Vegan In Germany

[Tofukitty]

Sorry to to tell you this, but Schlecker is no more. They went under last year. Sad because Schlecker seemed to be in almost every little town, unlike the others. If the nearby Rewe is any bigger than a Tesco Metro, you will have a better chance at finding what you need.

If not, then maybe try to fit some things into suitcase? I think more people, well, youngish people, know what veganism is, but don't understand it. It's like stepping back in time 20 yrs sometimes.

[strudelgirl]

Does anyone know where I can buy tempeh in Stuttgart? Asain market or Bio store?

[Andy_T]

Hello Strudelgirl, I typically go to www.happycow.net and search for the city to vind vegan ressources there. Hope it helps.

Best regards,
Andy

[Troutina]

I spent New Years in Hamburg, and although a lot of places were shut for the holidays we ate in some great cafes/pubs/restaurants!

I've written a little blog here, including photographs - we ate at Jim's Burritos and Backbord, both of which were great!

http://paperbagblog.wordpress.com/20.../hamburg-baby/

[harpy]

That looks good Troutina - I must add Hamburg to the list of places to visit.

It's odd how these stereotypically safety-conscious nations (I'm thinking of the Germans and the Dutch) go a bit mad with their fireworks at New Year, isn't it? I was scared stiff when we spent New Year in Amsterdam one time. Perhaps Andy would care to comment

[Andy_T]

Hi Harpy,

I guess that is mostly because the price of fireworks went way down in the last couple of years. But yeah, making lots of noise and explosions is fun.

I was totally impressed by the quantity of fireworks I saw this new years eve ... and I nearly managed to blow up my own garden fence with a fireworks rocket.
The bottle used for launching was not stable enough and toppled ... so that the rocket was launched horizontally as opposed to vertically.
Luckily it was only a small rocket, my kids were nevertheless impressed.

Best regards,
Andy

[harpy]

Hi Andy - that sounds quite, er, exciting, but I was thinking more about the habit of letting firecrackers and other fireworks off in the street, which they did in Amsterdam that time and seem to have done in Hamburg. In the Netherlands I heard there are usually quite a few injuries at New Year: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archive...t_no_major.php (ETA that was last year but I have no reason to think they've reformed )

Seems odd if a normally sensible nation throws caution to the winds. I thought we were supposed to be the riotous ones!

[Andy_T]

Quite honestly ... all throughout my life until maybe 10-15 years ago I remember normally seeing headlines like "man loses hands in accident with self-made fireworks" in the January 1 newspapers.

Maybe that has improved with the price of fireworks going down ;-)

But yes, unresponsible people throwing fireworks at their fellows is one of the many side-effects of new year.

Best regards,
Andy

[harpy]

I'm surprised throwing fireworks in the street is legal (if it is) but maybe the Germans and Dutch are making up for being prudent the rest of the year? Here we just get drunk and fall into fountains etc.

[Andy_T]

Well, of course it is not legal (unless you use teeny weenie fireworks). But at New Years Eve, these laws can most often not be enforced.

My sister told me, that in Vienna, it was pretty safe in the center of the city (where there were around 250,000 new years tourists from Italy and other neighbouring countries and the police strictly enforced the law), but as soon as you moved a little out of the city center with its many venues, it got hazardous as always.

I remember some years ago, when I was in Vienna for New Years eve the last time (maybe 10 years ago)there were actually even more tourists (the pedestrian areas in the inner city were totally crammed), but still, there were idiots who tried to shoot large rockets from garbage cans into the sky - consider what might happen in a totally crowded place if those go off sideways.

So yes, maybe those "orderly" Germans (and other German-speaking folk) do have an unruly streak that needs to get out once a year...

Regards,
Andy

[Troutina]

It was definitely scary!! Especially when we saw horizontal fireworks being let off, and others very close to us. We kind of got used to it as the weekend went on - I suppose it's just how we're brought up in England: believing that fireworks are really dangerous and should be saved for organised displays and responsible families!!

[heatherr30]

Hi everyone I live in Germany but am American. I was so happy to stumble on this thread! I just have a question for the Germans--is it legal to raise your child vegan in Germany? The pediatrician told me my kids have to have meat twice a week, and the nutrition info published by the city also says that under-6 year olds need 40-60 grams of meat 4 times a week.
Now we all know this is quatsch...! But where does that leave me as a vegan parent? I would be so happy to hear from another vegan parent living in Germany to find out how to handle the authorities.

[.Rebecca.]

Hey heatherr30,
I don't have a child but raising your child vegan is definitely legal. There is no law that says anyone has to eat meat... This doctor you talked to just has no clue and considers meat a necessity. My doctor once told me the same thing (nobody can be healthy without meat) even though I was sitting right there, as healthy as could be...
Vegetarianism is rather frequent in Germany (compared to other countries), so most people know and accept that one can live a happy and healthy life without meat.

[Andy_T]

Hello Heather,

I live in Germany and do have children, but unfortunately they are not vegan.

However, my short answer is ... search another doctor. Makes me wonder where are you living? Rural Bavaria?
Maybe check the internet for "vegan friendly doctors" or check with VEBU or VGD.


