So we have decided to go vegan. Low fat vegans, at that. Come to think of it, maybe I should say that we decided to stop eating animal products – meat (red, white & fish), dairy and even eggs – and adopt a very low fat, strict vegetarian diet to address some health issues. In my mind, vegans embrace a philosophy that, while I respect and feel some affinity to, goes beyond both our motivations and our goals, which have more to do with health than ideology. More on that later, though, as the reasons behind our decision are complex and require a lengthy explanation. But since the focus of this blog is to share our thoughts and experiences about living in Costa Rica, I will focus for now on how we’re making that adjustment in a country void of most of the commercial vegetarian products available in the U.S.
The short answer is that it’s a challenge. In fact, foregoing all animal products and slashing dietary fat is challenging anywhere, but it presents especially tall hurdles here.
The typical Costa Rican diet is relatively light in meat, compared to the typical American diet and includes lots of rice and beans. On the one hand, that might make this seem like a perfect environment for this transition. On the other hand, while Costa Ricans eat small quantities of meat and dairy and local recipes mix up ingredients in traditional Costa Rican ways, virtually every meal typically includes some sort of meat, dairy or eggs. Fried chicken is a favorite, as is beef stew, hamburgers, and the always popular arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). Soups are frequently eaten here, but even the vegetable-based soups often have milk added. Needless to say, the supermarkets match their products to the demand.
Fortunately, we have an abundance of fresh, local produce available to us. While they can be bought at the supermarket, we prefer to shop for them at the ferias (farmers markets). In fact, today I brought home a week’s worth of fruits and veggies for a little less than $10. My shopping list included:
3 papayas
2 mangos
1 cantaloupe
2 large hands of bananas
tomatoes
chayote
cucumbers
3 kinds of lettuce
beets with their greens attached
carrots
camote (sweet potatoes)
onion
sweet red peppers
Left over from last week’s shopping trip: plantains, celery, tomatoes, garlic, red potatoes, and more red sweet peppers.
If only it was that simple! Or as quick as dropping by the local Whole Foods store or Trader Joe’s or Sprouts. Nope. No way. Nada.
It took us a little more than a week to use up the last of our non-vegan supplies. (I’m far too frugal to toss perfectly good food.) But once they were gone, I spent four full days in the kitchen preparing some staples and specialty dishes to get this ball on a roll. Last night I made a big pot of lentil soup that I hope will buy me a couple of days to get caught up on my housework and do a little more recipe/nutrition research.
Clearly, food preparation is going to command an even bigger piece of each day!
I’ve always preferred to bake our bread, but if I ran out, the panaderías in town offer an acceptable alternative. That was then. This is now. And now means that making our own bread is no longer optional. It’s essential. Luckily I recently found an easy 5 minute, no-kneed process that will be a lifesaver. Mix it up tonight, let it sit overnight on the counter and bake it up in the morning.
Finding vegan protein sources here is particularly difficult. That is, if you want more than beans and whole wheat bread. And we do! Our local grocery stores, even the small ones here in Palmares, offer textured vegetable protein. That’s a start (and comes with a learning curve). But I want more! Variety is the spice of life, after all, and is also very likely the key to not becoming bored with this new way of eating.
I had hoped that macrobioticas – a type of health food store that sells dietary supplements and organic personal care products – would be a help. Every town has one or two or more small ones. The bigger cities have larger ones. In my naïve imagination I thought that perhaps they might carry at least tofu – if not some yummy vegetarian sausage. Huh! I asked about it in one of our macrobioticas and the proprietor told me there simply isn’t a market for it. He suggested Alajuela.
In fact, we visited a half-dozen grocery stores and macrobioticas in Palmares and San Ramon before we finally found all three varieties (soft, firm, and extra firm) in an Asian market in San Jose. The Automercado (an upscale grocery store that carries some hard-to-find American products) also had it – but just the firm.
For the record, there are still two larger grocery stores to be checked in San Ramon [20 minutes away] and it is highly probable that we can buy it at the Automercado in Alajuela [40 minutes away]. Although we intend to keep our soy consumption on the sparse side, I am hoping we will get lucky a bit closer to home. We just happened to find it in San Jose first.
On the same trip to San Jose, we found kelp, sesame oil, and paid a pretty price for red quinoa ($8 for 12 ounces!) and a better (e.g. less expensive and with more information on the label) source for brewer’s yeast than what we’ve found locally.
Given that backdrop, what are the odds of finding some soy sausage or vegan cheese? Slim and none, is my guess.
For me the hardest part will be living without cow’s milk. I love my milk. I love my coffee. I love milk in my coffee. Truth be told, milk might be the main reason I drink coffee.
