Lunches

I didn't know you had to be so good at logistics to be vegan.

I've been trying to be "mostly vegan" for a while and a commonly repeating problem is finding lunches that are vegan. If I find myself in town or anywhere away from home without some kind of packed lunch its damned near impossible to find lunch from a shop that is vegan.

In most cases its because most shops seem to think Vegetarian equals cheese. Which really doesn't help. You occasionally find things that are cheese-free but there seem to be a few solutions.

1) Always bring a packed lunch. This takes a lot of planning and you sometimes don't expect to be out. Plus it means you usually have to eat outside rather than buying food from a cafe.

2) Snack. Vegan snacks are usually easier to find than full meals.

3) Holland and Barret. The almighty temple of health-foodiness. Their "Veg Out" range of Soya based pastries are almost always vegan. (Except the Scotch Egg, go figure). They've got quite a decent range (in the Cheltenham branch anyway).

4) Investigate vegan lunches available. The best way I've discovered for this is the "Suitable for Vegans, UK" group on facebook. Its a group for sharing information on veganism and where people in the UK can share finds from UK retail outlets (supermarkets, health foods and so on). If you're in the UK and even just interested in vegan food I strongly recommend it. Creator Sue and the rest of the mods are very friendly and extremely helpful.

Anyway. How do you deal when you find yourself away from home without food. Do you have a vegan-friendly bolt hole? (like us and Holland and Barrett) or do you strictly and valiantly go without?