Vegetarian Etiquette: How Not to Be a Rude Vegetarian

Being a new vegetarian can sometimes cause some people to be overzealous with their new way of eating. While being overly excited with their new knowledge, it can come across as being rude without even knowing it. This is about being excited without being rude, vegetarian etiquette.

This is mainly for new vegetarians but some long-time vegetarians sometimes forget their etiquette. As a new vegetarian, you are excited about everything you learned. Every new book you read about health and changing your diet seemed to address and answer all of your health questions about why you might feel so bad every day.

It is exciting to actually read stories about others who have the same health problems you do and exciting to read that simply changing your diet can help you feel better. When you change your diet and actually feel better you want to tell everyone around you. At first, that is fine. But if you’re not careful it can turn into preaching.

How Not to Be a Rude Vegan or Vegetarian

You might get invited to a dinner or party and as a vegetarian, you might be concerned if there will be anything you can eat. Many times a host of a dinner or party will wonder if anyone invited is a vegetarian.

If asked, don’t be bashful about saying yes you are, and then leave it at that. That is not an opening for you to preach about the values of a vegetarian diet.

The worst thing you can do is to push your newfound knowledge on others just because they enjoy eating meat. If you’re invited to lunch and your friend is eating a hamburger, it is very rude to sit there and tell your friend all about the history of that hamburger and feedlot conditions.

It will not only be rude but also sound disgusting. You could very well lose a friend because of that; at the least, your friend won’t be inviting you to lunch again.

Once you start eating this new way and you really do start feeling better than you thought possible, you will want to tell everyone. I have found it best not to say anything unless asked. I had a friend who was always complaining of a stomachache.

He ate the typical American diet. I mentioned it could be what he ate that caused his pain and left it at that. If he wanted my opinion further, he would have asked me. Let others ask and if they are really interested in the reasons you changed your diet, explain it to them.

Everyone is different. Some people are very healthy eating a meat-based diet and you need to be careful whom you talk down to just because they eat meat.

Some people take it as a cut-down or put down when you make it sound as if they are less of a person than you are because they eat meat or a lot of junk foods. This could cause you to actually lose friends.

Continue learning about health and healing through diet without forcing it on others. If someone asks you for your help or opinions, you will be ready. It is much more calming to not concern yourself with other people's diet unless they are a family member or a loved one whose health you worry about.

You can discuss and even debate with someone who is interested, but try not to preach to someone who is happy with how he or she feels and their way of eating.

 

If you feel that a friend or loved one is interested in your diet but might feel wrong in asking or someone you really feel could benefit from a change in diet, think about giving them a book on the subject.

That way they can read it in their own time. A good author on the subject is Dr. John McDougall. The first book I read on the subject of diet and health and becoming a vegetarian was 12 Days to Dynamic Health. 

 

One of Dr. McDougall's newer books, The Starch Solution, is really changing the way people think about the food they eat and teaching them a much healthier way to eat.

Just make sure you set a good example as a vegetarian or someone that eats a whole food plant-based diet. Eating vegan junk food is just as bad or in some cases even worse than the standard American Diet.

You can start your own blog and write all about your new vegetarian diet and why you changed and how it makes you feel.

A blog is a perfect place to teach if you want to tell the world. Sitting across the table at lunch or dinner with someone is usually not the right place. It is easy to get carried away, so always remember your vegetarian etiquette.
 

About the Author

Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Forum Health Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

© 2009-2018 Sam Montana