Latest / UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell / UnchainedTV: The 5 Top Secrets to Successful Vegan World Travel

Transcript

UnchainedTV: The 5 Top Secrets to Successful Vegan World Travel · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

0:00
What a guest we have for you today.
0:03
She has a show that is now streaming
0:06
on Unchained TV.
0:08
You can travel around the world with her.
0:11
Her name is Eunice Reyes of Rated V
0:16
for Vegan.
0:34
Wow, this is incredible.
0:36
We are so excited that her show, check
0:40
this out.
0:41
Looks like meat, isn't it?
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It's not.
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It's 100% vegan, and you're going to
0:45
find out all about it.
0:47
The one and only Eunice Reyes, Rated V
0:50
for Vegan, now streaming on Unchained TV.
0:53
Welcome.
0:54
Wow, how did you get into this business
0:57
where you literally are travelling the world eating
1:01
the best vegan food on the planet?
1:03
Must be nice.
1:06
Thank you.
1:07
Hi, Jane.
1:08
Thank you for having me on here.
1:09
Oh, my gosh.
1:10
It's been a journey.
1:12
It's funny because when I started, I wasn't
1:15
initially kind of thinking it as a business.
1:17
Obviously, like most content creators, they kind of
1:19
start like, oh, let me just try this,
1:21
right?
1:22
I literally started about a little over five
1:24
years ago with an iPhone 7 and a
1:28
big idea and had no clue what I
1:31
was doing.
1:31
I just knew that I somehow wanted to
1:33
showcase worthy vegan food.
1:35
At the time, I was still, I had
1:37
just become plant-based, so I had just
1:38
become vegetarian with the goal of eventually becoming
1:41
vegan.
1:43
And then the reason I did it was
1:46
because I, growing up, I've always been exposed
1:48
to vegan vegetarian food, and I liked it,
1:50
right?
1:50
So I kind of grew up side by
1:52
side trying both foods.
1:53
So I always knew that vegan food was
1:55
very delicious and it was very creative to
1:57
cook with.
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I started using it more at home.
2:01
Like I would, you know, experiment with vegan
2:03
baking.
2:04
And then, so I've always had this interest
2:06
in health and vegan food, right?
2:09
And then there was one time where I
2:12
watched a documentary called What the Health?
2:15
And I remember after watching it, I was
2:17
just like, I literally was like, I know
2:19
too much.
2:19
I know too much information now.
2:21
I don't know.
2:22
I know I need to just stop eating
2:23
meat.
2:24
Like it was one of those things where
2:25
I was like, I need to eventually move
2:26
toward a vegan diet.
2:28
You know, it's one of those, and that's
2:30
the beautiful thing of these documentaries, and particularly
2:33
that style of that one, I really liked
2:34
how it was very health focused, but it
2:36
also touched on, you know, like the ethical
2:37
side of like the food, like what the
2:40
food industry is doing, like how veganism can
2:42
really help, you know, be more ethical with
2:46
your choices, right?
2:47
So at the time though, I was, and
2:49
I still am a huge consumer of food
2:52
and travel shows and the food YouTubers that
2:54
would go around and review a bunch of
2:57
time.
2:57
One of my favourites were the Fung Bros.
2:59
They still are.
3:00
And they would go around to different restaurants
3:02
and just educate people on the type of
3:04
food and what to order, et cetera.
3:08
But when I decided to go plant-based,
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I was like still watching the same content.
3:13
And I was like, I can't eat that
3:15
anymore.
3:15
I can't eat that anymore.
3:17
I can't eat that anymore.
3:18
You know what I mean?
3:19
So I was like, oh my gosh, how
3:20
come nobody has like content on YouTube where
3:23
you're going around reviewing food from different cities
3:26
or countries, but, you know, plant-based.
3:29
So I was like, you know what?
3:31
I think I want to do this.
3:32
And at the time I was like, you
3:33
know what?
3:33
I would love to start some kind of
3:34
content creation, like business eventually, you know?
3:38
So like, let me just play into this.
3:40
So this is my encouragement to anybody who's
3:42
thinking of starting something new, literally don't overthink
3:44
it.
3:45
Start with what you have.
3:46
Again, I had an iPhone 7, and I
3:50
Googled what, you know, microphone should you use
3:54
for vlogging, right?
3:55
And so just like, I started with the
3:56
bare minimum and kind of just took it
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from there.
4:00
Obviously from there, I started refining more and
4:02
more of like the storytelling.
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I had the opportunity then to live in
4:07
Spain for two years because I did a
4:08
teaching English programme.
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And that's where I got to film a
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lot of places in Spain and a lot
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of places in like, and other places in
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Europe.
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So I got to go to Paris and
4:19
London and, you know, Portugal and all these
4:21
other places.
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And so it really allowed me to have
4:24
more time to really focus on the YouTube
4:27
channel that I had.
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And now, you know, then I upgraded to
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a camera.
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So now I use a camera.
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You know, like.
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We are going to hear all about your
4:39
travels.
