Hey! I’m Caroline. Here’s a mixture of simple vegan recipes and travel notes. I’ve been a vegetarian for nine years and am now an on-again-off-again vegan. I’ve made my way through much of South America, taught in Colombia for a bit, volunteered in Panama, and am about to teach in Puebla, Mexico.

I totally get that meat plays a big part in most cultures, but I like to find ways to try out another region’s local flavors without the chicken-pork-beef-fish category. It’s true that the cattle roaming Argentina’s pampas receive a different treatment than the side-to-side cow jigsaw puzzle of U.S. industrial factory farming. And sure, you won’t find a USDA certified-organic sticker on the chickens hanging in Peru’s markets to know that they’re not pumped with the hormones and antibiotics that cloud U.S. grocery stores. I’ve been told (althought I politely declined) that I was missing out on some riquísimo tiny silver fish sold out of the back of a truck in rural Panama. But I’m sticking to this veghead life and if you feel like it too, an endless list of ingredients awaits. Come eat some food!

Let’s question how and why we eat. Share your thoughts in the comments, or talk back here. Tell me what you know: