Veganism: How did it start on Aruba?
If you google the word ‘vegan’ or ‘veganism’ you’re sure to get thousands of hits. Until some years ago, most people hadn’t even heard of it. Some questions that might pop up in your head are…
“But, wait, how did veganism get so popular?”
“Is this just a new trend?”
How did vegans end up on Aruba?
Cuminda Vegan? na ARUBA?
Don’t worry, we’ll answer all the questions! But first, let’s talk about how veganism made its footprint on the world and how Aruba became one of the most vegan-friendly islands in the Caribbean.
But first, let’s start with the basics.
What is veganism?
The truth is that though it wasn’t always labeled this way, society has known thousands of generations of “vegans” (it can be dated all the way back to 3300 BC in India!).
Back in the day, the closest term to ‘veganism’ was “strict vegetarianism” where one would abstain from consuming any type of animal products including dairy and eggs. Even if you search “vegan” in the Merriam Webster dictionary today, you will see something similar.
But you’re probably thinking.. how did it get so popular?
Western culture kicked this movement into high gear when celebrities in 19th century Britain, like Percy Byssche Shelley (a very famous poet at the time), started advocating for strict vegetarianism.
In the 19th century, the Vegetarian Society was founded. It wasn’t until in 1944 someone made the distinction between those who consume dairy and those who didn’t that the Vegan Society was founded.
Fast forward to the 21st century…
…and we have more food movements than ever before! Here’s a few:
- Pescatarians (those who don’t eat any meat but do consume fish),
- Fruitarians (those who only consume fruit),
- Flexitarians (those who occasionally eat meat and fish).
According to the Vegan Society, things started really picking up the pace in 2013 when more and more people started pledging online to be vegan for a week, a month, a year or longer! (click here to check out where you can take the pledge too)
Vegans on Aruba
But… you’re probably wondering.. “Pero con veganism a yega Aruba?” How did veganism end up on Aruba?
The thing is, vegans were always here. We just didn’t know it! It all started with Meredith Marin who raised demand on the island, by training different businesses to cater to the Arubian vegan market, and created the Vegan Aruba movement as we know it today.
To find out more, we asked Meredith some questions. Read what she had to say.
How/Why did you make it to Aruba?
I met my husband Andre, who was born and raised on Aruba, in 2008 when I traveled to the island for the first time. To make the long story short, we fell in love, spent years living in the Netherlands and in the U.S., and in 2016 after I gave birth to our daughter, we decided to move to Aruba. We lived in Oranjestad from 2016 until early 2020.
What was it like being a vegan on Aruba?
Let me just start by saying that my transition to living in Aruba felt SO seamless. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly and I felt at home right away. I loved the island lifestyle and I hope to live there again one day. Getting used to eating on Aruba was the hardest part of transitioning (probably the only hard part to be honest!).
I faced many of the frustrations that locals faced daily: Produce is expensive and spoils quickly, vegan specialty products were not available (just a few years ago you couldn’t find vegan cheese in the supermarkets, now you see several brands and styles), and very few restaurants offered vegan options.
People used to say to me “Being vegan sounds great and all, but how can you do it on Aruba? It seems impossible.” That was my initial reason for starting Vegan Aruba. To show people that it is possible to enjoy a vegan lifestyle in Aruba.
How did Aruba take it when you started demanding more vegan options?
The hospitality community on Aruba was for the most part extremely welcoming and interested in serving vegan guests. Chefs had a big challenge on their hands, trying to serve me whatever they had in stock, which wasn’t much.
I started calling restaurants in advance to let them know I was coming to dine, and I would speak to chefs who had to go shopping at the supermarket that day because they had no in-house vegan ingredients. When I was eventually invited to speak at the Aruba Gastronomic Association and present my experience as a customer, I had a line of chefs and restaurant owners asking me for help with serving vegan guests. To say Aruba was ready for this movement is an understatement.
What inspired you to start raising demand on the island?
I needed to be able to eat and I knew I wasn’t the only one. As a social worker and community organizer, I knew the power of community change and I knew some strategies to get started in organizing, so I ran with it. I should also mention that I taught Community Empowerment and Advocacy in the social work department at the University of Aruba for nearly 3 years while I was on the island.
How did you find demand on the island? Was it always there?
Yes, I think so! My social media following grew quickly with locals and tourists who wanted vegan options. Vegans, vegetarians, health conscious folx, people with allergies, creative chefs, hospitality professionals — it seems that everyone was invested in seeing the island adapt to serving more guests.
There were a few hospitality hold-outs…there still are…restaurants that want to hold onto the traditional ways they are used to…but within the next few years I believe that every large restaurant on the island will have vegan options or risk losing interest from the next generation of customers.
Why didn’t people speak up about it before? And what makes you think they’re speaking up about it now?
This is such a good question. Here’s my take on it. There is a culture on the island of catering to tourists. Tourists keep the economy going, and their opinions seem to matter, sometimes more than local opinions, which I know is controversial to say.
I believe that several locals were speaking up before I started to. But for many reasons, I don’t think they were heard. They didn’t have a community to rally around them. They didn’t have the power of a tourist community behind them. They didn’t use social media in a way that could create viral change. They didn’t have the community organizing background I have. They didn’t have the ability to say “I’m from New York City and I was a tourist and I know EXACTLY what tourists are experiencing at your restaurant.”
They didn’t have a reason to consistently go out to eat at expensive restaurants that couldn’t serve them (within the first few months of living on the island I had been out to each sometimes every day for a week, because of all the family visits I was getting). I had this strange ability to BE a resident but APPEAR as a tourist, that locals just couldn’t access. And it worked. I did my best to support local businesses, local farms, local producers, and I still do.
All of my work with Vegan Aruba right now is as a volunteer. Everyone who benefits from the vegan movement on Aruba should be locals who are supporting plant based foods and ending animal cruelty. I can’t wait to return to Aruba one day and see all that was accomplished as this movement continues to grow.
The vegan movement currently on Aruba…
Aruba was declared the island with the most vegan dining listings in the Caribbean by Happy Cow. The vegan movement on Aruba continues to grow. Especially in current times, people are becoming more aware of their health and the benefits of a plant-based diet. More and more people are looking for options that are better for their health and the environment.
Being vegan on Aruba isn’t as difficult as it once was. Not only are there many vegan dining options, there are also a number of vegan friendly take-out and delivery businesses on the island. Finding plant-based mylk is becoming increasingly easy, so going out for coffee dates isn’t as restrictive as it once was.
However, there is still more work to be done! Making yourself known as a vegan or someone with dietary requests, like gluten-free or dairy free, to hospitality establishments is a big way of raising demand on the island. As consumers, we vote with our wallets. So the more we ask, the more the industry will supply.
Have you joined the vegan movement? What restaurants, cafes, or hotels would you like to see become more vegan-friendly? Leave a comment below or contact us at veganaruba@gmail.com or send us a DM on @veganaruba on Instagram or Facebook!
Written by Varsha Melwani
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