Is it really the responsibility of the host to change everything for the preferred eating habits of a single attendee? Should hosts really "do some research and perhaps some extra work" for non-mainstream and non-medically required or religious-based eating habits? And this is speaking as someone who ate vegetarian for years, and still generally avoids meat. Allergies or lifelong religion seems understandable - but if you plan to decline a host's offer of a meal, I suspect you either shouldn't go or you should prepare to take care of yourself - and explain why your behavior shouldn't be considered offensive to the host. And "keep your cooking utensils separate to prevent cross-contamination between meat and vegetarian foods?" If you are the vegetarian, sure, why not - but seems extreme to ask of a host.