Melody's Guide to Being Vegan in Colombia: Introduction

Welcome to the beginning of a series of posts about being vegan in Colombia... and let it be known before you read this post that I totally get/understand/don't need to be told that veganism is a choice. It is a personal choice I made over three years ago, but certainly one that I'm freely able to change my mind about. I get it. Don't attack me for it, okay? The point of this post is to talk about something near and dear to me: the challenge of being vegan in Colombia, and how to overcome said challenge.

I really do love Colombia, even when I complain about my job and the other frustrating things that happen here. It's a beautiful country full of truly wonderful people, and I absolutely encourage people to travel here and experience it.

Despite this, Colombia is a very, very difficult place to be a vegan, and even a fairly difficult place to be a vegetarian. The main reason for this is that people don't even really understand vegetarianism, and so veganism is something that confuses most Colombians. This isn't because they are stupid or anything, it's because it is very uncommon for people to be vegan/vegetarian here. Vegetarians in Colombia come in many different versions, too. Some people consider themselves vegetarians if they only avoid red meat. Many vegetarians still consume sustancia (chicken broth) and other kinds of animal products, like gelatin and beef juices. A lot of vegetarians do avoid meat and meat by-products, like broth. Even so, people who work in the food business will not understand exactly what vegetarianism is, generally speaking. For example, if you order beans, there's an extremely high chance that they were cooked with meat. They might not have meat IN them, but they might have been cooked with a bone or meat juices or just big chunks of pork fat. This is very typical, and generally it is safe to assume that most beans served in restaurants are not safe for vegetarians to eat. I've ordered beans before that the cooks swore did not contain meat, and there was a big chunk of pork in my bowl when they were served.

In the States, if I didn't have a lot of time to make a meal, or if I just didn't want to do a lot of prep, there were always lots of alternatives. I could easily eat out, even at a fast food place like Taco Bell (not healthy, but definitely convenient), I could grab a carton of packaged hummus, I could buy a frozen Amy's burrito from almost any grocery store, or I could even cook something using packaged foods, like canned beans or fake meat. Even tofu is less work in the States because you can get it at almost any Thai restaurant OR you can buy packaged, flavored, and pre-cooked tofu at a health food store. At that was in Springfield, not New York City or Portland. In Colombia, being vegan or vegetarian requires a lot of work. It takes a lot more effort to get the necessary amount of protein and calcium in my diet here. It can be exhausting and frustrating to constantly be prepping food just to meet my nutritional needs.

During the next food days I will be posting about what foods to avoid, what foods to eat, where to find vegan products, what to bring to Colombia from the States if you are vegan, vegan recipes, and how to ask questions in Spanish that will help you survive as a vegan in Colombia.


At the Chicago Diner for my birthday last year. Best restaurant ever.