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Like I say, you figured out like possibly
4:42
the best job on the planet for a
4:45
vegan.
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Travelling the world and sampling the best, most
4:50
gourmet or the most fabulous street food in
4:53
the world that is 100% vegan.
4:56
We're going to reveal your top five secrets
4:58
for enjoying vegan travel in the show.
5:01
But first we've got a caller.
5:03
We've got Paige in Los Angeles.
5:05
Your question or thought for Unistray is.
5:11
Oh my gosh.
5:12
I love what you just shared because I
5:15
feel like sometimes people think that we're deprived
5:19
as vegans.
5:19
We're not going to get the best food.
5:21
And I love that you're like, oh no,
5:23
I can do this.
5:24
So that's the first thing I want to
5:25
say.
5:25
Thank you so much for the work you
5:27
do.
5:27
Secondly, I want to ask you this question.
5:30
How do we get your show and the
5:33
other things that are on the fabulous streaming
5:35
network, out to the main stream people?
5:40
How do we do that?
5:40
What are your thoughts?
5:42
So that's actually my big dream.
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Like when I first started this, I was
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like, you know what, one day I want
5:50
to be on like Netflix or like some
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major streaming platform, right?
5:54
Because my goal, and this is something that
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I like to share, is my goal is
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not to convert people to veganism.
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I know some people are like, what?
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What do you mean?
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But your channel is all vegan.
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Like, no, my goal is actually to like
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show people a positive experience.
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Have them have a positive experience with vegan
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food and excite them about vegan food.
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Like, obviously I'm vegan and I'm all for
6:14
a vegan diet.
6:15
I will like, you know, talk about like
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how amazing it is.
6:18
But for someone who's not vegan, if they
6:20
were to watch my channel, I want them
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to get excited and be like, hey, like,
6:23
you know, I don't eat that, but I
6:24
kind of want to try it, right?
6:26
And so, you know, I love storytelling.
6:28
I love interviewing chefs as to why they
6:31
choose to go vegan.
6:32
I've met so many incredible people on my
6:34
travels and like why they started their businesses,
6:36
like why they started vegan food.
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Like one amazing story I love is like,
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for example, in Spain, this family had an
6:44
all vegan meat shop in the central market
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in Spain, surrounded by other butchers, which you
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would think that's extreme.
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Like, why would you go in there as
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a vegan?
6:56
But they were doing, that was like their
6:57
form of advocacy of being like, and the
7:00
story that they would often get is people
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would, like an old grandpa would come in
7:05
and be like, hey, my doctor said I
7:08
can't eat meat anymore, but you sell vegan
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meat and I want to try it and
7:12
it tastes just the same.
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So now I'm happy that I don't have
7:14
to give the food I grew up with,
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right?
7:16
And it helps lower the cholesterol, all that
7:18
stuff, right?
7:19
So anyway, sorry, I kind of went on
7:20
a tangent, but to answer your question, my
7:23
goal is to eventually work with other people
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that obviously I can't do this right now
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at the level I'm at, I'm a one
7:28
man show.
7:28
So I need bigger help to come in
7:31
to make that dream come true of how
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to get it to the main audience.
7:34
But obviously being on Unchained, that helps a
7:36
lot.
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That's one stepping stone.
7:37
So thank you, Jane.
7:39
And just thank you also for your support
7:41
and appreciating the travel that I'm sharing.
7:47
Well, guess what?
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We're also aiming for the mainstream because we're
7:50
a global streaming network growing every single day.
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Boy, you've got callers here.
7:55
Tiffany in Los Angeles, we're going to whip
7:58
through these because they're lining up.
7:59
Your question or thought for Eunice Reyes, star
8:01
of Rated V for Vegan.
8:05
Hi, Jane, thank you for taking my call.
8:07
Yes, this is making me so hungry.
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Have you thought about doing any, I know,
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I'm like, where can I find some of
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this?
8:16
Have you thought about doing any tours?
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Line me up where you take people on
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a tour.
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So funny.
8:24
Yes, so funny actually that you mentioned that.
8:26
I actually have a vegan trip to Vietnam
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coming up in November.
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You are still able to sign up if
8:33
you're interested.
8:34
I'm also helping promote the vegan itinerary in
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Seoul, South Korea.
8:39
That one is coming up really quick though
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at end of May.
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So there are vegan itineraries that I've partnered
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with different people.
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I will actually be at the one right
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now in November in Vietnam.
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That's a seven day itinerary.
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So there you can check out more out
8:53
on my Instagram page.
8:55
You'll see a Vietnam channel on my page
8:57
or even my LinkedIn bio to get more
8:59
information.
9:00
But yes, I'm starting to do that.
9:02
And I think it's going to be a
9:03
lot of fun because I just love travelling
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and it'd be fun to meet other vegans
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who are also passionate about vegan food and
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travel.
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So those are some options.
9:12
That's a great idea.
9:14
I actually sent my late mother on a
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trip to Vietnam through a museum and she
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had the time of her life and it
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was really one of the highlights of her
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life.
