One of the most important parts of planning your vacation or traveling is to know where to find food and restaurants. Some people plan ahead, specially if they have specific requests for food or if they love food traveling as much as I do. As a raw vegan and eco-activist, I always plan ahead my food stops before I head out in to my destination. One of my favorites sites to help me plan is Happycow.net where I can find all the local vegetarian and vegan places to eat and shop. As a full time South Florida resident, there are several places here for my fellow vegetarians/vegans to eat and shop. So here is a list of my favorite South Florida places to shop for healthy food:
Josh’s Organic Garden & Juice Bar – Hollywood
Josh’s is probably one of the best, if not THE best, farmers market in the country. Most of the produce is organically grown locally and in Pennsylvania and treated with the utmost care. You can hear Josh scream and see him run every Sunday as he tries to keep the veggies and fruits in the best condition possible. Josh’s greens in the winter beat any store in the county. Once you eat his greens, you cannot accept anything less.
The juice bar is out of this world too! Even though you may feel the prices are high, other supermarkets charge way more for less. Josh’s Juice bar uses their own greens, veggies, and fruits right from the market to make the juices and smoothies. Nothing is processed or pasteurized.
Josh’s Organic Garden is open on Sundays from 9:30 to 5:31 pm and it’s located on Hollywood Beach’s Boardwalk on Harrison street. The Juice Bar is open Sundays 9:30am to 5:31pm, Monday to Thursday 7pm to 9pm.
Glaser Farms – Coconut Grove
The actual farm is located way south in Homestead, but on Saturdays Stan and Tracy bring the farm to Coconut Grove from 11am to 7pm. Located just west of the main Coco Walk center on Grand avenue, Glaser Farmer’s Market is a great place to hang out and enjoy delicious organic, vegetarian, raw food including ice cream and pies! Other vendors set up tents around the market making locals and visitors feel at home.
Marando Farms – Fort Lauderdale
Fairly new, Marando Farms offers great prices for mostly non-organic produce. Some are locally grown from other farmers and some from their own farm. They also offer eggs from their own chickens and sometimes you can see the chickens running around. Great for the kids! They recently open another “wing” for high quality pet foods, so now you can get your food and your pet’s food in the same place!
Marando Farms is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10am to 5pm; Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm; Closed on Wednesdays.
Other places for Organic Produce
Other places in South Florida where you can find great prices for organic produce include Green Wave Cafe in Plantation, a raw vegan restaurant. On Mondays Green Wave opens for their “Organic Market” from 8am to 2pm.
Thrive Restaurant in Miami Beach and LifeFood Gourmet in Coral Way also have Farmer’s Market days. You can visit their sites to see more information on when they offer organic produce for sale.
About a week ago, Denis, my new BFF, and I drove to Fort Myers to ECHO Farms to check out their edible plants and trees and see what we could get. After a quick stop in Naples for lunch, we headed north on I-75 to Bayshore Rd and arrived at the farm.
ECHO stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, they are a non-profit organization that educates and trains people that work or volunteer around the world to help communities in need.
It was getting ready to rain so we had to hurry. But the staff at the farms was very friendly and spent time with us showing us all the greens and fruits available.
The prices were reasonable and they had a nice variety of edible greens. So here are some of the trees and plants they had at ECHO farms:
Avocado Trees! This made me want to have a yeard to plant some of these!
Grapefruits! Our favorites! Once again I caught myself staring at it and wondering how I can grow a grapefruit tree on the beach! LOL
Neem: We bought this little tree and I hope I won’t kill it. Don’t know exactly what I’ll use it for, but I’m sure I be making something!
Tropical fruit trees: As most of you know, Denis and I stay away from tropical fruit as most is acidic. But ECHO had a good variety of tropical fruit trees if anyone is interested.
Jaboticaba Tree: This is one we love, but won’t be growing in our yard anytime soon for sure. But at least now I know where I can get one.
