My ex was
[1] a vegan when we were together, so though I'm a card-carrying carnivore, I have a reasonable understanding of the issues involved.
If I were to become vegetarian, I would also become a vegan. It strikes me the dairy and egg producers are involved in more wanton animal death than those that produce meat from animals that have grown outdoors to near maturity.
Agreed. However, since I have such a hard time finding food that I'm willing and able to eat, that simply isn't an option. I'm at least as awkward to feed as a vegan, but lack the respect that comes with an easy label or associated moral high ground.
I routinely avoid social situations that involve food, so as not to cause offence. It sucks, and as such I make a point to respect anyone else's dietary requirements so as not to inflict that sort of thing on others. It does mean there has to be a dialogue though, if only about how food manufacturers that put whey powder in everything are in league with Stan.
If a vegan friend popped in to your home, would providing sustenance be a (big) problem?
Probably not significantly worse than a meat-eater appearing unannounced. We have enough rice, pasta and beans and chips type food stockpiled in case of inability to cook and/or get to the shops, and there's the jar of Marmite
[2] with the 2006 expiry date that pretty much only gets eaten by visiting vegans on the basis that "it's not like it's going to go off, is it?". There's an abundance of good takeaway available locally for emergencies and special occasions, too.
So yeah, what it really comes down to whether it's the lives-on-beige-carbohydrates-from-the-freezer kind of vegan or the organic-hippy-food-snob-cooks-everything-from-scratch kind of vegan. The latter can provide their own lentils, mysterious fungus and horrid seedy bread, because Tescos.
[1] But has since become vegetarian for health reasons that were incompatible with a dairy-free diet.
[2] Mostly used for bike photos.