I have no confusion.
“Ethical” eating must always be grounded on healthy eating–which is not so easy when one is traveling–especially in a foreign country. Most difficult is keeping in contact with fresh fruit and vegetables.
The healthy choices are always there–but maybe not on a tourist super highway. There are almost always fruit stands somewhere–and sometimes even modern grocery stores–but it takes a mindset to look.
The ethical challenge is to see healthy eating in new cultural contexts–make the right choices–and join in with enthusiasm.
A further ethical challenge is to discover that, in some areas, avoiding starvation may take precedence over eating healthy.
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Must?
Your mileage may vary.
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I feel blessed to live in a place with no ag. irrigation. Rely on rain, and don’t rely on groundwater. On the other hand, cows and steers drink a lot of H2O, then the mega farmers return the manure to the fields in unmanageable quantities that worry locals it could get into their wells. Stunts corn, too. I’ll say this, though. We have 4 farmers that milk 2000 + head. I’ve visited almost every farm in my area, and every one has had well- taken care of animals. You go in and you can tell the cows are contented. I don’t feel bad buying from any of my local producers.
When I travel, I just try to keep things local. Much easier to do some places. In Ecuador, had no choice. Unless you bought Oreos, most things are made within a few miles from where you live, save for seafood, which is run in from the coast.
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Hi Phoenikia,
Without “health,” you won’t make it very far.
Likewise.
If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ll know most of my posts are about healthy cooking, and seeking out a healthy diet in restaurants.
I eat a Mediterranean diet 80 percent of the time.
I love vegetables. Ideas for a vegetarian dinner. Not a big production .
Santé.
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Hi Phoenikia,
I have no doubt that you eat “healthy,” and in SOCAL, my diet, like yours, has that Mediterranean feel we live here. I’ve enjoyed a wonderful Greek grill, and many Armenian restaurants, complemented by Japanese, Chinese, and Thai from Asia–Mexican and Italian for that Mediterranean touch. At home, I cut up a variety of green vegetables, anchored with a core of iceberg lettuce, and integrated with cucumbers, celery, radishes, tomatoes, and avacado–without dressing. My most traditional regular dish is my backwoods “pasty” for dinner, and favorite treat is Swedish pancakes w/tiny blueberries and maple syrup.
I’m having trouble understanding what eating healthy has to do with eating ethically, especially when “eating healthy” means different things to different folks 
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I’m also having a hard time matching up “healthy eating” with “ethical eating”, not only because both have such a range of meanings, but also because in some cases they are not aligned with their missions. For instance, a vegan diet might or might not be more healthful and more ethical in some cases, but it isn’t more ethical in contexts where irrigating fruit and vegetable crops would put a burden on an environment where there’s plenty of (bush)meat. What’s ethical shifts in the context, and what you would consider healthy eating to you is not invariably ethical, which takes more questions into account than what you want to put in your body.
It’s fine to ask how one can eat how one is accustomed when travelling (which is a broader question, in a way), but the responses here seem to be bypassing ethical questions.
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Hi Natascha,
What does “eating healthy” mean to you?
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Hi Hunterwali,
If you’re not “healthy,” you’re not going anywhere. Consider Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
First fulfill physiological and safety needs–“healthy eating”–then worry about “ethical eating”
I understand what you are trying to say. Healthy eating is always preferable.
Question is: to what extent can people objectively define what healthy food is?
In lots of healthy diets (e.g. mediterranean or SE Asian) lots of fats are being used including animal fats, for example lard. In the west we would say this is unhealthy. Who is right?
My own view - which I live by - is that a diet that consists of products coming out of nature (including butter, lard) and which are not processed, is good for me. In moderation of course.
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By whom? I eat what I want. And Ray likes to set rules for everyone.
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For your own sake, your family and loved ones, and society in general to keep health care costs down. Of course you can do whatever you want to do, that’s your own choice.
My answer is not in any way related to how I view Ray, it’s just my own view reflecting a preference for healthy food over unhealthy food.
My life is mine alone to live as I see fit.
OK, but you realise that coming into a discussion headed “Eating ethically while travelling” and insisting that before we can even discuss this we must eat “healthy” is like barrelling into the What’s for Dinner thread and telling everyone that before they have dinner, they must have breakfast. Right? I mean, that’s not the discussion being had here.
(Also, weird flex throwing in Maslow’s hierarchy, which actually says nothing about healthy eating as much as having physiological/ basic needs first. We can argue about whether base needs are “healthy” or not but it’s just an odd thing to throw in as a way of making an argument. Finally, why are you presuming no one here is choosing to eat the way that is healthy for them?)
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So this article is essentially saying if you are passionate about ethical eating and do the homework to understand how to seek out sustainable food choices in your area, as well as support local community places or businesses that support equality, do this while you travel too. Yeah – I didn’t think that needed to be said. I think many of us who are likeminded this way, have a natural appeal towards places that show this commitment, so what is the article really asking us to do differently (to be fair, I did not listen to their podcast)? Just to double check websites and look for those statements from the restaurant about their declarations of sustainability or community partnership? Do they want us to research the background and history of each chef/owner while we’re traveling? Should I have asked the old lady in Peru who was selling tamales on the street if she was certified in her sustainability practices and how she supports her neighborhood?
I am a big supporter of ethical eating, but it’s a bit like preaching to the choir. If you do this at home, you’ll try to do this when you travel. If you don’t do this when you’re at home, no way you are doing this when you travel.
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Lots of veg & salads, grilled meats & seafood, whole fat dairy products, not too much sugar, not a lot of processed food, reasonable portions aka eating till I’m sated vs. eating till I’m full.
However, the thread title is about “eating ethically while traveling,” which implies caring more about others’ health/well-being (including animals & the planet as a whole) than one’s own, not what we each consider a “healthy” diet.
Thread drift?
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Hi Hunterwali,
The linked article is an interesting narrative, which, IMO, presumes one will make–or at least consider–morally sensitive decisions.
I’m merely suggesting a good starting point.
