Visiting US!
Hello!
I am in the early stages of planning a 3 month road trip around America and am just finding out as much as I can before the trip...
I am a strict vegetarian (No meat, fish, chicken etc, no by-products (whey, gelatine, etc) - but I do eat free range eggs and milk). How easy is it to pick up veggie food in supermarkets? Are foods usually labelled clearly if they're vegetarian? As I'll be camping a lot I'll need lots of tinned/ dried/ preserved food. I've had a quick look at some things online and there seem to be all manner of animal bits in foods that should be vegetarian!
Is it likely I'll have to research smaller co-ops and health food shops to stock up on supplies?
Also, how easy is it to eat out as a veggie? What should I look out for and are restaurants usually accomodating? I don't really want to be eating by-products unknowingly!!
Many thanks for any help you can pass my way! And sorry if I sound a little ignorant, I've never been to the US before!
Best wishes,
Steph
it totally depends on where you are going. do you have any idea yet? generally i would say it is pretty easy as long as your are comfortable with your diet and know what to look for. i would research health food stores and co-ops since they are good for stocking up on things, but general grocery stores have vegan food, too. especially if you are fine with eating a lot of produce and peanut butter sandwiches.
Thanks for your reply :)
I've found a website that lists co-ops and health food shops by state, (vegetarianusa) so I'll make sure I print that off for every state I want to visit.
This is a rough map of where I'm going:
MAP
(CA, AZ, UT, WY, ID, MT, ND, SD, NE, CO, NM, TX, LA, MS, AL, TN, GA, FL)
Hello!
I am in the early stages of planning a 3 month road trip around America and am just finding out as much as I can before the trip...
I am a strict vegetarian (No meat, fish, chicken etc, no by-products (whey, gelatine, etc) - but I do eat free range eggs and milk). How easy is it to pick up veggie food in supermarkets? Are foods usually labelled clearly if they're vegetarian? As I'll be camping a lot I'll need lots of tinned/ dried/ preserved food. I've had a quick look at some things online and there seem to be all manner of animal bits in foods that should be vegetarian!
Is it likely I'll have to research smaller co-ops and health food shops to stock up on supplies?
Also, how easy is it to eat out as a veggie? What should I look out for and are restaurants usually accomodating? I don't really want to be eating by-products unknowingly!!
Many thanks for any help you can pass my way! And sorry if I sound a little ignorant, I've never been to the US before!
Best wishes,
Steph
Buying form the supermarket is piece of piss love, things are well labelled here. See if there are Trader Joe's or WholeFoods on your route otherwise any large supermarket should have plenty for you to choose from.
Eating out, do you eat cheese? If so it will be a walk in the park if you do. If you don't a little more tricky and you should try to head to ethnic places for your best choice. If you do have to go to some shitty chain don't worry about asking to change something on the menu or ask for something that is not on the menu at all. It's not like home where if you ask to change anything they look at you like you asked if you could shit on the table or something!!
Remember all the service people work on tips so keeping you happy will maybe bring them a nice tip unless your like every other Brit that comes here and thinks tipping is as ludicrous ab being able to walk around with guns! They'll love your accent too so milk it.
Ohh if your travels take you to Maggiano's in Oak Brook IL, they don't think the British are too great in there so keep your voice down!
Enjoy!
Thanks for your reply :)
I've found a website that lists co-ops and health food shops by state, (vegetarianusa) so I'll make sure I print that off for every state I want to visit.
This is a rough map of where I'm going:
MAP
(CA, AZ, UT, WY, ID, MT, ND, SD, NE, CO, NM, TX, LA, MS, AL, TN, GA, FL)
are you mostly going to stop in bigger cities? if so, you probably won't have too much trouble. CA should be pretty easy, AZ as well (maybe not eating out, but in grocery stores, yes). colorado will also be pretty easy.. same with FL. It's actually surprising where you can find veggie stuff. i basically think as long as you know your diet well you will be fine. i just biked across the country going through some very 'veggie-unfriendly' places and was able to stay vegan the whole time (and of course needed at least 4,000 calories a day). i looked at your map and it seems like you could easily pull it off without any worries!
happycow.net is another great resource. and have you ever thought about couchsurfing if you don't want to camp? you can use couchsurfing.com to find people in a bunch of different places and if you did that you would have internet access most of the time.
I'm probably going to avoid bigger cities on the whole, I want to visit national parks and the quieter places really. I'll do a big shop when I get there so if all else fails I shall dine 'a la tinned beans' :P - And I've not heard of couchsurfing! Sounds an interesting idea, but I like the idea of camping out in the country :)
Glad to know I shouldn't have too much trouble! And yep I eat cheese. Couldn't live without it.
Haha I forgot about the mandatory tips thing! Oh so much to learn...
How are you travelling? And where are you stopping in Georgia?
Greetings -
To help you on your journey, I SUGGEST THAT YOU BUY AN ICE CHEST (also known as a "cooler".) Have been to Ireland, England, lots of places over there and have never seen any store selling an ice chest. Guess there is no need if there is no ice available to use them. All grocery stores and most gasoline stations here sell BAGS OF ICE. Americans use lots of ice! Much different than in Ireland, UK, mainland Europe.
To help me with my veg*n ways on a road trip in Ireland, I took a small ice chest to hold some vegetarian food. The only problem - could not find one single store that sold bags of ice! A couple of times, I was able to have my cooler filled with ice at a pub. ICE is a big seller on this side of the pond. As to camping, ice can also be bought in both national parks and at most campgrounds elsewhere. An ice chest will really help you keep the food costs down.
