She felt strange about her date ghosting her for being vegetarian. His late reply about 'my kids' proved she'd dodged a bullet
'My kids won't be grown from a vegetarian mom,' he said
Dating is already difficult, but it becomes even more challenging when potential matches reject someone only because of dietary preferences. A 25-year-old woman who goes by u/rustywindpipe on Reddit shared screenshots of her conversation with a man who rejected her almost immediately after she mentioned she's vegetarian. To her surprise, the man even justified his preference as a nonnegotiable expectation from the mother of his kids. The post was shared on July 20, 2026 and it has received 12,000 upvotes online.
Left on 'read' for liking veggies
The author shared that she met the man on a dating app and felt an instant chemistry. She was really excited to meet him because he was also from the same profession as hers. The couple had agreed to meet on a Saturday and were deciding on the location. When the author suggested Long Beach, her date responded with, "Long Beach ghetto." She tried to brush it off, saying, "Anything sounds good, though I am vegetarian." Instead of replying, he reacted to her message with a shocked emoji and left her on read.
His bizarre excuse
A few hours later, the woman asked, "So, is that a no?" The man took a few hours to respond but confessed, "I'm afraid so, yes. My kids won't be grown from a vegetarian mom." The author admitted his reply threw her off because she did not plan to impose her dietary restrictions on someone else, but at the same time she understood his stance. "The way he phrased his reasoning was really weird though," she wrote in the caption. But what the woman regretted the most was her response to his reply. She said, "I wasn't going to be vegetarian forever. I don't think, but to each their own, I suppose."
Recipe for compatibility
The incident might shock many, but it turns out many people tend to choose partners based on their food preferences. In fact, a study (by John B Nezlek, Marzena Cypryanska, and Catherine A Forestell) found that vegetarians were more likely to have friends and romantic partners who share the same diet. It also revealed that vegetarians were 12 times more likely to date someone who was also a vegetarian, compared to people who eat meat. Similarly, another poll conducted by Redefine Meat (as cited on Vegconomist) found that 20% of British people consider an incompatible diet as a relationship dealbreaker. For vegans, the number goes up to 47%. Additionally, 56% of women reported being turned off when their partner made fun of or ignored their dietary choices.
'He's weird'
Meanwhile, people in the comment section found the man's response weird as well, but they focused more on how she responded after. They advised her not to change who she was for a man. u/GlumTowel7474 commented, "Never justify yourself or try to adjust your behavior to appease them." u/AndrewClemmens added, "'Long Beach ghetto' would be the instant unmatch for me. Yikes. There's great food there too."
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