Vegans / Vegetarians

[PinkRaven]

Are there any vegans or vegetarians out there planning a 2012-thru hike?
What are your food plans?

PinkRaven

[Pollen]

I am buying my food as I go and will be just trying to make the best selections. When in town, plan on eating the fresh fruits and vegetables and then take dried foods for the hike.

[PaperCrane]

I am by nil means a vegetarian, but I cinstantly preach the good word of corn and beans, or legumes of any sort. They at not only cost effective but also very hearty and good for you. Native Americans lived off of the three sisters for generations.

[d.o.c]

i am thru hiking the long trail this yer i really plan on taking and eating the same vegan stuff i eat at home.. its all about what your willing to carry..

[Tipi Walter]

Are there any vegans or vegetarians out there planning a 2012-thru hike?
What are your food plans?

PinkRaven

I've been a vegetarian for 39 years (since '73) and a serious backpacker for 32 years and for the last several trips (and months) I've been a vegan. It's routine to go in and out of veganism but I usually return to cheese and eggs after a year or so without. Recently I developed a intolerance to lactose---dairy---but I do eat eggs which satisfies my need for protein---rice and beans and tofu and tempeh get old. (And good organic powdered eggs are available from Frontier Co-Op).

A Thruhike is a different style of backpacking when compared to normal backpacking "trips" of however many days as it often restricts you to eating what's available around trail towns, usually junk. When on the AT or when backpack-hitching I always was able to stop at a decent grocery store for decent veggie foods like oatmeal and cheese and granola and fruit and dehyrdrated grain/bean mixes. Some serious individuals like to plan mail drops with healthy vegetarian contents like Mary Jane's Farm food or Frontier Co-Op meals or Tasty Bite pouches, etc.

Beyond all this, the name of the game for backpacking is VARIETY. I enjoy "hiking" thru a grocery store before a long trip and choosing new and different items for the food bags. Lately I've been getting cans of Amy's veggie chili and refried beans and putting them in ziplocs at home and storing in the freezer until shove off. And I always cook up several pounds of organic brown rice before a trip and ziploc and put in the fridge for the trip---this works esp good in winter.

There's also pretty good frozen organic foods in supermarkets like Ezekial breads and muffins and org butternut squash and all else. Even frozen Amy or Cedar Hill meals can be repacked in ziplocs and kept frozen until the trip. Variety is the most important point for backpacking as everything will eventually get old.

[garlic08]

I thru hiked a few years ago with a vegetarian trail diet. Here's my journal entry about it: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=213108 I'm ovo-lacto (30 years now), and like Tipi I dabble in vegan every few years. I bought my trail rations as I hiked. It was fun to vary the diet depending on location--bagels in NY instead of tortillas, cheese in Vermont instead of nuts, etc.

I'm not militant about the veggie lifestyle. A few places along the AT offered pretty good, greasy fish and chips and my semi-starving self couldn't resist that. I tried a chicken burger in Damascus and it was awful. Mainly I'd have vegetables and pasta, vegetables and eggs, and the like for town meals. Lots of good Italian places around NY, too. That's part of the trail culture I really enjoyed.

Good luck with your thru hike.

[rowan]

Just wanted to add that I'm quazi-veggie and will be thru-hiking in April this year. If I had to classify what my diet will be, I'd say its looking more like "low-meat" than complete veg. I eat eggs and in a pinch I'm sure I'll eat a stick or two of jerky. To complicate matters, I'm also allergic to peanuts and my girl who is hiking with me is GLUTEN FREE. We'll be eating some interesting things, to put it mildly.
Good thing I love almonds, pecans, pistachios :)

Cheers to maintaining on the road! I'll try to chime in later w/ some recipes I've used in the past.

[ChinSpinach]

I've been ovo-lacto for a little over 7 years now and I'll be joining you on your 2012 veg-thru! I've always kind of been a "raw ingredients" kind of guy, which is great because it keeps the price lower. My basic advice from the research I've done thus far is to run with the basics that give you all the nutrition you need and switch things up for variety, as well as adding different things to the mix. For example, cream of rice is loaded with carbs, protein, and calories, but is pretty bland. You can add dried fruit, spices, jelly, peanut butter (Even more fat and protein!) for variety. Corn pasta is much the same way. In addition, you can add packets of olive oil or powdered whole milk to your meals to up the fat (and flavor) content. I'm planning on taking along powdered soy protein shake (chocolate!) as something to put in my water for flavor and fat/protein. I do need to check the sodium content of it, though. And last but not least, oatmeal, tortillas, nuts, peanut butter (don't keep it in that jar, silly!), high density crackers, and whole grain cereals give you lots of good stuff. I'm finishing up an entry in my preparation blog about my research into the food department. Feel free to take a look and suggest things: http://chinspinach.tumblr.com

[Doctari]

Samwise posted a link in 09 on doing a vegan hike. pretty good info, & even if not Vegan, some great hints (location specific) on what & where to go for food. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?55983-Calling-Vegan-Hikers!&highlight=Vegan
Have fun with it.

[Feral Bill]

I am not a vegetarian, but often eat good food that does not contain meat. For hiking, I believe a look at equiping your kitchen for cooking the foods you might eat is important. Lentils, for instance, need a longish simmer and might not work well with an alcohol stove.

[Doctari]

Samwise posted a link in 09 on doing a vegan hike. pretty good info, & even if not Vegan, some great hints (location specific) on what & where to go for food. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?55983-Calling-Vegan-Hikers!&highlight=Vegan
Have fun with it.

I meant to say: "On where to go for VEGETARIAN food."

Also meant to say that I have been forced to pretty much go Vegetarian, especially when I hike, because animal protein seriously aggravates my Gout, with 90% of the "attacks" or "flairs" being in my: foot, ankle or great toe of either or both feet. Sometimes I get "lucky" & it hits my Left elbow, so I can still walk. Makes hanging my hammock a bit difficult sometimes though. LOL

[Tipi Walter]

I meant to say: "On where to go for VEGETARIAN food."

Also meant to say that I have been forced to pretty much go Vegetarian, especially when I hike, because animal protein seriously aggravates my Gout, with 90% of the "attacks" or "flairs" being in my: foot, ankle or great toe of either or both feet. Sometimes I get "lucky" & it hits my Left elbow, so I can still walk. Makes hanging my hammock a bit difficult sometimes though. LOL

Just an aside---do you have gout issues with nuts? I eat a lot of nuts and nut butters. Don't they contain a lot of uric acid??

[Doctari]

Just an aside---do you have gout issues with nuts? I eat a lot of nuts and nut butters. Don't they contain a lot of uric acid??
I did ONE time,get pain from eating nuts. I have a,,,,, lust for Cashews, I ate a full, 19 Oz can in about 3 hours. The next day I could not walk for the pain in my right great toe. So, I now do nuts of any kind in moderation. I do eat a LOT of peanut butter, & so far I haven't had a problem, but I don't eat 19 OZ of peanut butter in a sitting. I still eat cashews, but no more than a small hand-full an hour, & no more than about 7 handfuls a day. But, like an alcoholic, (to paraphrase) One handful is too much, & a 19 Oz can isn't enough. :-)
Don't know the science, but my theory is that nuts do indeed have a high level of Uric acid. My "cure" is lots of Cherries. Due to financial reasons, I ate quite a bit of red meat (Already bought & in freezer) recently, it took me 5 cans of cherries to get relief! Can't afford the Alupurinol, for now. I'm almost strict Vegetarian now, lesson learned.