Best regards,
Andy

[heatherr30]

Hi Andy
I am living in Düsseldorf. I don't think it can get much more culturally diverse than this. My Stadtteil has a lot of Japanese and Chinese families among other nationalities and the (German) doctor studied medicine in China. There is a Reform haus nearby and it looks to have plenty of business, although bio seems more popular than veg among my friends. (I am the only pure vegan I know.) Could be that no one wants to take responsibility for approving a vegan diet if something goes wrong? There are too many scary stories on the news that freak people out about these diets. The dr is an ex-veg herself but stopped after getting low iron, could be why she is so against it. My guess is she was relying too much on dairy in her diet and/or had other health issues which caused the low iron, though I didn't have the guts to ask her about those points. This is also a dr who recommended I salt my kids' food if they don't eat seafood, as preferable over giving iodine supplements. (Huh?? ADDING salt on purpose?) My kids aren't vegan but I am, and I do most of the cooking. Although we haven't forbidden DD to eat meat at kindergarten, I don't see what she does and doesn't eat (sometimes I think she doesn't eat anything there, she is so hungry when she comes home!) and DS, 2, is still at home. So I don't want to rely on the amounts of animal products they are getting for nutrients like B12 and iron, and I also feel the dr should be informed of their semi-veg status.
I am going to give another dr in the area a call, a friend said he was supportive of their son's vegetarian diet, so I hope it will work out better!

Rebecca, thank you for your assurance that many people here are of the opinion that a vegetarian diet is well nourishing. I have had rather the opposite experience unfortunately--somehow people get nervous of the thought of feeding a child vegan (as opposed to vegetarian) let alone an adult. However it is good to know that there are many people who do not share this opinion. I know there is a vegetarian kindergarten somewhere in the city and more and more veg shops, restaurants opening etc but I am on the wrong side of town. And not everyone is well informed, including the drs. I recently met up with an old friend who moved back here and I was surprised to learn that her brother is vegan and she and her DH have definite leanings. So I hope to get some support from a like minded family.

[Andy_T]

I am living in Düsseldorf.

Ah, having lived in Bergisch Gladbach (Cologne region) for a long time, maybe that is where the problem is

No, I am kidding, actually I like Duesseldorf quite a bit, used to work there for some time. Great place to be vegan IMO.
Have you checked the listings in www.happycow.org?

Two things to check out ...
- Becoming Vegan by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis is a good book on vegan health, and
- The 2009 position paper on vegan and vegetarian diets of the ADA

Hearing that your doctor is an ex-vegetarian makes me understand - but certainly not condone - her position a little bit.

Hope that helps.

Best regards,
Andy

PS I always wonder "what do those abbreviations mean?" when I read one of your posts.
I guess DS somehow means son, and DD means daughter, but that is implying on my part.

[Trisolo]

Does anyone know where I can buy tempeh in Stuttgart? Asain market or Bio store?

I get good, organic tempeh from https://www.makrobiotik-perlen.de/... along with other things. I get quite a bit then freeze it. Asian shops do sometimes have tempeh, but often not organic, and who knows where those so beans came from?

[.Rebecca.]

I get good, organic tempeh from https://www.makrobiotik-perlen.de/... along with other things. I get quite a bit then freeze it. Asian shops do sometimes have tempeh, but often not organic, and who knows where those so beans came from?

In general there is always Alnatura (Tübinger Straße 31-33, 70178 Stuttgart). I don't know if they sell tempeh but they have a good range of vegan stuff.
And there is Erdi: http://veganguide.org/place/bioladen-am-stoeckach I haven't been there but the description sounds pretty good, they might have more special things as well.

[Trisolo]

Alnatura doesn't make tempeh for some reason... it doesn't seem very popular in DE. It's easy to find in the US, bsw. in Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and in the UK at health-food shops. And i find Asian shops in DE to have very few bio goods.

Alnatura does make a very good range of bio products though. Mostly without palmöl. And Demeter goods are great. Our local "Tegut" supermarket carries a wide range of both. Then there's "Denns" which also carries (Rapunzel, Demeter) and markets lots of things under the "Dennree" label.

Luckily tempeh ships and freezes well so buying on line is possible. and it's a healthier food than tofu.

[heatherr30]

Ah, having lived in Bergisch Gladbach (Cologne region) for a long time, maybe that is where the problem is

No, I am kidding, actually I like Duesseldorf quite a bit, used to work there for some time. Great place to be vegan IMO.
Have you checked the listings in www.happycow.org?

Two things to check out ...
- Becoming Vegan by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis is a good book on vegan health, and
- The 2009 position paper on vegan and vegetarian diets of the ADA

Hearing that your doctor is an ex-vegetarian makes me understand - but certainly not condone - her position a little bit.

Hope that helps.

Best regards,
Andy

PS I always wonder "what do those abbreviations mean?" when I read one of your posts.
I guess DS somehow means son, and DD means daughter, but that is implying on my part.

Thank you for all the links! I will definitely check them out. I just ordered the first book in German language for feeding vegan babies and toddlers, it is called Vegane Küche für Kinder. The comments on Amazon were that wasn't it great that German vegans finally don't need to read books in English.. haha.. I bought the German version anyway because I thought the recipes might be more compatible with the ingredients available here. (there is no tempeh in the book BTW and everything is really easy to cook!) I will check out the English book you recommend too. I work as a childminder and am playing with the idea of offering only veg lunches from August but I really need to make sure I am read up on all the info and have some good recipes which the kids will eat.

DD= dear daughter
DS= dear son
DH= dear husband
and so on... I got those abbreviations from parenting sites, I guess I assumed they were universal.. (everyone likes nothing more than to talk about their family, right? )