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And so she was just filled with stories
9:30
for years about Vietnam and what an incredible
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place it is and the incredible people.
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Actually brings tears to my eyes just thinking
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about that.
9:37
That sounds like something I would love to
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do.
9:41
Again, tell everybody your Instagram handle because they
9:46
can DM you if they're interested in that
9:48
tour.
9:49
Yes.
9:49
So it's at RatedVFood on Instagram.
9:53
Got it.
9:54
Okay, we've got another caller.
9:56
Lindsay in Tarzana, your question or thought for
9:59
Eunice Reyes.
10:01
I just wanted to say, I am so
10:04
honoured to meet you.
10:06
And the reason being just for two things,
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I have a husband that, he loves to
10:14
travel and he said to me when I
10:15
became vegan, oh, well that ruins everything because
10:19
when you go to travel, you want to
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go and experience the food.
10:24
So this is a wonderful way to watch
10:26
your show and to see what you're doing,
10:28
to learn about that and to have places
10:30
to go.
10:32
The second thing, I think you're a super
10:34
inspiration to all of us that are in
10:38
the vegan community and you became an entrepreneur
10:42
and was able to do what you're doing
10:44
and be an inspiration for other people.
10:47
Oh, thank you so much.
10:49
Yeah, thank you.
10:51
Well, I think she's absolutely right.
10:54
You basically are doing what everybody would like
10:57
to do.
10:57
Frankly, I'd like to do it.
10:58
I'd like to travel the world and just
11:01
sample the best vegan food.
11:02
I've done that somewhat, vegan Berlin, vegan England,
11:08
but not to the extent that you've done
11:11
it.
11:11
And what I really like, and as soon
11:14
as we get this next caller in, I'm
11:17
gonna play a couple of clips of you
11:19
diving deep into the ethnic food of the
11:23
regions that you're at.
11:24
Let's get one more caller.
11:27
Nilofar in Dallas, Texas.
11:29
Your question or thought for Eunice Reyes, star
11:31
of Rated V for Vegan on Unchained TV.
11:35
Hi, my question is for Jane in regards
11:39
to the fabulous Eunice.
11:41
Jane, how did you discover Eunice?
11:45
Well, I, you know, I'm always, okay, because
11:49
I have a vegan streaming network, which is
11:52
right behind me here on my Samsung TV
11:54
with 2000 videos.
11:56
And I'll tell you, we get videos in
11:58
all the time.
11:59
I stay up till one o'clock almost
12:01
every night.
12:01
Well, you know, let's be realistic, maybe 1030
12:06
at night uploading videos.
12:08
But I'll tell you, a lot of them
12:09
are serious, depressing videos about what's happening to
12:12
animals.
12:12
I'm always on the lookout for something fun
12:15
because we got to get people in the
12:17
tent.
12:17
We got to show them that veganism is
12:19
a joyous experience.
12:21
And it's not just about ending animal suffering.
12:24
That's a big thing.
12:25
But we want to show that we're happy.
12:28
My worst day as a vegan is better
12:31
than my best day eating animals.
12:33
And so when I saw Eunice Reyes and
12:36
her videos on YouTube and she's having a
12:39
great time and I'm learning about these different
12:42
cultures and these different places.
12:43
And I just was like, we have to
12:46
have her on Unshade TV.
12:48
She's fun.
12:49
And people who are vegan or not vegan
12:51
are going to be interested in watching her
12:53
because you feel like you're in the country
12:56
when you are watching these videos.
13:00
You feel like you've just gotten on a
13:01
plane and taken a trip there.
13:03
And I want to play exhibit A.
13:07
Okay, Mexico City is one of the top
13:12
vegan cities in the world now.
13:13
And I want you to talk about this
13:14
on the other side.
13:15
But they created a vegan meat that usually
13:20
you see on a spit and usually I
13:22
go, oh.
13:24
You've got to check this out because it
13:26
looks like meat.
13:27
You say it tastes like meat, but it
13:30
is not meat.
13:32
And it is something absolutely fantastic.
13:35
Let me, here it is.
13:41
Al Pastor in Mexico City.
13:43
Check this out and tell me if you
13:45
think it looks like meat, but it's not.
13:48
Every day, the vegan Al Pastor is made
13:50
out of wheat gluten and marinated for 24
13:52
hours.
13:53
Then it's hand-picked to form the perfect
13:55
shape on the spit.
13:56
The iconic pineapple is then placed on the
13:58
spit as the base for the meat to
14:00
be formed.
14:07
And cut and grilled for the perfect juicy
14:10
crisp.
14:11
Then it's, of course, served with locally made
14:13
tortillas garnished and topped with the iconic pineapple.
14:17
Okay, and now it's time for the best
14:20
part to try the Al Pastor tacos that
14:22
they are known for.
14:24
I have been eyeing this thing just from
14:28
seeing it on the spit.
14:29
Oh, my gosh, it looks absolutely amazing.
14:31
I topped it off with their guacamole salsa.