Katuk: This one will be on my salads this week for sure! We got it and it was about $5 bucks! You can get any better than that!
We also purchased two varieties of hot peppers, a moringa plant, spinach plant, and cilantro seeds for next season and worm manure. It was a great trip to the West coast!
Computer bag, Hiking bag, and Lunch bag ready for our trip!
In the two years we’ve been vegan raw foodists we’ve travel quite often and have been able to eat what we are used to eating at home and not struggle finding food during the trip.
How do we do it? This is a very common question we get asked all the time. In the last trip we took, to DC for the RSF, I was in the plane and decided it was time to write about it. So here are my top ten tips to travel raw!
Plan Ahead
First, check the rules for traveling with foods, liquids, etc as they are constantly changing. If you travel internationally chances are it’s a bit more difficult to bring some vegetables and fruits with you are on the plane. Second, check to find the closest organic markets, local farmers markets, and raw food or vegan restaurants around the area you are staying. We love HappyCow.com because it helps us plan ahead where we will be dining once we arrive at the location. It also shows me all local markets and their contact information. Using this information, we map the places we want to go to and decide where to eat or shop for food.
Helpful tip: Write down the phone numbers and hours of operation of the places you want to visit.
Bring Your Own Food
We always carry Avocados, lettuce, and cucumbers with us for the plane ride. I also include enough fruits, nuts, and seeds for the ride. So far, we haven’t had any issues at security. We have a lunch bag that qualifies as a carry-on where we put all our food for the plan ride. Yes! You do have to run it through the x-ray but it’s better than the “glow-in-the-dark†food at the airport.
Helpful tip: carry extra bags for compost such peels, seeds, etc.
Olive Oil
We loved our olive oil and can’t live without it. So we’ve emptied and old vanilla extract bottle that is about 2 oz and washed and filled it up with Bariani’s Olive Oil to carry with us in the plane ride. Using the foods we bring and the olive oil, we make ourselves a nice meal sometimes in the plane or at the airport while connecting.
Helpful tip: Go to any food court and ask for a plate or container to use for making your food.
Salt
This is a topic that is very delicate with most people who are healthy. Salt… we like it and we need it. We use Real Salt and carry it with us everywhere. We have it in the car, at work, in my purse, everywhere. So when we fly or travel, it’s always with us.
Helpful tip: Real Salt has a small container that can be refilled.
Traveling Lunch Bag
Water, Green Powder and pH Drops
Water is possibly the most important part of traveling. Since we can’t carry liquids anymore, the first thing we do after the security check is get water. If you are lucky, some airports carry water with a high pH that will help you keep hydrated during your trip. If you are driving, I suggest taking your own water with you in a cooler. We also use a green powder and pH drops to add to the water. This helps us stay hydrated and get all the vitamins our bodies need while traveling. We even carry lemons or limes to squeeze into the water to that it stay fresh… yes that’s more complicated, but we now carry our lemon squeezer!
Helpful tip: if you carry your lemon squeezer (like we do), take it out of the bag during security check and set it on top of your jacket so that they don’t go through your lunch bag.
Dessert
We always do desserts because if you pass the cinnamon bun stand at the airport, chances are you would be tempted to have one. If a fruit serves as dessert, bring apples and bananas as they are the easiest to carry. If you don’t consider a fruit dessert, then bring something sweet for the trip. We like to make nut and dried fruit bags for the trip. Sometimes we carry raw chocolate bars, not good if you are planning to sleep in the plane. Also, we recently discover raw cookies in a package by Go Raw and they are perfect for traveling.
Tea bags
We carry two to four tea bags to drink in the plane and ask for hot water to brew the tea. We like the Lemon Echinacea Throat Coat by Traditional Medicinals the best. Why we drink tea? Most time in planes people are sick and we don’t want to run the risk of getting sick, especially if you are not getting the food your body is used to eating while traveling.
Helpful tip: ask for two cups of hot water to brew one tea bag, they usually server the water in small cups.
