ABOUT

HI, I’M MEREDITH!

FOUNDER & HOSPITALITY CONSULTANT

I’m a social worker from New York City who moved to Aruba in 2016 with my Aruban husband and daughter. I graduated with my master’s degree of social work in 2013 and worked in the field of community wellness, specializing in food justice, obesity prevention, and child nutrition. On Aruba, I thought I’d be relaxing by the beach drinking piña coladas, but when I realized there was a need for vegan awareness and options here, I couldn’t keep still.

First, Vegan Aruba was a way for me to encourage restaurants to serve vegan customers, and a way for me to meet other people locally with similar interests. Within a few months of starting the movement, I started a consulting business to support restaurants and hotels on the island, develop vegan menus, train chefs to work with vegan ingredients and train their service staff to understand the needs of vegan customers. I hosted community events and workshops, vegan cooking classes, supermarket tours, offered personal vegan coaching, promoted local farmers and entrepreneurs, educated and inspired via social media, and much more!

And something amazing happened — the island transformed into a vegan-friendly oasis! Tourists started flocking to Aruba for its vegan-friendly dining scene, local vegan delivery services started popping up, vegan options became available at local supermarkets, events and festivals, and Vegan Aruba started getting featured in travel magazines from airplanes to hotel lobbies! Aruba was even recognized as the Caribbean Island with the most vegan friendly dining options per capita by Happy Cow.

Our mission since the very beginning has been to make the vegan lifestyle both accessible and acceptable on Aruba. We believe that Aruba has come a long way in both of these areas, but there is still work to be done, and we are excited to continue supporting the community of locals and tourists who have an interest in living and vacationing vegan. 

In 2019, I launched my international vegan hospitality consulting, coaching and certification programs to expand what I’ve done in Aruba to the rest of the world. If you’re a restaurant, hotel, or hospitality group that would like to learn how becoming vegan friendly can help your business, visit my website: veganhospitality.com. If you’re vegan and want to learn to consult for restaurants to help them become vegan friendly, you can learn about my Vegan Hospitality Consultant Training Program HERE. I also created course for vegans who want to develop their leadership skills, build confidence, and make an impact on the world: Click here to learn about the Vegan Leadership Accelerator. 

MEET OUR TEAM

Our team currently consists of two Vegan Hospitality™ trained consultants, Cristina and Varsha, and two social media managers, Albi and Lirienne. All team members were raised on Aruba. Currently Cristina lives on the island and is actively working to make the vegan lifestyle more accessible and acceptable for both the local and tourist community. Follow for Cristina’s updates on the vegan scene: Vegan Aruba Instagram. 

CRISTINA CHIARELLI

RESTAURANT CONSULTANT

My name is Cristina Chiarelli, and I am an earthling, vegan consultant, and interior designer. I was born in Venezuela and raised on the beautiful island of Aruba. After having lived in Europe, the United States, and Asia for the past 9 years it was time to move back home to start my family and fully pursue my dreams in vegan hospitality. I completed professional training with Vegan Hospitality™ and work on the island to help hospitality businesses meet the growing need to serve vegan guests. After going vegan, I knew it was my calling to help spread veganism everywhere I went. Through my consultancy, I am part of the Vegan Aruba hospitality consulting team, working with restaurants on the island to help them become vegan friendly and attract vegan guests. I truly believe that a vegan world is possible, where extending compassion to all beings is the norm, as well as doing what’s best for our health, and our planet, in order to give the next generations a better and more promising future. Contact me for a strategy session at allwaysgreenerconsulting@gmail.com so we can help cater to vegan guests together.

 

VARSHA MELWANI

WEBSITE MANAGER

Hi! I was born and raised on Aruba and I currently live and work in the Netherlands. Like most Aruban students, I went to the Netherlands to study. Then I worked in China for a year, which is where I finally decided to go vegan. I’m a graduate of Meredith’s Vegan Hospitality™ program. This program gave me the tools and skills to help all kinds of businesses in taking a step toward a more vegan friendly world. My Indian heritage ensured my love for different kinds of foods, and traveling led to dreaming of a world of compassion for all living beings. I’ve been volunteering with Vegan Aruba for the past three years. I help manage this website to remain a great resource for vegan spots on Aruba.
You can also contact me directly at @fluently_vegan 

 

 

ALBI VALDEZ

SOCIAL MEDIA CO-MANAGER

Hi! I’m Albi and I’m 26 years old. I was born on Aruba and have lived here for most of my life. My professional background is in business and economics, and I guide scuba dives on a freelance basis when possible. I’m also very involved in the local nature conservation scene, especially with marine conservation. You are invited to check my Instagram page out to learn more about our ocean and the crazy stuff in it! @albiunderwater

The environmental benefits of adopting a vegan lifestyle is what first attracted me to the idea a few years ago. After all, I thought it was a bit hypocritical of me to preach about marine conservation while I’m eating fish and other seafood, thereby contributing to the destruction of marine ecosystems. And as soon as I realized how cruel animal agriculture is, there was no going back. I also started Vegan Runners Aruba to help break the stigma that vegans are weak due to not getting enough proteins from plants! We successfully ran Ronde Van Aruba, a 72km relay running event, in 2022.

Happy to be on this team to help accommodate veganism on Aruba!

 

LIRIENNE HOEK

SOCIAL MEDIA CO-MANAGER

My name is Lirienne Hoek, I am a vegan enthusiast, amateur cross-fitter turned runner, and most importantly a mom. In 2021 I decided to move back to my island Aruba after living in the Netherlands for 11 years. When I had my son 7 years ago, I got very conscious of what I was feeding him (that same son that now pretty much only wants to eat potato chips the whole day🙄). As a mom, I wanted to make sure that my newborn baby was not consuming junk and that is when I stumbled upon veganism. After doing my research and watching countless documentaries I decided that veganism was the way to go. Fast forward to 6,5 years later, and I have not looked back since.

After moving back to Aruba and experiencing the lack of vegan options on the island, I decided to join Vegan Aruba with the hopes of bringing more vegan awareness to the Aruban community and also helping my fellow vegans find more options on this small island than just eating french fries🍟

 

 

Follow us on Instagram @veganaruba !