{"id":14231,"date":"2019-09-30T10:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T14:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=14231"},"modified":"2019-09-24T09:49:50","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T13:49:50","slug":"eating-vegan-abroad-in-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2019\/09\/30\/eating-vegan-abroad-in-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Eating Vegan Abroad in Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Lucia Rivera, VRG Intern<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone with\nLatin American immigrant parents growing up in the United States, it makes\nperfect sense that I would visit other areas of the world. This being said, it\nis never simple, and became significantly less so when I adopted a practically\nvegan diet. Although this made family trips more complicated, they are still\nvery important to me and decidedly worth any stress. Through my experiences I\nhave learned that there are a magnitude of dishes to eat and tips to use in\norder to enjoy a trip abroad in Latin America while also sticking to one\u2019s\nbeliefs and dietary choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important\nto note that every country, and the various regions within a country, have\ndifferent styles of food and different staple dishes. For example, in\nNicaragua, a country in Central America where I used to visit annually, meat is\nnot as prominent as in countries like Mexico or Argentina. I would find it\nextremely easy to enjoy the traditional gallo\npinto<\/em> (rice and red beans), platano\nmaduro<\/em> (fried ripe plantain), and yuca\nfrita<\/em> (fried yucca root). These are dishes served at every restaurant,\nalong with typical side options of beans, rice, or a tortilla. Vegan options\nwere not at all hard to find, as long as you don\u2019t mind eating similar dishes\nin a row. Veganism is possible to follow while enjoying the excitement of\ntrying another nation\u2019s food, or maybe even ethnic foods prepared in your home.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, in a country like Mexico it may be more difficult to avoid animal products in dishes since a common ingredient is lard. In my experience, the best way to ensure a vegan meal while dining in certain areas of Latin America is to inquire about ingredients used in dishes with the waiters and chefs. Every restaurant has its own way of cooking red rice or preparing refried beans. Depending on your level of comfort with asking questions at new restaurants, that can be a solid solution to the possible variation in recipes you might have thought were vegan. While some meals may be played safe and repeatedly consist of beans, vegetables, and tortillas, other areas like Tijuana in Baja California have become more and more common sites for vegan restaurants. In south San Diego County, the nearest vegan restaurants are actually in TJ. Of course, if you are a big snacker and are going on a long trip, something that can be helpful is to plan ahead and bring along vegan snacks with you to any destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research and\nplanning can be very helpful in other ways as well. A simple google search can\nprovide information about the specific area you are planning on visiting and\nvegan options available there. Grocery stores are still an effective source for\na vegan meal. I can\u2019t count the number of times I had spaghetti and tomato\nsauce for dinner during my family trips to Central America. In fact, if it is\nyour goal, you can keep a similar diet to yours at home through purposeful\ndining and shopping. A day\u2019s meals could look like oatmeal or vegan pancakes\nfor brunch and a favorite sandwich for dinner. Travelers still have a lot of\nliberty in their daily meals, whether that be choosing to indulge in native\nrecipes or sticking to the familiar basics when abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who\neats veganized Mexican and Nicaraguan dishes at home, I know what to look for\nin foreign restaurants, ranging from guacamole without sour cream to rice\ncooked without chicken broth. It is important to have confidence that a vegan\nlifestyle can be retained throughout a trip abroad in Latin America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite difficulties, traveling can be a life changing experience and there are so many beautiful things to visit across Latin America. This is precisely why I advise vacationers to take advantage of their time abroad and try some really good, Latin American and vegan<\/em> food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For other tips on eating in Latin America, see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/links\/travel.htm#travel-South-America<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/links\/travel.htm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/nutshell\/information_in_Spanish.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lucia Rivera, VRG Intern As someone with Latin American immigrant parents growing up in the United States, it makes perfect sense that I would visit other areas of the world. This being said, it is never simple, and became significantly less so when I adopted a practically vegan diet. Although this made family trips […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14233,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14231\/revisions\/14233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}