Helpful tip: Carry your salt, utensils, and napkins in the same zip lock bag inside your lunch bag, that way when is time to make your food in the plane, everything is accessible.
Arriving late
So last year we flew on Christmas day and arrived in California at close to midnight and we had run out of the food we carried with us. All there was open in San Fran were Chinese restaurants, and we didn’t think they would carry a salad! So here’s what we did, we ran to a 24-hour drug store and looked for snacks. They actually carried some vegetables rolls and fruits as well as some nuts and seeds. We bought some bananas, water, and pecans and that was our meal. Basically, don’t get depressed, there is always something raw somewhere. Don’t give up!
If everything else fails, buy at the airport
So if you had a last minute trip and didn’t get a chance to pack your lunch bag, buy a salad at the airport. Yes, the “glow-in-the-dark†salads and fruits that have been transported there by so many hands and trucks. We’ve done it once or twice when traveling overseas and brought an avocado to complement the depressing lettuce they sell you at the airports, and we are not proud of it.
Helpful tip: carry your salt and oil and make a nice little meal.
When traveling overseas, the rules may be a little different. You may have to eat all your food before you get to the other country. I also heard a tip from Sergei Boutenko on how to travel to other countries, make a powder of dehydrated vegetables and pack it in your carry on. Ask for a cup of hot water and mix in the powder, with some salt and oil and you have a nice soup. Our local raw vegan farmers market actually sells the powder of a veggie mix that can be used for traveling. Nut bars and other raw treats help hold you until you land but will most likely dehydrate you.
As we continue to travel, we learn more tips on how to continue our lifestyle and enjoy traveling to new places. The best part of traveling raw is the faces of the people sitting next to you watching you eat! 😉
We stayed at a B&B in Mt. Shasta that has a Vita Mix and Dehydrator so we made pizza!
For most people that live in the East or West coast it not that hard to find a farmer’s market as most cities nowadays hold a weekly farmer’s market. However, it may be difficult to find farms and fresh produce as you get closer to the center of the country. Therefore, I’ve gather three websites that can guide you thru finding places to shop locally and organic.
Happy Cow
Not only can you find vegetarian and vegan restaurants but also any markets or shopping sites for organic foods. I often use this site whenever I’m planning a trip out of town so that I can find places to eat and find organic foods. View their site
The Local Harvest
I recently discover this site and it’s been great help finding local farmers. It’s very user friendly and can locate from farmer’s markets to restaurants by just entering a zip code. View their site
Organic Consumer Association
This site is not only helps you find organic food but also green business in your area. Â They are one of my favorite sites because it promotes healthy-green-living. Whether you need green camping equipment or pet supplies, this site can help you find organic and sustainable businesses in your area. View their site
In addition to these three sites, many farmers’ markets are listed in social media sites. Just ask in twitter or facebook and someone will tell you where to find local organic foods.
If you live in South Florida, there are two well known organic farmers’ markets, Josh’s Organic Garden in Hollywood and Glaser Farmsin Coconut Grove. In addition, many farmers from Homestead Florida come to Glaser to sell their produce. One of them includes Tim Tye, who is well known for his local fruits and for using ocean water in his crops.
If you cannot find a local farmer, you can also try starting your own garden or a co-op. Even though the produce from co-ops travel many miles to get to you, is another way to support the organic farming community.
Either way you go with, is a great step to support green and organic farmer. Remember vote with your money!
One of the most important parts of planning your vacation or traveling is to know where to find food and restaurants. Some people plan ahead, specially if they have specific requests for food or if they love food traveling as much as I do. As a raw vegan and eco-activist, I always plan ahead my food stops before I head out in to my destination. One of my favorites sites to help me plan is Happycow.net where I can find all the local vegetarian and vegan places to eat and shop. As a full time South Florida resident, there are several places here for my fellow vegetarians/vegans to eat and shop. So here is a list of my favorite South Florida places to shop for healthy food:
