Thoughts and Tips for Reviews

We are following a whole food plant-based diet and lifestyle. We focus on a low saturated fat intake, avoiding highly processed foods and fats, tropical fats and we try to avoid fried and deep-fried foods.

You might ask yourself, why not just go to vegan restaurants and not think too much about it?  Well, in vegan cuisine, coconut fat, palm fat and margarine are widely used. The trend on the part of supermarkets also to cater for vegans means more and more highly processed vegan convenience products, which we try to stay away from. This trend has also found its way into vegan restaurants.

Please take your time to read the tips below. Even if you don’t take it so strictly when you travel, please make sure your review fits most of the tips.

What we want to stay away from and should be mentioned in a review if possible

• All meat and meat products
• All dairy products and eggs from all animals
• Margarine, no matter from which oil source
• All tropical fats such as coconut oil, coconut fat, coconut cream, and coconut milk, palm fat and unspecific vegetable oils
• All fried and deep-fried food

What we look at before writing a review

For places to eat

• Whole food plant-based means freshly prepared seasonable vegetables, grains and fruits, if possible from organic sources.
• Restaurants can be, but don’t have to be, purely plant-based. They can be vegetarian or have meat dishes on the menu.
• Places to eat and stay should have more than one option for us to eat, unless it’s the only place in town.
• Kitchen and service staff should know the ingredients and be willing to make changes as they prepare our food.
• Keep in mind that if a menu is extensive, it’s likely that more convenience food is used in the kitchen. The cooks will also be less flexible in terms of making necessary changes for you.
• Keep also in mind that so called healthy food, restaurants and Take Away places are big chains and sometimes don’t declare the fat amount and fat type correctly.

For places to stay

• When reviewing hotels or other places to stay, their breakfast menus should offer more than just cornflakes. At least one alternative milk option and bread made without milk or milk powder should be available. Preferably fresh fruits and juices. If it is a vegan place to stay, breakfast should have options without margarine or tropical fats.

For places to shop

• Fresh farmers’ markets, whole food stores, and other shops must offer a wide variety of fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits as well as convenience products with as few ingredients as possible.
• Many supermarket chains are discovering vegans as a new market and sell vegan convenience products. Although they are vegan, they are also highly processed and a check of the ingredient list is helpful.