I’ve read on the Internet that some people swear by almond milk for their coffee. Just try to find that in Costa Rica! Right. My daughter suggests that I try soy milk in my coffee, but my crystal ball is hinting that I might have to learn to drink my coffee black – or give it up entirely. (Sob, sob)
On a more optimistic note, don’t you just love those moments when you find yourself facing a challenge and realize that the little bits and pieces of knowledge, experience, and skills you’ve picked up over the years are just what you need to bail you out? Well, this is the mother of those preparedness meets opportunity moments, as many of the staple products we would probably end up buying ready-made in the States will have to concocted right here in our own Costa Rican kitchen. Out of the somewhat limited products available to us in Costa Rican markets. Almond milk. Vegan cheese. Nut butters. Meatless burgers. Vegan salad dressing – a particularly tough one for this ranch-dressing addicted gringa.
My first batch of homemade peanut butter
On an even more optimistic note, in addition to providing another creative outlet, the extra work also transfers more control over what goes into our bodies to us.
What about the products we’re giving up? So far we’re not feeling like we’re giving up a whole lot beyond convenience. We used to eat eggs virtually every day, but we’re not exactly craving them. This week I made a yummy frittata with tofu for a change up from oatmeal. An old favorite of mine - corn meal mush - is on the soon-to-happen list, too.
Beef, poultry, and fish? The loss is no big deal. Perhaps because we had already reduced our consumption to one kilo per week. That works out to a total of about 2.5 ounces per day (for each of us) on average, using it primarily to flavor soups and casseroles.
I can see that cheese and ice cream could eventually be a problem. I’ve found recipes for vegan cheese made with almonds or cashews and when we absolutely have to have some ice cream, we’ll be patting ourselves on the back for having the wisdom to bring the ice cream machine with us!
We certainly did not see this turn in the road coming back when we were packing for the move. But we knew there would be surprises. And lots of changes. We tried to equip ourselves to deal with them. Some changes are not only impossible to foresee, they’re impossible to prepare for – except to learn to be flexible and open to new ideas.
The Back Story – How we got from there to here.
Sometimes events happen and we find ourselves in that very uncomfortable situation where awareness and preparation meet and we realize this is the time and we have both the motivation and the means to make a big change, which is precisely where we found ourselves a couple of weeks ago.
We’ve known for a long time that we needed to shed a few pounds. Okay, maybe more than a few. We knew that the methods we’ve tried in the past didn’t take. We also knew that in spite of sporadic attempts in the past to go organic and kick our bad for us/bad for the world food habits, we simply weren’t motivated enough to make the changes. Then came along a news about Hormel doing away with gestation cages What?!?
I didn't know there was such a thing. I don't know who dreamed up that insanity, but I knew instinctively that it was far from the worst of what I could learn if I had the guts to dig deeper - which I didn't.
Nor did I need to. With that one story all of my self-serving and self-preserving attempts to ignore what I knew to be true about the inhumane treatment of the animals that give their lives for our nourishment evaporated. Digging deeper, I learned that that Costa Rica imports pork from the U.S., so I couldn’t even shrug it off as just a U.S. issue. It had followed us here! That really ticked me off! A little more research revealed some unsettling slaughter practices both here and abroad.
I was devastated. I liked my comfy little world where I could call pork my favorite meat and brag that our beef here is lean and healthy.
The humanitarian issue, however, was just the kick in the pants that got us moving toward a decision we ultimately made primarily for health reasons.
Outraged and heartsick at what I had learned, I turned to my friend Google for healthy dietary alternatives to eating meat. I meant, we were already eating very little meat. The idea of giving it up completely was not out of the question. We could still have our milk, cheese, and eggs, right?
It didn’t take long before that dream shattered, as well. This time it was an article from the American Diabetes Association that acknowledged that a low fat vegetarian diet is healthy and can be better for blood sugar control than a a diet that includes animal protein. It was time for another… What?!? Like, what about counting carbs? And complete proteins? And anemia? And calcium from milk for strong bones? Could it be true that my vegan daughter was not destined to develop osteoporosis? And was my son right when he argued that cow’s milk was not the best source for calcium? Evidently, the answer was yes on both counts, as additional research confirmed the claims. This article by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition cinched the deal for us.
In case you’re wondering, no, I do not have diabetes – yet. But I do have some of the risk factors, including out of whack lipid numbers and family members with diabetes, which has meant that I have simply assumed that sooner or later my number would be called and I would take the drugs and finally be forced to eat differently and perhaps face some of the complications that go hand in hand with the diagnosis.
The writing was on the wall and finally we were willing to put on our glasses and read it. I wish I could say that we were excited to know that we had another option, but the truth is we didn’t feel that continuing the status quo was even a choice. There was really only one option and we were ready to embrace it.
We’re new at this and have a lot to learn. Hopefully we also have a lot to gain. Just as importantly, we feel good knowing that we are doing our part for the planet by eating lower on the food chain. And, of course, a load of guilt has been lifted now that have taken a stand and are voting with our forks for more humane treatment of animals in our food supply.
Pura Vida