14:33
It's guacamole habanero, so it's the spiciest one
14:36
that they have here at the restaurant.
14:38
They serve it with beans on the side.
14:40
It's just, oh, I love that they put
14:42
the double tortilla, so it's like a really
14:45
good filling meal.
14:46
All right, cheers.
14:53
♪♪♪ I love that the meat is, like,
14:57
really juicy inside.
14:59
It has that nice char on the outside.
15:01
The colour is beautiful.
15:02
Due to the adobo sauce that they put
15:04
on top, it's the perfect spice level.
15:06
It has a great flavour.
15:08
It doesn't feel dry.
15:09
It feels meaty.
15:10
It hits that spot for that craving that
15:12
you want.
15:13
Especially if you're in Mexico City, you want
15:15
Al Pastor tacos.
15:15
Come on, like, that's what they're known for
15:17
here.
15:17
So you don't have to miss out.
15:19
You get to enjoy that as well.
15:20
I love that the pineapple gives that sense
15:22
of sweetness.
15:23
The lemon that you put on top is
15:24
great.
15:25
You have to get this.
15:27
This was incredible to me because I see
15:29
these spits with meat when I see street
15:32
food wherever I go, and, frankly, I'm repulsed.
15:35
But you have just totally shown us how
15:38
it could be reinvented.
15:40
How did you discover that?
15:42
And how do we get that to Los
15:44
Angeles and all over the world?
15:46
That's what I've been saying.
15:47
I was like, how do we get this
15:48
to Los Angeles?
15:51
So I actually had heard about it from
15:53
a few people.
15:54
They had recommended it to me when I
15:55
started telling them that I was travelling through
15:56
Mexico City.
15:57
And so when I found them on Instagram,
15:58
I was like, oh, my gosh, I have
16:00
to go here.
16:00
So for those wondering what it's made out
16:02
of, it's made out of vital wheat gluten,
16:04
so AKA seitan, right?
16:06
But they just rolled it out and moulded
16:07
it in the same way that it would
16:09
look like meat, right?
16:10
Food is so iconic in Mexico City, or
16:12
just Mexico.
16:13
Food is a big deal in all of
16:15
Latino culture.
16:17
And what I love about this restaurant, their
16:19
story was like, no, we wanted to kind
16:22
of show people you don't have to give
16:24
up the food that you grew up with.
16:26
And we also wanted to make it accessible.
16:28
So their prices are very reasonable.
16:30
They're not expensive because they didn't want that
16:32
stigma of like, just because it's vegan, it's
16:34
expensive, right?
16:34
Because a lot of restaurants here kind of
16:37
can be, right?
16:40
But I just, I love the two, like
16:42
they have a little sign that says vegan,
16:44
right?
16:44
But because it's on the street and they
16:46
have it, you know, it first started as
16:48
a food cart, like a little, like the
16:49
taco carts, like you see all over Mexico
16:51
City.
16:52
So that was how they first started and
16:54
now they expanded to the restaurant.
16:55
So they have the al pastor, like the
16:57
spit on the street.
16:59
And they said one time, this guy comes
17:01
in, has no idea that it's vegan because
17:03
you wouldn't know, honestly, walking by it, you
17:05
would have no idea it's vegan.
17:07
He comes in, he orders his tacos, right?
17:09
Because the menu also is like carnitas, al
17:11
pastor, it doesn't really say vegan, except for
17:13
the front page.
17:15
And then the guy finishes his food and
17:17
he goes up to the cook and he
17:19
was like, that was the best pork I
17:21
ever had.
17:22
And the cook goes, that was made out
17:24
of wheat.
17:24
And the guy was like, what?
17:26
So that's it.
17:27
I just love their form of activism.
17:29
They're just doing it through food.
17:31
That guy probably would have never even thought
17:33
about veganism until that day.
17:35
He was probably like, wait, what did I
17:37
just eat?
17:38
That tasted like meat, but it wasn't animals,
17:39
right?
17:40
And so I just absolutely love that.
17:42
And I heavily do research.
17:44
I know we're gonna maybe talk about this
17:46
later on like tips of vegan travel, but
17:48
one of the things I like to say
17:50
is, I like to look, I'm such a
17:53
food nerd.
17:54
Like I just love learning about food.
17:56
And so typically something I'll do is I
17:58
will search what the popular foods are in
18:01
that city in general.
18:02
Like what are the iconic foods of that
18:04
city?
18:05
And then once I made a list of
18:06
like, oh, this is what they're known for.
18:08
I'll go into Google or Instagram and then
18:11
specifically type that dish with vegan next to
18:15
it to see if I can find a
18:16
restaurant that has a vegan option, right?
18:18
So that's kind of what my thought process,
18:20
because I wanna immerse myself in the culture
18:22
and the food as well, right?
18:24
Oh yeah.
18:25
I mean, I think that's a great idea
18:26
and I've travelled a lot.
18:27
It never occurred to me.
18:28
And we're gonna recap that in a minute
18:31
because that's really important.
