No meat policy violates rights?
So, I know I’m avoiding a big pink elephant in the room by not blogging about the whole Voracious Vegan thing immediately, but I’m working my way up to it. I think.
I’ll try to weigh-in on that a little later today in amongst prepping the store, chasing after advertisers and contributors and other magazine stuff. For now, I bring you this lighter piece regarding veganism in the big world.
Vegetarian policy violated rights, former Matt & Nat worker says. (Vancouver Sun)
The anonymous former worker is upset about the workplace policy the vegan purse and belt maker has, and felt that it violated her rights to choose what she wanted to eat while at work. The company itself has had the policy since it started, and all employees are informed of it before being hired. Workers are free to eat where they want outside of the company, but when they are representing the company they are asked to eat meat-free meals.
But a former employee, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the CBC that she was forced to sneak meat into her purse and hide it in her car to get around the company’s strict no-meat policy.
Despite the meat-free potlucks the company offers, and the option to eat meat outside of the office on park benches, this former employee felt the need to eat meat wherever she wanted.
For me this brings up more questions about the economy and the availability of jobs than whether or not people should be allowed to eat what they want while at work. Personally, I do not have a problem with being told to avoid eating certain food while at work (consider peanut allergies, etc…) and if I took the job with that knowledge, I would try my best to follow it.
Am I a little too relaxed in accepting such policies? Has it been long enough for me to forget how hard it is to resist sneaking a smoked meat sandwich in my backpack instead of just walking down the street to get one? For that matter, wouldn’t it just be easier to work somewhere that you can leave globs of mayo on your TPS reports?
