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The Tribulations a Couple Faces Not Eating From the Same Plate

© Jackie Hensler

Often I am asked whether my fiancé is a vegetarian. (No, he's not.) The next question inevitably points toward our eating habits. "So how do you eat meals together?" When people find out that my fiancé and I don't eat from the same food chain, they don't want to know what my reasons are for abstaining from meat. They want to know how we manage to sit down at the same table, yet eat completely different meals. Being questioned by disbelieving meat-eaters that just can't imagine how we get along in two seemingly very different lifestyles never fails to take me by surprise. Our food philosophy is so easy really.

Ok, so humans spend quite a bit of time occupied in discovering what and where they will eat their next meal. And recent reports calculate the average American dines out 3.6 times a week (Zagat Survey). Obviously food is a major contender in our every day activities and is typically present in many social occasions. Imagine what happens when you put two people together who don't eat from the same food chain. But there are some successful ways to navigate the journey of dating someone whose food values diverge from your own.

Compromise. Every couple goes through it, a vegetarian and meat-eating couple must compromise more. In my situation, we rarely eat the same type of food, yet manage every once in a while to eat a full vegetarian meal, less frequently than I could hope for mind you. But we compromise nonetheless to eat similar food items every full moon or so.

Then we continue to the decision-making process of who cooks first. This really isn't as difficult as one would think since one of us is less likely to take to the kitchen than the other. The real problem lies around the fact that we are never at the same place at the same time. One hot plate is swallowed down before the other hot plate can even be laid at the table.

Of course there is always the weekly grocery shopping. This is also not that difficult to handle, though I can't understand the difference of purchasing steak for pan-frying and steak meant to be cooked on the grill. But, dining out is where we usually expose our differences and preferences. I have discovered that steak houses really aren't that vegetarian-friendly, though I occasionally visit one for the sake of love. Salads can always be found at these places. But can anyone imagine how difficult it is to find vegetarian food when you are traveling on the road? The Burger King and McDonald chains just don't cater to vegetarians. And no, french fries are not an acceptable alternative.

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