18:32
We've got a caller, Michelle in Los Angeles.
18:35
Your question or thought for Eunice Ray is
18:37
rated V for vegan.
18:38
Now streaming on Unchained TV.
18:42
Hi, Eunice.
18:43
I love your show.
18:45
The first time I saw it, I was
18:46
thinking to myself, this is what we need.
18:49
So I have a lot of friends who
18:50
are not vegan and the biggest thing is
18:53
that they say going vegan, they're gonna lose
18:56
their like heritage and the ethnicity.
18:59
There's like no soul in vegan food and
19:02
you found it.
19:03
So what have you found with other people
19:06
around you that are not vegan?
19:07
Do they say the same?
19:09
What's your opinion?
19:11
Oh yeah.
19:12
So I'm Salvadorian.
19:14
I'm 100% Salvadorian.
19:15
So growing up, I ate a lot of
19:17
pupusas, which are, for those familiar, there are
19:22
corn tortillas stuffed with cheese and beans, right?
19:25
Those are my favourite.
19:26
There's stuff with meats as well, but my
19:27
favourite, that's the one.
19:30
And there's a lot of other dishes that
19:32
they have in Salvadorian food.
19:34
And so when I first became vegan, I
19:35
was like, wait, am I gonna give up
19:38
these foods?
19:38
And my first reaction was absolutely not.
19:41
I love being in the kitchen and I
19:43
knew there was gonna be a way where
19:45
you can definitely still keep the foods that
19:48
you eat.
19:49
You just have to find the right alternative,
19:51
right?
19:51
And it's all a matter of just doing
19:53
a little bit of research.
19:55
You do have to like cooking.
19:56
I will have to say that.
19:57
But even then, there's so many amazing vegan
20:01
YouTubers and Instagrammers that cook that have done
20:06
amazing things of keeping their heritage, but just
20:09
finding the right alternative.
20:11
I'm seeing Caribbean food, Chinese food, Latin American,
20:16
but anywhere, you name it, it's out there.
20:18
And there's anything you can eat, I can
20:20
eat vegan is what I like to say.
20:22
So you can definitely eat everything you grew
20:26
up with.
20:27
You just have to find the right substitute.
20:29
And every time I like, I'm the only
20:30
one in my family that's vegan.
20:32
Thankfully, my family is very open.
20:34
They just like food in general.
20:35
So when I make them like, my Salvadorian
20:38
breakfast, which is typically like scrambled eggs with
20:40
tortilla and crema and beans.
20:42
Like I've made my tofu scramble, my cashew
20:44
crema.
20:44
And then I say, they serve everything the
20:46
same.
20:46
Beans, plantains, avocado.
20:48
I just gave this to my mom this
20:49
morning.
20:50
She's like, this is delicious.
20:51
Like my parents love it every time I
20:53
give it to them.
20:53
My aunts love it.
20:54
My cousins love it.
20:56
So it's like, but because they're just not
20:58
familiar with making it themselves, they're kind of
21:00
like, wait, how do I do this?
21:02
So it does require effort.
21:03
But the first step is to just make
21:05
the decision that you want to try it,
21:06
right?
21:07
And so, but I'm here to tell everyone
21:09
that, yeah, it's 100% possible to keep
21:11
eating your favourite foods, but you can have
21:13
them vegan as well.
21:15
I like your phrase, everything you can eat,
21:17
I can eat vegan.
21:19
I think we got to do some kind
21:20
of a rap song with that or something.
21:23
You have so many great videos.
21:25
Again, they're streaming on Unchained TV.
21:26
This one really blew me away because it
21:29
sounds like you've been researching South Korean food
21:32
for a long time.
21:34
Let's watch.
21:34
We'll talk on the other side.
21:40
Seoul mixes the cutting edge with deep tradition.
21:42
And now they have a vegan scene to
21:44
show off.
21:45
I'm Eunice, and I'm going to show you
21:46
five must-try vegan spots in Seoul and
21:48
sights you need to see.
21:49
Let's go.
21:57
For our first meal, I had to check
21:59
out this all-vegan Korean restaurant.
22:02
I'm at Vegan Kitchen here in Seoul, very
22:05
close to Seoul Station.
22:06
I love that it's very hard to miss.
22:08
You walk down the street, that's on the
22:09
big green sign.
22:10
This is Vegan Kitchen.
22:11
I couldn't resist because I really wanted to
22:14
get japchae.
22:15
If you're not familiar with japchae, japchae are
22:16
glass noodles here.
22:17
It's a very traditional dish.
22:18
It's just vegetables.
22:19
A lot of times, they do make it
22:21
everywhere else with vegetables, but they add meat.
22:23
Here, it's all vegan, obviously.
22:26
I also got tteokbokki.
22:27
Tteokbokki is these Korean rice cakes.
22:30
They're fried rice cakes, and they come in
22:32
a sauce and everything.
22:33
It's the chewy texture that gets me every
22:35
time.
22:35
It's delicious.
22:36
I love it.
