Fast Food: The challenges of eating out when meat is not on the menu

Given what I have learned, in my relatively short lifetime, about monoglycerides, gelatin, and natural flavors, to name a few, it is unbelievably difficult to eat out. Of course, it is cheaper, in the long run, to just go to the grocery store and buy food and then eat it over the span of a week or so. Twenty bucks at the supermarket goes a lot farther than twenty bucks at Burger King or McDonald's. However, occasionally, there are times when I just don't feel like foraging through my fridge or boiling water to make pasta or rice. Sometimes I just want something quick that I don't have to make or clean up after.

If monoglycerides did not exist then at least I would be able to eat sandwich buns or tortilla shells, and just put vegetables on or in them, and then I would be fine. I would at least be able to order a hamburger or cheeseburger without the meat. Unfortunately, monoglycerides do exist, and so that is not even a possibility. And as far as dessert goes? Guess again.

Natural beef flavor in one fast food's french fries also makes those tasty sticks of potato out of the question as well. America's favorite fry is off limits, and that makes me feel like I've been excommunicated from being American, at least sometimes.

The gelatin in yogurt also puts Parfaits off the menu as well. However, Fruit and Walnut Salads somehow ended up with gelatin-free yogurt. At McDonald's, at least in my opinion, the two different yogurts taste the same. Why one ended up animal-free is a mystery, and I really wish that it was the other way around, if gelatin was present at all, because in my opinion, the fruit in the Parfaits is a higher quality. Yes, it comes frozen, but at the same time, it seems like more often than not I end up with apples that are fridge-burned, or grapes that are mushy, and I'm not a big fan of the candied walnuts. I'd take the granola any day.

The conclusion that I have to stand by is that the vegetarians who get meat-less Big Macs or Whoppers need to stop doing so. The people who are unaware of the unconventional added flavor to their french fries need to become enlightened and then put their foot down. And, while these big fast food chains are spending their time trying to come up with healthier alternatives for the health-conscious patrons who refuse to buy fatty sandwiches, they also need to start better catering to those of us who know what monoglycerides are, and will not stand to eat them. I know I would like to have more choices other than salads with Balsalmic Vinagriette or Italian dressings and Fruit and Walnut Salads.

I think that these chains need to take a lesson from establishments such as Kentucky Fried Chicken or Tim Hortens. Both of these establishments offer things that are most definitely veggie-friendly, and they offer an abundance of those things. In addition to a side salad, KFC also offers macaroni and cheese, corn, green beans, and if it is a KFC/Taco-Bell combo store, then there are also taco salads (asked for without the meat), and nachos with cheese. Tim Hortens offers a vegetable soup that is vegetarian friendly, and they also offer various muffins and donuts that do not have any animal additives in them. I cannot say much for places such as Dunkin' Donuts which is loath to list their ingredients on their website.

I have found that the best restaurants actually do list their ingredients on their websites. It offers an opportunity for those who want to be conscious of what goes into their bodies to look up what is in these foods. It eliminates any guess-work on the consumer's part, and any deception on the part of the company in question.

I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO HUNT DOWN THIS KIND OF INFORMATION. It should be available without having to request it, or emailing companies who only vaguely answer the questions you ask them in the first place.
Some sites offer nutritional values without the ingredients. That may be helpful for those who count their calorie/carb/fat intakes; however, that is not why I am a vegetarian. I do not by any means need to lose weight, and I do not need to feel railroaded every time I encounter a company's website that does not openly provide the information that I need; obviously people have asked for this information before (because for even one company to list ingredients, there would have to be at least one other person in this world asking the same questions that I do). The number of consumer-interest books that are online, or at the library, also attest to this common interest. Therefore, every food company should provide this information. It is not Easter year round, and I don't need to go on a scavenger hunt every time I turn on my computer to figure out if I can still eat this food or that food. It should be right on the wall of every restaurant: Vegetarian-Friendly/Vegan dishes, and then list them, just like they list information about food allergies. While I won't die if I accidentally eat meat, I will get sick because my body is no longer used to digesting it. I have not had to deal too much with this experience, but I imagine it could possibly be similar to getting food poisoning. Food poisoning is a public health issue. Therefore, identifying vegetarian foods should also be a public health issue! Is it really so much to ask? People with peanut allergies do not have to guess as to whether or not the product they are considering buying may possibly contain cross-contaminated peanuts. Vegetarians should not have to guess as to whether the products that they buy contain some sort of animal. By being forced to guess, if anything, vegetarians are being discriminated against by food companies: both fast food or otherwise.

Can we please stop the food discrimination both in fast food, sit-down restaurants, and grocery stores?