If you’re concerned about sustainability, you’ve probably thought about what you eat. The enormous consumption of meat and the resulting factory farming and huge demand for animal feed has reached such proportions that everyone should reconsider their diet. A vegan-vegetarian lifestyle seems almost without alternatives. Also or especially when traveling.

In the tourism industry, this new consumer awareness has already made a difference – many hotels now have vegan and vegetarian dishes on their menus. Often, it is the hotels themselves that are leading the way in the “Planetary Health Diet”. In a moment, we’ll introduce you to some of these hotels. But first, let’s take a look at some of the arguments surrounding the diet.

Advantages of a vegan-vegetarian Diet

I’m not a vegan myself, but it helps to remember the benefits of a plant-based diet:

#1: Climate protection: A plant-based diet produces significantly less CO2 emissions than an animal-based diet. According to the Heidelberg Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, margarine has four times fewer emissions than butter, and a plate of lentils consumes 20 times less CO2 than a beef steak and contains more protein!

#2: Animal welfare: Vegans are innocent of factory farming and animal cruelty. If you can’t give up meat completely, consider where it comes from and buy organic meat whenever possible.

#3: Social justice: Growing food for people instead of animal feed could help fight world hunger.

As for whether a vegan diet has any health benefits (or drawbacks), the science is mixed. The point is that, in general, nutritionally conscious people (i.e., both vegans and people who eat meat only occasionally) live much healthier lives and have lower risks of obesity and various diseases.

Tip: If you don’t want to give up meat, but want to reduce it, start by eliminating all meat-based convenience foods and processed meats (sausages, frozen chops, cold cuts, etc.) from your diet. Numerous studies show that the consumption of processed meat in particular is a cause of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Vegan-Vegetarian Travel? No Problem in Italy!

If you’re already a vegetarian or vegan, you’ll want to find accommodations that accommodate your diet when you’re on vacation. Northern Italy is a wonderfully vegan-friendly destination, as there are several hotels here that are completely dedicated to a vegan-vegetarian diet.

LA VIMEA: “pure vegan” Hotel in South Tyrol

The attitude towards meat at LA VIMEA is clear: “We do not accept meat consumption in any way and do not believe that it can be sustainable in any way. The hotel in Naturno was the first vegan hotel in Italy and offers creative vegan dishes such as stuffed zucchini flowers, grilled stone fruit, risotto or hay soup.

The hotel has also made sure that all the furnishings are vegan. The hotel’s sustainable wellness program includes a saltwater pool, a natural swimming pond, and daily yoga classes.

Eco Park Hotel Azalea – 100 percent plant-based cuisine

In Trentino, you’ll find the Eco Park Hotel Azalea, which serves an entirely plant-based cuisine. They take care to use as many local products as possible. Flour and cereals come from a traditional Italian stone mill, wild herbs are picked in the meadows and the tap water comes from the Dolomites. This family-run hotel also welcomes vegans and vegetarians. As the name of the hotel suggests, everything here is about flowers and blossoms – and you’ll find one or the other on your plate 😉

Paradiso Pure.Living – Vegetarian travel in the Dolomites

At Paradiso Pure.Living, the vegan-vegetarian menu is designed to keep the ecological footprint to a minimum. The hotel was the first purely vegetarian hotel in the Dolomites and has the best location for an active vacation (summer and winter) in nature.

Tip: The Paradiso Pure.Living shared their hummus recipe with us. (If you’re still looking for a plant-based protein source or a healthy spread). I make hummus almost every week. We have it for breakfast on the weekends with fresh bread. Very tasty, very healthy and keeps you full for a long time.

Eat meat? But consciously!

In the car-free town of Zermatt, overlooking the Matterhorn, is the extraordinary CERVO Mountain Resort. There are no less than three different restaurants, one of which, the BAZAAR, is 100 percent vegetarian. The other two restaurants have meat on the menu, but at an extra cost to offset the extra CO2 generated. The beef comes from farmer Edgar Imhoff, who runs an animal-friendly cattle farm about 30 kilometers outside of Zermatt.

“Sustainable use of natural resources requires a well-thought-out value chain”

CERVO Mountain Resort

Meat from the own pigs

At the Bavarian hotel HUBERTUS Mountain Refugio Allgäu, meat is an integral part of the local cuisine. But sustainability also means ensuring that the pigs, calves and cattle live a life appropriate to their species. Hotelier Marc Traubel says in an interview with Green Pearls®: “We have very, very many of our own pigs for our guests (…) The pigs are down there now, they are fed over the summer, they have a nice life and then at some point, they just end up on our grill.”

A vegetarian option is also a staple of the daily menu. You can even go completely vegan, but you have to order in advance!

Our conclusion: Vegan-vegetarian or meat – You make the difference

As you can see, you don’t always have to wait for the big players to make a difference when it comes to animal welfare and the environment. Consider caged eggs, for example. According to the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, 60 percent of German eggs came from caged hens in 2008. By 2021, only 5 percent will come from “small cages” (= larger cages). The reason is that at some point consumers simply refuse to eat eggs from tortured hens and are willing to pay more for them. This could also be the case with meat products.

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