Vegetarians

"That chilli-con-carne smells nice."
"You can have the chilli or the beef lasagna."
"...does the chilli have meat in it?"
"No, it's the vegetarian dish."
"Ugh, I'm not having any of that. Give me the lasagna."

This exchange took place at lunch time the other day. It's that sort of "avoid vegetarian food if you're not a vegetarian" thinking that really grinds my gears.

Why is it that many non-vegetarians (let's call them omnivarians for simplicity) refuse to eat vegetarian meals? Vegetarians are the ones with a limited choice, not omnivarians! If you're an omnivarian, it means that you still have a choice. You can eat meat or vegetarian meals. You don't have to be stuck with just meat.

Honestly, you don't suddenly turn into a vegetarian if you mistake a quorn burger for a beefburger. Vegetarian food is safe to eat. It doesn't even taste bad.

While I may have entertained vegetarianism at some point during my teenage years, I am now back to omnivarianism. But if a Linda McCartney pie is cheaper than a chicken-and-mushroom pie, I know which one I'm going to buy. Spoilers: not the expensive one.

I also don't understand this idea of meat being more "fun". Who thought of that? What is more fun about it?

In the long run, we may all end up being vegetarians anyway. The Earth's population is increasing rapidly; without a way to clone or vat-grow meat, we will run out of space to grow livestock. Animals take up a lot more room, and you have to grow food for them as well. In the end, it will be far more efficient and economical to grow fields of crops rather than keep animals.