08/04/10 Tourists Miss a Vegetarian Offer
Animal Friends brings attention to the poor tourist offer in Croatia
- In Germany alone there are more vegetarians then there are residents in Croatia
Despite the fact that the increase in the number of vegetarians is evident, both in Croatia and in the world, the offer did not adjust in the slightest to the growing number of tourists who on their vacation think about their impact on the planet and on the ethical and humane way of life and relationship with animals and nature.
Croatia as a tourist country continues to forget that behind the large number of tourists who spend their holidays in Croatia there hides a large number of vegetarians. From the tourist offer, which they paid for, they expect an appropriate offer in accordance with their lifestyle and, if such an offer is denied to them, they will spend their next vacation somewhere else instead of Croatia.
Also, there is the increasing number of those who, although still not vegetarians, are aware of the problem and the harm of eating meat and are turning to a plant based diet thinking of their health, the environment and the animals. They also deserve a proper offer to remain faithful to their efforts to do something for themselves and life around them by changing their diet.
Therefore, Animal Friends organizes information stalls with tastings of vegan food which vegetarians, vegans, and allergic tourists as well as those who want to at least occasionally eat meat-free meals are expecting on their holidays.
On Wednesday, August 4, at 11:30 A.M. at Korzo in Rijeka there will be a tasting of various vegan meals from healthy and delicious seasonal vegetables and more and more popular products of tofu and seitan. The visually appetizing tastings will be repeated on Saturday, August 7, in the same place and at the same time, with one exception: the salty delicacies will be replaced with the sweet taste of egg and dairy free pastries.
Even 73% of citizens think that it is necessary to improve the vegetarian offer, and the visitors of the information stalls will be able to express their support by signing the petition to introduce vegetarian meals into Croatian public institutions like hospitals, schools and kindergartens.
In addition to foreign tourists who are looking for the vegetarian offer, more than 150,000 vegetarians and vegans live in Croatia, who also spend their vacation on the Croatian coast and who are also being denied a great holiday without any worries about food. They spend days looking for vegetarian products and restaurants, which makes their vacation very hard and unpleasant and might force them to spend their vacations outside Croatia.
Since vegetarians do not eat animals, many of them neither eat eggs, while vegans do not consume dairy products, it is shameful that they are being offered fish, which is often the case in restaurants along our coast, and it shows insufficient awareness about what tourists eat.
To abolish such misconceptions about the content of the vegetarian diet, the European Parliament is in the process of passing an amendment, which for the first time gives the legal definition and protection of the term "vegetarian" and "vegan." This amendment excludes terms such as semi-vegetarianism and guarantees that products labeled as "vegetarian" do not contain any products derived from any kind of animals, including fish, and those labeled as "vegan" do not contain any animal based products, such as milk, eggs and honey.
Animal Friends, a member society of the European Vegetarian Union, this year also wants to encourage the development of the offer for vegetarians and tourists from a ecologically, health and ethical point of view, which is necessary for the further cultural and tourist development of Croatia.
In order to make the search of plant based products easier, Animal Friends published the online Veggie Guide which provides detailed information about vegan products in Croatia.