Vegan, Vegetarian, Macrobiotic-Oh, My!
Open-Source Everything
By Katja Morgenstern
People choose to practice diet lifestyles for a variety of reasons: health, environmental protection, animal rights, spiritual cleansing. With a quick Internet search, you can find countless testimonials and articles on the healing powers of eating a vegan, vegetarian or macrobiotic diet. Many of these article subscribers, testimonial writers and Web site readers are the same people who will be attending your conference. So how do you plan a menu that satisfies their needs?
The first step is determining your attendee food base, and the easiest way to do this is to ask your attendees. During the initial online registration process, include a question that asks about special meal requirements. Limit the options to only those you can provide. If you leave this an open field, you will get everything from gluten intolerance to berry allergies. When you are meal planning for an event, you cannot make each attendee happy; however, you can provide a broad spectrum of food options to make most attendees happy. Once you have your food base demographic, you are still faced with this question: How do you plan a menu that will appeal to vegan, vegetarian, omnivore and/or macrobiotic diets?
Many of the meeting planners I spoke with said they usually start with the executive chef for the program. Most chefs welcome the opportunity to come up with unique menu items that appeal to multiple palates. Collaborating with the chef to develop creative menu ideas can be rewarding for the planner and the chef. It gives the chef an opportunity to go "off script" and perhaps recommend some local or seasonal options.
It is helpful to know the subtle differences among vegan, vegetarian and macrobiotic diets. All three diets focus on a well-balanced meal with few to no animal products. The difference between a vegan and a vegetarian diet is simple: A vegan will not consume dairy products, eggs or foods that are cooked in animal byproducts. Vegan and macrobiotic diets are similar, but the macrobiotic diet allows the consumption of hormone-free poultry and fish. Veganism and vegetarianism are becoming more popular as the mental and health benefits of these diets are increasingly touted.
Bear in mind that most vegetarians will still drink milk and eat cheese, but when planning for a vegan diet, you must eliminate any type of traditional dairy and any food product that may have come from or been in contact with animal products, including eggs. You can use soy- or rice-based products such as soy or rice milk and soy-nut cheeses. You can also use tofu as a main course. When planning for multiple dietary restrictions, avoid all gelatin-based products. Gelatin is usually made with animal byproducts, and eliminating gelatin-based food from your menu will appeal to vegetarian, vegan, kosher and halal diets. While you cannot create a meal plan tailored to each attendee, you can provide a well-balanced menu that will appeal to many types of diets.
The easiest way to include vegan-, vegetarian- and macrobiotic-friendly items in your menu is to offer your meals in a station format, which allows people to pick and choose their food items. If you have salad stations, include soy-based salad dressings as well as vegetable additions such as chickpeas, fresh corn, seaweed, kale and mushrooms. If you have a soup station, include Miso soup or a squash-based soup as one of your options. When planning a full dinner or lunch buffet, include hearty vegetarian side dishes such as fresh whole grains, brown or wild rice, spinach, eggplant, root vegetables or buckwheat pasta. Portobello mushrooms can be roasted for a vegetarian main course option and can easily replace meat in many dishes. If you have breakfast stations, include oatmeal, a tofu scramble, vegetarian sausage and soy-based milks to appeal to both vegan and vegetarian diets. If you are playing host to a reception, include hummus, a Tex-Mex station offering bean burritos, olive tapenade or a fruit-based salsa and chips among your hors d'oeuvres. Be sure that the vegetarian options you provide are well-labeled and that the servers are familiar with the contents of each dish.
Planning a well-balanced menu for your attendees can be a challenge, but very rewarding if you succeed. One thing that we can all learn from attendees with specialized diets-balance. These specialized diets promote a healthy balance in what and how much we consume. If we are honest with ourselves, we could all use a little balance in our lives.
KATJA MORGENSTERN is a senior project manager for Meeting Consultants Inc. She is an active MPI Member, industry speaker, writer and industry veteran with 11 years experience spanning the supplier and planner side. She currently focuses on food and beverage and risk management within the industry and can be reached at kmorgenstern@meetingconsultants.com.