"Are foods usually labelled clearly if they're vegetarian? " NO, NO, and NO. Much different than over there. I was amazed that the menu at a Pizza Hut in Dublin had many items labeled as Vegetarian. You won't find this at a Pizza Hit here in the US. In the grocery stores in the UK, I've seen lots of stuff indicating, "suitable for vegetarians." Very rare in most US groceries. Also, the cheese for sale over here usually does NOT specify what type of rennet is used. If you want to avoid animal rennet, you better get the cheese at Trader Joes or Whole Foods and check the labels carefully.
In California, you must go to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks - crown jewels, but don't plan to go before late May - SNOW.
A RESTAURANT SUGGESTION - "CHIPOTLE" is a great place for vegan and vegetarian burritos and rice bowls. Probably the most V friendly restaurant chain in the US. Here is a link with their locations shown on a map of the US. Food is good, high quality, fast, and fairly priced. ;)b
http://www.chipotle.com/#flash/restaurants_locations
Let me know if I can help you with any other information. Mr.C
i second chipotle!
i just biked across the country going through some very 'veggie-unfriendly' places and was able to stay vegan the whole time (and of course needed at least 4,000 calories a day).
hespedal - is this the bike trip you talked about in your profile? How many miles did you ride? What was you route? Sounds like an interesting and HEALTHY experience.
i just biked across the country going through some very 'veggie-unfriendly' places and was able to stay vegan the whole time (and of course needed at least 4,000 calories a day).
hespedal - is this the bike trip you talked about in your profile? How many miles did you ride? What was you route? Sounds like an interesting and HEALTHY experience.
over 3500 miles from north carolina to san diego. it was amazing!
i just biked across the country going through some very 'veggie-unfriendly' places and was able to stay vegan the whole time (and of course needed at least 4,000 calories a day).
hespedal - is this the bike trip you talked about in your profile? How many miles did you ride? What was you route? Sounds like an interesting and HEALTHY experience.
over 3500 miles from north carolina to san diego. it was amazing!
WOW! ;)b
Where are you planning on visiting in New Mexico? If you are going to shop in Santa Fe or Albuquerque, I can give suggestions.
How easy is it to pick up veggie food in supermarkets?
Pretty much everyone has veggie burgers. The ones in the major grocery stores all contain eggs and sometimes dairy, so your being vegetarian, instead of vegan, will work in your favour there.
Are foods usually labelled clearly if they're vegetarian?
I don't know how it is everywhere, but there are big bold allergy warnings on food labels now, below the list of ingredients. It makes for an easy, quick check. It doesn't work for gelatin, but for other things.
Here are a couple of websites that may help:
I Can't Believe It's Vegan! ("accidentally" vegan food)
Taste Better (vegan alcohol)
Is it likely I'll have to research smaller co-ops and health food shops to stock up on supplies?
I'd make a backup list of them, in case you're having trouble finding food. I'm thinking of the Texas area, but then that's a generalization on my part.
Also, how easy is it to eat out as a veggie? What should I look out for and are restaurants usually accomodating?
It seems that a lot of restaurants have veggie burgers and the major chain Mexican restaurants don't use lard (at least in California).
i was under the impression that she was going to be eating vegan almost always since she only eats "free-range" eggs and milk... i doubt she would eat traditional cheese or veggie burgers w/ eggs.
In that case, please disregard everything except for the two website links.
You should be able to find veg friendly food quite easily in Texas. The HEB grocery stores offer plenty of good options and if you find a Central Market ( a higher market version of HEB) you'll find even more vegan/specialty goodness. According to the line drawn on your map you're not going very far down into Texas but if you decide to deviate there's a Stonehenge replica that's rather interesting to look at.
According to the line drawn on your map you're not going very far down into Texas but if you decide to deviate there's a Stonehenge replica that's rather interesting to look at.
And she'll be a bit too west of Nebraska to visit Carhenge.
Ooh this all seems so complicated! I've never really appreciated the availability of veggie food in the UK before, but I think I should now! As a rule of thumb, if something CAN be made w/o animal products, it will be (apart from the really cheap stuff), and it will be clearly labelled on the front. Our supermarkets are really good with this. A while ago Mars/ masterfoods announced they were switching to non-veggie whey and there was uproar! :P
What I'm thinking now is perhaps take a few packets (from home) of dried burger/ falefel mix/ tinned items to keep in reserve, in case I'm going through a town that doesn't have much in the way of vegetables! I'll probably eat mainly things like pasta or rice with veggies, dried soya, stews - stuff that can easily be made on a gas stove, then reserve some in a thermos for the next day.
Would it be possible for you guys to list a few other restaurant chains that are usually good with veggie stuff?
As for the free range egg thing, I'm not *too* strict on that, so should be ok.
Oh and the ice - sorry if I sound dim, but is the ice in fully sealed bags, so you just put it next to your food, or is there a section in the ice cooler you put it in?! We don't really have a need for ice here, sadly!
My map isn't too exact yet, I'll deviate a bit, depending on where my research leads me to! In GA I'll visit Altanta, Stone Mountain, possibly Athens, not too sure yet. If anyone has any suggestions on which way to point my tyres please chip in!
Ice comes in bags, but they aren't leak proof. Generally, if you get something in a jar with a screw lid or something else that might not get soaked, it goes on the bottom the the cooler, next to the ice. Put the things that you want to keep more dry on the top. Also, drain the melted water off every so often. Smaller coolers you have to tilt and pour it out from the top. Larger coolers have a drain on the bottom that you can open.
noodles and company is a good restaurant for veg stuff, you'll probably want to check online for locations.
Pages