It Is a Bad Idea for You to Travel North If You Are a Vegetarian. We Explain You Why

The permanent frost of the tundra up north can lead to a challenging experience for vegetarians. The higher north you get the less you have access to vegetables and the more you have access to meat. In the north, eating meat is a way of life and a way that you just cannot avoid. Food up north is relatively expensive, especially vegetables because of the fact that it needs to be imported from further south where crops are grown.

Perishable foods are normally flown in or delivered through a boat, so you better believe they are going to come with a hefty price tag to offset the cost of importing vegetables. The selection of vegetables up north might not be the best either because what little vegetables grocers would offer are nightshades, such as potatoes, that pair well with the overabundance of meat like deer, moose, and bison. The further north you can, the harder it is to find vegetables on the shelves because the sun doesn’t even rise for weeks or months at a time depending on where you go. Some stores don’t even stock their perishable section as often as stores down south would. You would see a lot of empty vegetable containers in northern grocery stores.

Vegetarianism itself is considered inferior up north. Yes, people will judge you and look down on you for being a vegetarian. While humans are naturally omnivores, people up north culturally consider themselves carnivores because of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that never really went out of style. It might be hard to find a restaurant up north that even serves dishes geared for vegetarians. At worst, you can order a side salad and some fries for dinner and just tell the server or whoever you’re with that you had a big hearty meaty lunch, so they won’t judge you mercilessly.

While financially it might be a bad idea to travel north if you’re a vegetarian, you might want to look into a subsect of vegetarianism called pescatarian. Being a pescatarian means you still enjoy all the expensive vegetables you can while being accepted by northerners for eating “meat from the sea.” You won’t be as judged as you would only eating vegetables if you can handle seafood. A lot of vegetarians become vegetarians because of health reasons, but the majority of vegetarians just have concerns over animal cruelty. However, a lot of pescatarians feel they don’t feel they’re breaking any moral rules when it comes to sea creatures as they don’t think fish feel pain and there are enough to where they aren’t risking the extinction of a species. Though, morally superior vegetarians don’t consider pescatarians within the range of vegetarianism, but with so many labels, who really cares in the end?

Traveling up north might be a bad idea if you’re a vegetarian. It might be hard, especially when traveling across borders, to bring your own perishables. This, unfortunately, leaves you at the mercy of grocers who most likely don’t have the greatest selection of vegetables in the first place. You might want to conceal the fact that you’re a vegetarian from friends you meat up north as well because of the fact that, culturally, they’re meat eaters. However, you might get away with overloading your plate with potatoes and telling them you’re carbohydrate-loading to stay warm. Regardless, it’s not the best idea to be a vegetarian up north, but it’s not impossible. With careful planning and a lot of money, you can enjoy your vegetables, just do it in a place where no one can see you or judge you for your lifestyle.