22:37
Then, I couldn't resist because I had to
22:40
get what I like to call the original
22:41
KFC Korean fried chicken, but vegan.
22:44
Here, you can get a bunch of different
22:46
flavours.
22:47
I got the garlic fried one.
22:49
You have spicy and everything.
22:50
The cool thing is, you can order from
22:51
a screen, and the little robot brings all
22:53
the food, and they got you your banchan.
22:56
Your banchan comes first.
22:58
All those phrases.
22:59
How did you familiarise yourself with all that
23:04
South Korean food and the dishes and the
23:07
names and the pronunciations?
23:10
Like I mentioned before, I'm a total food
23:12
nerd.
23:13
I've actually liked Korean food for a very
23:15
long time now, even before I went.
23:19
I really got into K-dramas.
23:22
What's that?
23:24
Korean dramas.
23:25
Oh, my gosh.
23:26
If you have not watched any Korean dramas
23:27
on Netflix, they're so good.
23:29
They're just more wholesome.
23:31
They're very wholesome, but they're suspenseful.
23:36
They make you laugh.
23:36
They make you cry.
23:37
They're really romantic.
23:38
It's really fun.
23:39
Just brace yourself because each one is like
23:41
an hour and a half long of episodes.
23:45
Before I even went to Seoul, I just
23:47
love trying foods that are different, something that
23:49
I grew up with, and I just like
23:51
educating myself about them.
23:55
In Long Beach, for those of you who
23:57
don't know, Long Beach has an amazing Korean
23:59
restaurant called Sura.
24:02
They offer a whole vegan menu, a huge
24:05
vegan menu, even though the restaurant itself is
24:06
not fully vegan.
24:08
Everything that they have non-vegan, they make
24:10
a vegan option for, so you can also
24:12
get the hot tofu soup.
24:15
You can also get the japchae, which is
24:19
those glass noodles.
24:21
Dduk-go-chi is the rice cakes on
24:23
a skewer.
24:24
The Korean fried chicken, they make it there
24:26
too, so you definitely should try it out.
24:32
The research side of me, the food travel
24:35
nerd of me, I will watch stuff about
24:37
Korean food, even if it's not vegan, just
24:39
to educate myself, because I like to learn
24:41
what people eat.
24:45
The K-dramas, they do that as well.
24:48
Somebody told me they also like to promote
24:50
their cuisine in the shows.
24:53
Naturally, you kind of start watching these shows,
24:55
and you're like, that looks kind of good.
24:56
I wonder if there's a vegan version of
24:57
that.
25:00
I definitely learned that way too about some
25:03
of these dishes.
25:04
All right, we've got Kim in Culver City.
25:07
Your question or thought for Eunice Reyes, star
25:09
of Rated V for Vegan on Unchained TV.
25:14
Hey, thank you.
25:15
I was wondering, in your travels, how do
25:17
you know which restaurants to go?
25:19
Do you use Happy Cow?
25:20
And then also, do you ever have a
25:22
language barrier issue?
25:24
Oh, that's a good question.
25:26
I just want to start by putting up
25:28
your five tips, because one of the top
25:32
tips, which I totally agree with, is download
25:37
the Happy Cap app, Happy Cow app.
25:39
I have gone from all across the world,
25:42
from Berlin to Texas to the Caribbean.
25:45
The Happy Cow app on my phone has
25:48
literally directed me.
25:50
That's number three on your top five vegan
25:53
travel tips.
25:54
So let's talk about the language barrier issue,
25:57
and then we're going to dive into your
25:58
top tips.
26:00
Okay, so first on, do your research also.
26:03
I do occasionally use Happy Cow, but surprisingly,
26:05
I actually use Instagram a lot more.
26:08
I'm a visual person, so I like to
26:10
see foods that look really good.
26:11
So I'll go on Instagram and type in
26:13
hashtags like vegan soul, you know, vegan Madrid.
26:17
And the reason I like doing that is
26:19
because not only do tourists, like people on
26:22
their travels, hashtag it, but so do locals
26:25
and local restaurants, because they know oftentimes people
26:28
travelling are looking for it too.
26:30
So you get the people who are travelling
26:31
and also the locals posting about their businesses
26:33
constantly.
26:34
So that's how I tend to find a
26:35
lot of my stuff.
26:36
Say it again.
26:37
Say it again.
26:38
For those who are maybe not as proficient,
26:42
where are you going?
26:43
What are you putting in?
26:44
How are you doing it?
26:45
So if you upload, if you log into
26:48
Instagram, there's a search bar.
26:50
And in the search bar, I would put
26:51
hashtag vegan like Madrid, right?
26:54
Vegan Mexico City or something.
26:57
And then it'll pull up a whole like,
27:00
you know, you just start seeing all these
27:02
beautiful photos of food or just anything, right?
27:05
So I'll usually scroll and see what food
27:07
captivates me or looks similar to what I'm
27:09
looking for.
27:10
And I'll start researching, oh, what's the name
27:12
of this restaurant?
27:13
And then I make my own Google Maps.
