The "V" Word

1. I can never figure out whether or not it's a good idea to use the word "vegetarian" on my signs. It does describe the food I sell, but it's also a loaded word, one that as the potential to turn off some folks who might be viscerally drawn to the food when they just see it cooking.

The people I'm most interested in feeding are eaters like myself, who are open to choosing vegetarian options even though we're not exclusively vegetarian. The strict vegetarians are going to eat vegetarian food regardless of what I offer, and the hard core carnivores will always order a meal with meat over my food. But with the folks in the middle I actually have the opportunity to lessen the amount of meat that's eaten in the world, by offering something that many of them choose over meat-based alternatives.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to communicate this with a sign. Signs need to be clear and concise, because we're all so overstimulated that we're better able to take in simple ideas than complex ones. I use the sign in the picture sometimes, but it often confuses people. It even confuses vegetarians. At the Vegfest one guy asked me if "Vegetarian food for omnivores" was different from vegetarian food for vegetarians. I guess he just wanted to make sure that I wasn't putting anything over on him.