Excuse me, do you have vegan options?
Photo: Vegan meal option in European hotels
Eating vegan while on vacation.
Eating vegan away from home always seems so complicated doesn't it? Don't get me wrong vegans are very resourceful people. We know how to visit a local grocery store, select lots of great local produce, vegetables and breads to manifest a tasty picnic on our hotel bed or a bench in the park, but we don't always have luck walking into a local restaurant or eatery and asking "Excuse me, do you have vegan options?" This question is usually met with "You don't eat gluten?" which is another conversation altogether, when did gluten-free and vegan can jammed up together? Well the good news is the hotels of Europe are starting to pay attention to the grow shift in travellers, primarily vegan travellers.
“Any modern restaurant should listen to the changing diets of diners,” Chef Tom Booton of Dorchester's Grill said. “Being vegan or vegetarian isn’t just a trend—it’s people making a conscious effort to think about what they’re eating and how that’s affecting the planet.” (Source: Travel + Leisure)
While travelling around the UK in 2017 (Ireland, Scotland and England) we were pleasantly surprised by the number of restaurants we walked into who handed us a dedicated vegan menu. Not a small selection of regular menu items that could be made vegan, or tiny section of the menu that listed two or three vegan items, but an actual vegan menu with a plethora of options to choose from. Ireland went even further as many restaurants provided a laminated chart of all menu items and their complete ingredients listed. For those travellers with food allergies, its a bit like someone giving you a key to the kitchen and saying "Really make whatever you want!" That's the confidence of knowing the meal you are about to consume won't make me sick, send me to the hospital or even worse. Vegan travellers can experience a similar discomfort and/or illness should a restaurant mistakenly serve a meal with animal product included. Milk in soup or bread, grated cheese hidden in a salad or animal broth used to make potatoes or rice when told its veggie broth. Eating vegan while travelling has it's challenges, but things are looking up!
Photo: Cypress Larnaca Old Town
Vegan Demographics: Over 1.6 million people identify as vegan
As people make the choice to move to a plant-based diet, there will be an increase in the amount of items available, it's how the free market was born - supply and demand. So as vegan travellers, we look to support those places that support us. Airlines offer a vegan option if you notify them in advance, and now hotels are accepting that they now must change to meet the growing needs of travellers to make their establishment relevant today. Let's face it, half of the experience of a destination is its flavour. Local eats and drinks are the lasting sensory ques we relive post vacation. Catch a quick scent of sauteed onions and garlic on the wind and you are back on that uneven road in a little historical town whose name may still be unpronounceable, but whose impact on your life surges back with a welcomed rush. (Vegan demographics article)