A very vegan Christmas
Christmas day brings all of the family together, but everyone's different opinions can cause conflict. Check out our tips for surviving Christmas as a vegan.
With Christmas only around the corner, the vegan network is brimming with delectable recipes for the perfect vegan Christmas dinner. From the deliciously classic and wonderfully cliché nut roast, to dairy free cauli-cheese and of course the boozy Christmas pud.
Following a plant based diet brings about some social scenarios that can in some ways be challenging. Anybody that has chosen this lifestyle will generally have done so for ethical and moral reasons. This tends to mean that we take it very personally when people around us don’t try to understand and respect our choices, which we hold close to our hearts.
If you or any of your family are following a vegan lifestyle, keep in mind our tips for dealing with ethical conflict.
Show respect!
You must respect each others views, don’t make rude or sarcastic remarks about one another's choices. While you may not agree, don’t allow it to come between you, that’s not going to help anybody.
Encourage positive discussion
This being said, there’s nothing wrong with positive discussion. If questions arise, speak positively and without judgement. This allows everybody involved to understand each other's views better.
Remember your table manners
Cross Contamination: always keep in mind that the vegan at the table does not want the same spoon that touched your plate to be dipped back into that jar of cranberry sauce. Remembering simple table manners will alleviate this stress. So try not to lean over the table for example, and risk dropping things near to other people’s plates.
Be open to new things
Okay, a vegan is not going to taste the turkey dinner at the table, but preparing enough plant based yummies for everyone to have a taste is definitely worth while. How about making life easier and preparing some of the standard trimmings so that they’re suitable for vegans and non vegans alike. We promise that you won’t know the difference if you sub out some of the ingredients. Try a vegan stuffing for example (most of the dry shop bought mixes are anyway) and glaze those parsnips with agave syrup and leave the honey to the bees this year.
Check your booze!
If you or any of your guests are vegan, you’ll need to make sure that the wines, beers and spirits don’t contain any non vegan ingredients. Sainsbury's are fantastic at labelling their alcohol; Aldi and M&S publish a vegan list to include alcohol and the online directory ‘Barnivore’ is a really useful tool worth bookmarking.
Check out Ella’s 'Vegan Christmas Dinner Alternatives' post for more festive inspiration.
Peace, love & light - and Happy Christmas!
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