anybody had a vegan Amtrak trip?

[lovingthegreen]

I just found out that Amtrak offers vegan meals if requested in advance and was curious if any of you have done so and, if so, how they were.

[NZVeggie]

Not sure but I am doing a trek in January in South America with GAP adventures and have requested vegan meals.... fingers crossed the food is edible :D

[MrFalafel]

I did Amtrak coast to coast twice many years ago, long before vegan meals were offered. I essentially filled a backpack with granola bars and non-perishable food items and lived on those for the 3 day journey, just buying drinks from the bar.

With any kind of travel, even flying, its best to eat a large meal before the journey and pack your own snacks, even if vegan meals are advertised as available. This way, if you do get a vegan meal, and they get it right, its a treat. Sometimes the meals can be terrible, not really vegan or unavailable and if you were counting on that meal with no fallback then it can be no fun at all.

[lovingthegreen]

I did Amtrak coast to coast twice many years ago, long before vegan meals were offered. I essentially filled a backpack with granola bars and non-perishable food items and lived on those for the 3 day journey, just buying drinks from the bar.

With any kind of travel, even flying, its best to eat a large meal before the journey and pack your own snacks, even if vegan meals are advertised as available. This way, if you do get a vegan meal, and they get it right, its a treat. Sometimes the meals can be terrible, not really vegan or unavailable and if you were counting on that meal with no fallback then it can be no fun at all.

Good point. And from what I can tell doing basic Google research, many times requested vegan means were repeatedly "forgotten" to be placed on board. When I do go on Amtrak next (no trips planned yet, but hopefully one will be soon!), I will definitely request the vegan meals but plan as if they are not going to be available.

But I definitely would like to hear from anybody out there who might have requested and (hopefully!) partaken in Amtrak's vegan meals. :)

Oh yeah, one thing that's kind of funny but not really ... apparently the options are named things like "vegan veal" and "vegan chicken." I guess they don't understand that many vegans don't have a need to eat "fake" meat. :rolleyes:

[Clarita Osita]

Not sure but I am doing a trek in January in South America with GAP adventures and have requested vegan meals.... fingers crossed the food is edible :D

Amtrak is the American train company. :lol:

[bradders]

I wish our long distance train companies did vegan meals. We're occasionally lucky to get a dry plain baked potato, some crisps and once a Moroccan rice thing. Never even seen soya milk on a train.

[misq17]

I've never done a really long trip where Amtrak provides food but on shorter trips I've seen Amy's veggieburgers for sale in the cafe car.

[IamJen]

All of the Midwest trains have Vegan (labeled as such) Gardenburgers for sale in the cafe. Granted, they run out sometimes, but it's a cool fringe benefit to going on Amtrak. I've seen them out the trains out East too, but it's been a couple of years.

[evelinadatta]

I have! It was about 12 hours overnight trip. Dinner food was fine, Garden burger with veggies and rice. Not a gourmet meal but surely beats trail mix and pretzels. Can't remember what they had for breakfast...

[penny79]

I never tried but I'm raw so I doubt they have something as nutritious as I'd want. I bring my own salads (about 3 big ones) and some fruit and maybe get a fresh juice before I go as well.

[NZVeggie]

Amtrak is the American train company. :lol:


Hm I realise that.... but I was just generalising it to my train based trip in South America and wondering whether they will deliver the promised vegan meals.

[Kenickie]

i ordered veggie burgers & spaghetti (no cheese in sauce, they showed me the bottle!) and some other random things. i didn't request vegan in advance, didn't know you could.

but that was a long ass train ride! 3 days. i did from denver to NOLA, so i guess that's going through midwest. Denver - Chicago- New Orleans with all the little stops inbetween.

[bradders]

oh my god, three days on a train, i think i'd have gone mad

[phi]

Amtrak is the American train company. :lol:

Thanks for clearing this up. Now if someone could just tell me what Fedex is, I will be all set!

[mgoat]

"I like the FedEx guy, ’cause he’s a drug dealer and he don’t even know it! And he’s always on time."

-- Mitch Hedberg (rip)

[Begonia]

I did Amtrak coast to coast twice many years ago, long before vegan meals were offered. I essentially filled a backpack with granola bars and non-perishable food items and lived on those for the 3 day journey, just buying drinks from the bar.

With any kind of travel, even flying, its best to eat a large meal before the journey and pack your own snacks, even if vegan meals are advertised as available. This way, if you do get a vegan meal, and they get it right, its a treat. Sometimes the meals can be terrible, not really vegan or unavailable and if you were counting on that meal with no fallback then it can be no fun at all.

I think that's a good strategy - carry things with you, even on an airplane (like small containers of nuts and dried fruit...).

Also, on trips (plane, train), be sure order vegan meals when buying ticket - that way they will know there's a demand out there. But, still, take things with you and eat well before leaving.

I ordered vegan meals on a return flight from Montreal to Amsterstam with KLM... the vegan meal order had not registered and there was nothing for me... the staff was very apologetic, took down my name and flight number for return trip, and told me that I would be sure to have vegan meals on the trip back... again, no vegan food.... I will not travel with KLM again, it goes without saying.

So, again, always carry stuff with you. Ordering a vegan meal in advance does not guarantee you will get it.