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DESTINATIONS VEGAN RESORTS | SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL


I-TAL restaurant, BodyHoliday Saint Lucia


n travelweekly.co.uk


ot so long ago, vegans daring to dine in a restaurant would earn looks of outright horror from chefs and waiters alike, while travelling abroad


meant stuffing your suitcase with cereal bars or subsisting on fruit plates for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, the experience has been transformed, with vegan


diets better understood and plant-based menus more available, especially in resorts catering to international clientele. There’s still a way to go, but with vegans making up an estimated 2% of the UK population (according to YouGov) and many more embracing a ‘flexitarian’ approach to eating, it’s worth knowing where to send clients in search of a vegan-friendly stay. For strict vegans, you’ll also need to consider cruelty-free amenities, spa products, leather-free furnishings and down or feather-free duvets – even bamboo-based bath or beach towels, as regular towels often used animal-based additives and dyes – which can often be accommodated on request.


CARIBBEAN COLOUR Vegan diets might seem like a new-fangled fad, but they’ve been practised for centuries everywhere from India to Ethiopia, often linked to religious customs. That’s also true of the ‘Ital’ movement that began in Jamaica’s Rastafari community in the 1930s – adapted from the word ‘vital’, a clue to its focus on organic, unprocessed and additive-free foods – and which has spread throughout the Caribbean. Wellness resort BodyHoliday Saint Lucia has an exclusive I-TAL restaurant set amid its organic garden, offering a 12-person dining experience, plus an ‘à la minute’ cooking station so guests can pick their own vegetables and watch the chef prepare them for the freshest-possible flavours. Or try: Also in Saint Lucia, Anse Chastanet has added Emerald’s Restaurant, serving all-vegan tapas-style bites including crispy cauliflower accras (fritters) and mango chutney and bread fruit gnocchi. It has also introduced vegan options in its other eateries.²


30 NOVEMBER 2023


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