in the garden soil, etc.

Being a vegan in a nonvegan society necessarily means making compromises. In order to completely eliminate all animal usage from your life, you’d have to have control over your entire life. And well, we don’t have control over our entire lives. There are times when we’re ill and we’re in the hospital. There are times when we’re under the care of our parents, our children, or the state. There are times when our employers require us to do ethically problematic things. There are times when we can only afford this or that type of food, clothing, transportation, or shelter. Animal products are everywhere in our society. They are so prevalent that virtually any action will involve some animal use.

Everyone draws their lines somewhere. Everyone makes their own compromises and decisions. Some vegans live in comunes together and live off the grid in a way that’s virtually entirely vegan. They draw a line between pure vegan and impure vegan. Other vegans live in nonvegan societies and live in a way that’s as vegan as they can be. They draw a line between the obvious, prevalent veganism (food, clothing, entertainment) and the less obvious veganism (trace ingredients, by-products). It’s your choice. It’s your life. Be the vegan you want to be.

Sections: Vegan Food, Vegan Resources
Topics: eating out, how to, nonvegan, restaurants, veg, Vegan