h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Whenever I attend a large conference where lunch or dinner will be served, I always pick the vegetarian meal even though I am not a vegetarian.

Preparing a meal for hundreds of people is always difficult with kosher requirements dropping pork from the list of options the meal will either be grim beef (unlikely) or usually a hunk of chicken. The problem is that hundreds of meals will be prepared to be served at one time, resulting in a lot of time from preparation to service either under a hot lamp or in some other sort of warming device which heats the plate nearly as much as the food.

The kitchen staff (bless them) will prepare hundreds upon hundreds of chicken dishes for the meat-eating masses, but only a few special veggie dishes. The result?

The chicken sits on the plate and becomes cold, rubbery and disgusting while the vegetarian meal comes out fresh and piping hot.

Which would *you* rather eat?

I'll often do the same, but more because I won't eat chicken or pork that aren't free range. Beef and lamb are more likely to be more or less free range but pigs and hens are kept in atrocious conditions. I may no longer be veggie but I still think the animals we eat should be kept (and killed) humanely.