27:16
So I have a Google Map for every
27:17
country I've been to.
27:18
I'm actually thinking about maybe selling these.
27:21
Because it's fun that every single one that
27:24
I've been to and I've vetted it myself
27:25
kind of thing or places that I wish
27:27
I wanted to go to, I just didn't
27:28
have the time.
27:30
So I just organise my travels that way
27:32
to be like, okay, I want to go
27:34
try this food, this food, this food.
27:35
And in between, I'm going to do my
27:36
tourist attractions, right?
27:37
In terms of the language barrier, it's helpful
27:40
that I speak Spanish too.
27:41
So depending on which part of the world
27:44
I'm at, I can speak two languages.
27:46
So that's helpful.
27:47
So in Spain, it was very easy for
27:48
me.
27:49
But in places like Korea and like Tokyo
27:51
where people are very friendly, but the English
27:53
is maybe not as prominent.
27:56
There are a lot of people that speak
27:57
English, but it's not as common in, let's
27:59
say, Singapore, for example.
28:01
I use the Google Translate app a lot
28:05
and bless Google Translate app now because now
28:07
you have the photo function where you can
28:09
literally point at ingredients like on something and
28:13
it'll translate it for you automatically.
28:15
So that was really nice.
28:16
You know, sometimes we would have to type
28:18
in what we needed.
28:19
But for the most part, if you're in
28:21
a tourist area, a lot of the times
28:22
they do speak English and they will know
28:25
if you're like maybe a Western, you know,
28:27
depending where you are, you will stand out.
28:30
And so, but yeah, I definitely use the
28:32
Google, but also Happy Cow has these amazing
28:35
PDFs that you can now print out that
28:38
kind of, they're like little flashcards that you
28:40
can print out and cut out for yourself
28:41
that say like, I'm vegan or does this
28:44
have eggs or whatever?
28:45
I don't eat eggs, cheese, dairy, you know,
28:47
all this stuff, right?
28:48
And you can hand that to the cook
28:50
or something.
28:51
And I thought that's really cool.
28:53
That's a great idea.
28:54
I remember when I went to Paris, I
28:57
tried to memorise, je suis vegan, je ne
29:01
mange pas viande.
29:09
Viande, yeah.
29:12
Well, basically I ate French fries because of
29:16
my inability to communicate.
29:19
And you know, in France, they really want
29:20
you to try to speak French.
29:22
But these are all great tips.
29:23
Would you consider possibly doing a video recapping
29:27
all of these great, or maybe you don't
29:30
want to give them away too much because
29:33
all the things you said were really good,
29:35
but I'm thinking, wait, the Google Maps, the
29:38
this, I'm trying to process all that.
29:41
You could also write a book, but I
29:43
think that a video showing some of your
29:46
techniques would be very interesting to people.
29:49
Yes.
29:49
And you just reminded me, I actually have
29:50
two eBooks right now.
29:51
I'm in the process of converting a lot
29:53
of my videos into eBooks.
29:54
So I have two though on my website
29:55
right now.
29:56
I have this ultimate travel guide to Spain.
29:59
There's 13 cities there and a lot of
30:00
the restaurants that I went to with links
30:02
to my videos and everything as well.
30:04
So that's on my website for purchases and
30:07
it has maps.
30:08
It's integrated with the maps as well.
30:09
And then I have my vegan guide to
30:10
El Salvador.
30:12
So my goal is to, because there's so
30:14
many things I need to be on top
30:15
of right now, that's a project that's in
30:17
the works, but yeah.
30:19
Wow.
30:20
I just have, first of all, I'm really,
30:23
I'm really impressed with how you handle all
30:27
this.
30:28
Very, very methodical.
30:34
I've travelled quite a bit and I've never
30:36
done this kind of research.
30:38
I've pretty much relied on the Happy Cow
30:40
app, but I will tell you I was
30:42
in Taiwan and I was in Taipei for
30:46
one day and I had a heck of
30:48
a time.
30:49
I struggled mightily to find a vegan restaurant.
30:52
I was trying to master the language, the
30:56
directions.
30:58
It was really frustrating.
31:00
And then I saw your video where you
31:03
were in Taipei, Taiwan, hitting all these incredible
31:07
vegan restaurants and I was like, wow, I
31:10
wish I had had, whatever tools you use
31:16
to find all those great vegan restaurants.
31:18
I was in the exact same city and
31:20
I didn't have that experience.
31:23
So what's the difference?
31:24
How did you manage to find all those
31:27
great vegan restaurants, including, I think, did you
31:31
say there was a five-star Michelin somewhere?
31:35
It's not a five star, it's a Michelin
31:38
star restaurant.
31:40
It's the first Michelin star restaurant.
31:42
It's all plant-based.
31:43
So it's not all vegan, but it's mostly
31:44
vegan because as you know, in a lot
31:45
of Asian countries they don't consume dairy very
31:47
often.
31:48
Well, it's not in the food as much.
31:52
But because of the religious influence as well,
31:56
there's a lot of vegan food in Taiwan.
