When you order a vegan meal do you expect to be served, bread & butter, brownies, cakes, scones with cream, egg and cheese sandwiches?
Do the plane companies know what vegan means?
I am not a strict vegan and only state vegan because of my intolerances to egg & dairy - although I do want to state that I do follow a vegetarian diet and have done since I was five. That aside I don't think strict vegan's would appreciate being faced with these dishes.
Luckily I was able to stock up on Marks and Spencer's and security luckily allowed me to take food through security as long as it was packaged and not containing too much liquid. This isn't the norm though, some airports can be funny about taking food through security and recommend you buy on the other side. There were not many food outlets on the 'other side' that could cater for my allergies so this was the best option for me.
If it hadn't of being for Marks and Spencer's I wouldn't have been able to eat anything on the flight. As pretzels as the main snack and biscuits I can't have due to my intolerances.
Companies stay clear of nuts due to the high level of nut allergies amoung our society and how severe some people's reactions are to nuts.
I know I won't die from my intolerances, however does it mean that I have to spend extra money buying food on top of what I have paid for an inflight meal? Is it right that you have to choose a catergory 'vegan, gluten free, vegetarian, lactose free.' You can't state that you have a number of requirements and they say they are unable to cater for a number of these catergories for one person, you simply have to decide and pick which one may contain something you can possibly eat. When you explain you can't eat the meal is there anything they can offer you, you are simply offered fruit and all I received on the leg home was a jacket potato - one potato that despite saying I couldn't have oil had been caked in oil to decrease cooking time (instead of butter) and microwaved . So I had to eat what I could and eat everyone's small salads. It simply isn't enough. Over a 10 hour flight to simply have eaten a bit of a potato, a large salads worth and 2 small bowls of fruit.
More needs to be done.
Companies who cater for airlines need to know what 'gluten free', 'vegan' and 'dairy free' etc actually mean! They can't be serving beans or pasta to someone who is sensitive to gluten. Do they want to deal with people being ill on their flight. They are quick to notify people about nuts if they think someone may die from a nut reaction. Gluten and dairy etc may not cause people to instantly drop down dead but they should and deserve to be taken just as seriously.
There should be more on-board snacks; nut & seed bars like Nak'd, dried fruit like raisins, wheat free crisps, fruit loops, dairy free chocolates - there is a growing allergy-free market where products are easily accessible there is no excuse.
I also suggest that that airlines begin stocking more fresh products they can prepare without any fancy cooking. Whether this is potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice you can add boiling water too and microwave. It isn't the ideal way to cook and prepare food but if it allows all passengers to be able to get something worthwhile to eat then it is worth it.
Again the simplest food seem to be the hardest and most complicated for companies to stock, cook, prepare and serve you.
How is this?
I am sure 20 years ago you weren't served with salads caked in oils, rice caked in oil topped with sauce and meats marinated for days and re-heated. I am sure you were more likely to be served meat with barely any sauces or topping, potatoes simply boiled with butter on the side if you so wished to add it.
We have become such an artificial culture and are used to such high processed, artificial foods that companies use more and more to meet our new found tastes and they are enjoying our downfalls because it means food can be preserved for longer and they can make cheaper versions of dishes.
It was shown recently that a man had kept a McDonald's Big Mac for 20 years and guess what!? It hadn't changed ONE bit. It looked exactly the same, no rotting - nothing. Which shows and proves how highly processed our food is. That was 20 years ago too, imagine if he kept on from today's McDonald's menu.
There chips alone contain 19 ingredients- now it doesn't take a genius to know all you need to make chips are potato, a little oil and some seasoning so where and what are the other 16 ingredients that McDonald's are using.
Our food is more chemicals and toxins than the actual food product itself.
Companies, restaurants and food outlets don't stock fresh products because they cost more than junk. This is portrayed in the Cuban diet we were faced with, they eat the fattiest parts of meat, the cheapest quality of rice, lowest nutritional sweet potatoes, low quality veg, sugary snacks because they are cheap! But do they do our health any good - no.
Why is everything based on money these days. Companies are SO wrapped up in making as much money as possible that their focus is no longer the customer or customer satisfaction. This focus needs to be re-directed to the customer and people in general need to be more concerned about their health to kick company's asses into gear and force them to change their ways.
What do you eat on the plane?
Where do you source your food?
Have you had a good or bad experience on a plan journey?
Let me know!!
Enjoy the first Cuban video of us getting on the plane at Gatwick and beginning our Cuban adventure.
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Thank you for reading & watching.
Lots of love.
Love and peace xoxo
S