BRITISH AIRWAYS have confirmed they are investigating with their supplier after a film director condemned them after she was served up a “sad” vegetarian food fit only for “rabbits”.
Carolyn Saunders was offered chunks of plain tofu with rice and baby sweetcorn, a creation she described as “truly pathetic”.
Carolyn, who wrote and directed the award-winning 2017 movie The Wasting, was flying from Vancouver to Heathrow when she was confronted with the meal on September 30.
British Airways have confirmed they are investigating the food with their supplier and are in touch with Carolyn.
She uploaded the picture to Twitter last night (Sun) to make people aware of the issues vegetarians have on flights.
She wrote: “BritishAirways this is the sad vegetarian meal you saw fit to give me on a long YVR-LHR flight.
“Would you eat this? Would anyone?
“Plain tofu with plain rice and a baby corn cob from a tin?
“Why do you think vegetarians don’t like food? Please do better.”
She added: “It was vegetarian, Sept 30, the red eye. The flight attendant saved me by finding me another meal, but this was truly pathetic and happens to vegetarians so often.
“Please tell your caterers we are not rabbits. We like good hearty meals! And we like proper pudding, not just melon.”
Speaking today Carolyn said: “This problem isn’t restricted to BA. I’ve experienced it on every airline I’ve flown on. Usually they aren’t as helpful as the BA crew was in resolving the problem.”
She added: “I’m sick and tired of being treated like a rabbit with no appetite. What’s wrong with a good veg lasagne or a big bowl of veg chilli with beans and lentils or a nut loaf? Those are meals. A piece of plain tofu is not a meal, it’s a slap in the face.”
A customer service agent replied to Carolyn saying: “Oh, dear. That is a little sad, isn’t it, Carolyn? Had you requested a vegan meal or a vegetarian one? If you let me know the date you flew, I’ll make sure this is fed back to our Catering team (no pun intended).”
British Airways’ website describes a £15 vegetarian meal that is available on most long-haul flights and includes glazed goats cheese with marinated beetroot salad, polenta crespelle with mascarpone, wilted spinach, wild mushroom and truffle cream sauce, lemon meringue pie featuring homemade lemon curd for desert followed by Cheddar cheese and crackers to finish.
Last month British Airways apologised to a passenger after he slammed the airline for giving him a flatbread with his meal which looked like “rats had got to it.”
Marck Chalk from Bingley, West Yorkshire paid £850 for his flight from Mumbai to London for the meal and having to sit in a broken seat with the entertainment screen broken with the handle for the loo.
While the company apologised to another customer for serving them a meal that looked like “dog food”.
Erik Booker flew from Houston, Texas to London HEathrow with the airline in June ahead of his Mediterranean cruise.
He posted pictures of an unrecognisable meal which he said was “chicken and mash”.
A spokeswoman for British Airways said: “We are in touch with our customer and are investigating with our supplier.
“We pride ourselves on the quality of the meals we offer on board, and have heavily invested in our catering, in all cabins.
“Customers can pre-order from 14 special meals, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, kosher, low calorie, and low salt options.”
