Having taught in various schools and survived many of those tedious conversions in the staff room that seem to be endemic and revolve around non vegan topics e.g. cheese (a personal unfavourite) I thought I'd share my thoughts about how I think it's best to deal with these. My approach is to simply not really listen and paste a vague smile on my face from time to time. It's not that I try to pretend to be part of the conversation or that I'm not vegan (generally my colleagues will know I'm vegan; although they often 'forget' this) I just don't make a point of reminding everyone of my veganism. In a way maybe I should, but for me the the overriding aim is to survive in a school as well as possible and I think the best way of doing this is to just put up with the regular discussions of things I have no interest in/object to. Certainly over the years this had enabled me to merge fairly nicely into the background and as such not to get 'picked on'/isolated due to my beliefs, which could then lead to an assumption that there might be an issue with my general performance and therefore additional and unwelcome scrutiny in this area. Which is why I would advocate my 'grin and bear it' approach. Not that I ever try to hide the fact I'm vegan (I'm always clear on this point when necessary e.g. staff meals and in answer to questions), its just that I don't advertise it either. Of course these days with veganism being much more in the public eye (wonderful!) and thus generally being seen as less of a 'way out' life choice then it's probably easier to be more vocal about the veganism without being considered such an outcast. However, I'm more comfortable with my 'grin and bear it' approach, which has stood me in good stead, and this is what I will continue to do next time that tedious non vegan conversation takes place.........

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