Hug a Vegetarian Day

What the day is

Hug a Vegetarian Day is observed on September 25. The name is deliberately silly, and the underlying idea is straightforward: be decent to the vegetarians in your life, and if you cook for them, cook them something worth eating.

It lands during a broader run of vegetarian-themed dates in early October, which is when most of the organized campaigning happens. This one is domestic rather than political, aimed at households and workplaces rather than policy.

Origin and background

The origin of the observance is not documented, and no founder or sponsoring organization is reliably known. It appears to have circulated online before it appeared on any calendar.

Vegetarianism itself is old and has several separate roots, including religious practice in South Asia, philosophical arguments in classical Greece, and nineteenth-century reform movements in Britain and the United States, from which the word vegetarian in its modern sense comes. Motivations today are usually some mix of animal welfare, environmental concern, health and simple preference, and people arrive at the same diet from very different directions.

The practical landscape has changed enormously in a short time. Restaurant menus that once offered a single vegetable plate now carry several options, and supermarket ranges have expanded well beyond substitutes. That makes hosting easier than it was a decade ago.

How to take part

The hug is optional and should be offered rather than administered. The rest is hosting.

• Cook one good vegetarian dish rather than removing meat from an existing one. A plate with the chicken left off is not a meal.
• Ask before assuming the details. Some vegetarians eat fish, some eat eggs and dairy, some do not, and vegan is a different thing again.
• Watch the hidden ingredients when cooking for someone: stock, gelatin, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce and some cheeses all catch people out.
• Keep it low-key. Most vegetarians would rather eat quietly than be the topic of the meal.
• If you eat meat, try a vegetarian day yourself. It is a better gesture than the hug.