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Asi
05 June 2013, 11:19 AM
Not to be confused with this thread (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=11419)

India by itself, is a good country to be a vegetarian in. Our cuisine is primarily vegetarian, and has a good range of non vegetarian dishes as well.

With the thought of travelling to another country, however - most vegetarians are vexed with the main question :what about food?

I am a realist. I can say with some certainity that there are definitely some countries where one cannot stay vegetarian (either impossible or just too expensive to be so), or one can with a certain difficulty.

I would love to hear some opinions on this subject from those living outside India at the moment, if they know someone who is/was vegetarian , and how they made do with the situation.

Believer
10 June 2013, 02:35 AM
Namaste,

This topic has been beaten to death many times over. You might do some reading of the previous posts. Here is one of mine to get you started,

http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=102982&postcount=18

As you say, it is a bit difficult to stick to a vegetarian diet in some countries, but it is doable. It depends on your resolve and passion for staying on the spiritual path.

Pranam.

Eastern Mind
10 June 2013, 07:08 AM
Not to be confused with this thread (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=11419)

India by itself, is a good country to be a vegetarian in. Our cuisine is primarily vegetarian, and has a good range of non vegetarian dishes as well.

With the thought of travelling to another country, however - most vegetarians are vexed with the main question :what about food?

I am a realist. I can say with some certainity that there are definitely some countries where one cannot stay vegetarian (either impossible or just too expensive to be so), or one can with a certain difficulty.

I would love to hear some opinions on this subject from those living outside India at the moment, if they know someone who is/was vegetarian , and how they made do with the situation.

Vannakkam: I'm not really sure of the countries you had in mind, but in Europe, Canada, America, I can assure you it is very easy to be vegetarian. So, for those places, it is a myth.

However, I do know a few people who arrived back in the 60s who were told by Canadians that it would be difficult, so started eating meat, but once they got more accustomed to where to look, they returned to vegetarian. Sometimes there needs to be an adjustment on where you look for your food, and on the type of vegetarianism.

Aum Namasivaya

Asi
10 June 2013, 10:41 AM
Hello Believer,

This thread is primarily something like a primer, for those of us who are vegetarian and staying in countries that do not primarily indulge in vegetarianism as a lifestyle choice, and how they survive there - as in, what kind of food do they eat, how do they manage to eat outside etc


I've seen a few of the previous posts, and it is true that i have not gone far back to read from the beginning (in fact, i was hoping something like this was there already - if so, please share the link)

Something like if a vegetarian wants to travel to Spain, or Paraguay, Japan,Norway or Greece (for example) , would they be able to manage, if so, how?

Please note that i do not specifically mean these countries. It was just an example.

Regards.

Eastern Mind
10 June 2013, 12:25 PM
Something like if a vegetarian wants to travel to Spain, or Paraguay, Japan,Norway or Greece (for example) , would they be able to manage, if so, how?

Please note that i do not specifically mean these countries. It was just an example.

Regards.

Vannakkam: Of those countries, probably Paraguay would be the hardest. But in general I believe your fears aren't justified. I think it's fairly easy to be a vegetarian almost anywhere.

Aum Namasivaya

Believer
11 June 2013, 06:44 AM
Namaste,


This thread is primarily something like a primer, for those of us who are vegetarian and staying in countries that do not primarily indulge in vegetarianism as a lifestyle choice, and how they survive there - as in, what kind of food do they eat, how do they manage to eat outside etc.
I see your point. In North America, it is fairly easy to be a vegetarian. Eating out does get to be a bit tricky, but many restaurants are starting to provide a vegetarian choice. So you will not have variety while eating out, but you will not starve either. The purpose of being a vegetarian is to eat freshly cooked saatvic vegetarian food to help with the one's spiritual evolution. Eating outside defeats that purpose. If one wants to be a vegetarian, just because he/she can't handle meat and would like to be able to eat outside all the time, then that is a whole different story.


Vannakkam: Of those countries, probably Paraguay would be the hardest.
EM, I think you chose Paraguay, because it is the farthest from Canada? :)
Those countries are dirt poor and rice and beans is their staple. So, a vegetarian would do okay there, as long as he/she likes rice and beans.

Pranam.

Eastern Mind
11 June 2013, 07:04 AM
EM, I think you chose Paraguay, because it is the farthest from Canada? :)
Those countries are dirt poor and rice and beans is their staple. So, a vegetarian would do okay there, as long as he/she likes rice and beans.

Pranam.

Vannakkam: No, because I've seen documentaries on Argentina, and meat was a staple. But it was just some guess. You're far more travelled than me. But I think, "Where there's a will, there's a way" applies here.

Larger centers are better.

Aum Namasivaya

Asi
12 June 2013, 10:09 AM
It's not always the case of will.

A friend of mine had to resort to eat a beef burger in turkey. There were just no vegetarian options, and for a travelling student - there were no other ways.

bp789
12 June 2013, 03:09 PM
I'd assume Japan would be the most difficult to be a strict vegetarian. Even though there's plenty of vegetables and rice and noodles there, almost everything there has fish in it. Even some rice or noodle dishes which appear to be vegetarian are made using fish broth. The only exception would be Indian restaurants and shojin-ryori (Buddhist) cuisine, but I've heard the latter is pretty expensive.

Eastern Mind
12 June 2013, 04:19 PM
Vannakkam: I guess I misunderstood. I didn't realise this was about dining out. Since I only dine out about 3 times a year, it's not at the forefront of my consciousness. I was assuming that in a store, you can buy stuff besides dead animals. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Aum Namasivaya