Navigating Dietary Preferences in Dating: Must-Haves and Can’t-Stands.

It’s only a few years ago when one of my friends would be using an online dating agency and, as the usual interfering buddy I am, I willingly offered assistance on the creation of her profile. There were so many great questions and prompts, yet for me it has been about “should haves” and “hates”.

And for those who are not familiar with such lists, in short, it means your “will not have” list consists of your essentials that every person you will consider dating must have, and hence, for me, I would include characteristics such as dog lover, physically active, enjoys travelling.

Surveying Dating Preferences: The Veganism Factor

In recent times, Food Box HQ asked opinions about dating a vegetarian from approximately 2500 single people in America and it was found that over quarter of that 31% indicated they will not go out with a vegetarian. The link is at the bottom of this document whereby you would be able to see the breakdowns per state in their interactive map.

Generally speaking, they found males and their elders to be disturbed at the prospect of dating a veggie rather than females and millennials. What was even more interesting is that almost 85% of the vegans also noted that they would date a person who feeds on meat.

Now I understand where the left-swipers are from; this is because sharing something you love with someone dear is one of the best things about being together, coupled with restaurants which could be expensive sometimes if you’re eating for two.

However, as a pescatarian who has lived with a carnivore for almost 14 years, I would advise them against making this into a make or break or deal breaker condition. Yes indeed, we eat different meals, although he likes many of my vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes; however, we prepare recipes with similar ingredients, which means we cook together. We also eat at separate times but share companionship over dinner sometimes. Life as we know it today wouldn’t have existed if any of us had thought the others eating behaviors were too much for them in the year 2000.