Vegetarians

[John Saunders]

With the current chat about global warming and the need to reduce meat eating, I thought some might enjoy the following.
I joined CH in September 1948 carrying my ration book.Some weeks after start of term I was called out in front of the school at lunchtime to meet The Lady Superintendent Miss Stevenson or HS as she was affectionately known!
My ration book was stamped VEGETARIAN.
"We do not have vegetarians here" she muttered in her impenetrable brogue.Or words to that effect! I hated meat and if you decided to take the veggie label nationally one was supplied with extra cheese instead.
Some of my comrades heard this and from then I was not served with sausages and the mickey was taken continually. I still dislike most meat but enjoy bacon for breakfast. The persecution finished by the end of the year.

[sejintenej]

Not always easy and in a closed environment like CH anything is an excuse for pointing the finger. I see that now most places do have a vegetarian option but that seems relatively recent.

Last Christmas my granddaughter arrived (thankfully very early) and announced that she was vegan! Luckily I had time to do a Vegetable Wellington.

[LongGone]

“I still dislike most meat but enjoy bacon for breakfast.” Ahhh, bacon: the gateway drug for vegans and vegetarians.

[scrub]

They had separate tables at lunch for vegos while I was there. Maybe one or two tables, not that many IIRC certainly not enough to separate kids by house so they were a mix.
Was tempted to join as some swore it tasted better than the main meals. Something about cooking in smaller batches meant they took a little more care, or so I remember it being said.

[Katharine]

Don't think such ideas would have been tolerated at Hertford in my day! Seriously I can't remember it happening but who knows whether there were any in other houses!

[J.R.]

I certainly don't remember any alternatives for veggies at Horsham 1958 to 1963.

One meal. No Choice. Eat it or starve.

[DazedandConfused]

I was not veggie but declared myself one around my LE so that I could obtain a ‘veggie card’ (complete with passport photo) which had to be shown before being served a veggie meal. I sussed that the kitchen was only cooking around 50 veggie meals vs.the mass produced meat meals, therefore the veggie option was always going to be nicer.

[Elvie]

Day 1, 1988, a fellow secondformer says to the master on duty in dining hall "Sir, I'm Vegetarian"

master replies "OK, well, don't eat the meat"

I think it gradually improved from then on

[seajayuu]

I think vegetarianism is really common and well catered for at CH now.

[postwarblue]

And I think it's stupid.

[michael scuffil]

Day 1, 1988, a fellow secondformer says to the master on duty in dining hall "Sir, I'm Vegetarian"

master replies "OK, well, don't eat the meat"

I think it gradually improved from then on

That, incidentally, was basically what Hitler's cook said to Hitler. There is plenty of evidence that no vegetarian meals were prepared for him as such.

[michael scuffil]

Two thoughts for vegetarians:

1. If you are vegetarian but not vegan, what should be done with male animals?

2. If you are vegan, what is your motive, bearing in mind that growing vegetable foodstuffs results in far more animal deaths than livestock farming? (Mainly insects and slugs, but also pigeons, rooks, rabbits, rats... )?

[wurzel]

My Mate Time "Veggie" was strictly vegetarian throughout our time at CH in the 80's and there was for the first 5 years no provision other than the fact Dr Hoskyns prescribed him Cheddar & Apples to be administered by Matron he just didnt eat the meat part of meals. Remember this is also the days when 99.9% of all biscuits contained animal fat so until he reached the UF and could go and get Sainsbury's all butter shortbreads he didn't even have house biscuits to fall back on. In our Deps I think they experimented with a single veggie table in dining room, this was about the time that outside caterers cam ein (and failed horribly in their first year as i believe/heard they burned through 90% of their budget in half a year as their " Brake Bros tray meals" served 10 but the tables sat 14 so after a couple of terms and a bit of 2 trays per table per meal we all got reduced to 1 tray and near riots ensued.