31:59
That's why you said you struggle to find
32:00
vegan food.
32:01
I was like, what?
32:01
I was like, it's everywhere.
32:05
But it had to do with the Buddhist
32:07
culture.
32:07
And so I think that's really cool.
32:11
But yes, that Michelin guy, that one I
32:13
actually found on Instagram.
32:14
It didn't really come up on Google and
32:16
sometimes Google doesn't do you a service.
32:18
Google will only pull up like maybe sometimes
32:20
popular restaurants.
32:21
They're not going to pull up everything.
32:22
And sometimes it's like Western restaurants, which drive
32:25
me nuts.
32:26
That's my biggest pet peeve.
32:27
When I see vloggers going like, I am
32:29
in, you know, Seoul, South Korea, and I
32:31
found this amazing vegan burger place.
32:32
I'm like, you're in Seoul.
32:34
Don't you want Korean food?
32:36
And so I always make sure to not
32:39
eat, you know, food that I'm familiar with
32:42
when I go and travel.
32:44
Or at least like familiar in the sense
32:46
that's like super Westernised.
32:47
Sure, every once in a while it's fine
32:48
because you want, you know, whatever.
32:51
You want to change it up.
32:52
But Serenity Veg, I found it through Instagram.
32:56
Hashtags.
32:57
I just put Taipei Vegan.
32:59
All right.
33:00
I want to go through your top five
33:02
tips.
33:03
So let's just go over them.
33:05
You sent them to me.
33:06
Do your research.
33:07
We've covered some of that.
33:10
What is that country's most iconic dish?
33:13
Now, why is that important?
33:16
And how does that lead you to a
33:18
great iconic vegan dish?
33:21
So this is a good one.
33:22
So this is, I'll give you an example.
33:24
So when I was first visiting Portugal, the
33:26
first city I ever visited was Porto.
33:29
And I had no idea what Portuguese people
33:33
eat.
33:33
Like I just, I'm not super, I did
33:35
know about pastéis de nata.
33:36
So that one I knew, right?
33:37
Which is the custard egg tarts, right?
33:40
So I was like determined to find that
33:42
vegan.
33:42
So at least I knew pastéis de nata
33:44
vegan, you know, Porto.
33:47
There's also when I, but then I was
33:49
like, okay, there's gotta be some iconic dish.
33:51
I wonder if there is.
33:51
So I remember putting, what's the like iconic
33:54
dishes to eat in Porto, Portugal.
33:55
And then there's something called, oh my, it's
33:58
escaping me.
33:59
Oh my God, this is gonna drive me
34:01
insane.
34:01
Hold, hold please.
34:02
I need to, I need to find this.
34:03
I'm Googling it right now.
34:05
All right, while you're Googling it, what I'm
34:07
gonna do is show the second list and
34:11
we're gonna go through all of these.
34:13
Travel with a vegan tourism group.
34:14
We've got to get to that.
34:16
And it appears that Eunice is creating her
34:18
own vegan tourism group as we speak.
34:20
So we'll get back to that.
34:22
But you were saying about the iconic dish.
34:27
Yes, so Francesina, sorry, it escaped me.
34:30
But the Francesina is traditionally this like, it's
34:35
this Portuguese dish, right?
34:36
It's specific to Porto.
34:39
And it's usually, it's like a sandwich stuffed
34:42
with meat, with melted cheese, and there's this
34:45
sauce on top, right?
34:47
Nothing vegan about it.
34:49
But I was like, I wonder if anyone's
34:51
doing this vegan because if they are, I
34:54
need to try it.
34:55
And I Googled it and there he was,
34:59
Casanova in Porto.
35:01
It was, I read it, I had to
35:03
like look in Google search.
35:04
I found this like random blog, okay?
35:06
It wasn't even the top hit.
35:08
I had to kind of scroll down.
35:09
I found this blog that talked about the
35:11
best Francesina, vegan Francesina in Porto.
35:14
And it's at this restaurant, Casanova.
35:16
And you can see that it's on my
35:17
YouTube channel, actually.
35:19
And it was delicious.
35:21
But it was amazing because I got to
35:23
talk to the chef.
35:25
He used to be a chef at a
35:26
non-vegan restaurant.
35:27
He was not vegan for years.
35:28
And then one day he was like, I
35:29
want to go vegan and I'm going to
35:31
make this better.
35:32
And he said, I think he said he
35:34
even liked his vegan version better than the
35:36
original one, right?
35:38
And so it was just nice because I
35:39
felt like I was, you know, immersing myself
35:42
in the food and the culture, but still
35:44
maintaining my veganism, which was awesome, right?
35:46
And so they also had this amazing dessert
35:48
there.
35:49
So I highly suggest going there.
35:50
But that's why I was like, I like
35:51
to learn about the dishes that are iconic
35:55
to each country and city so I can
35:58
just like participate as a vegan.
36:00
We've got another caller, Sarah, in Venice, California.
36:04
Your question or thought for Eunice Ray is
36:06
of Rated V for Vegan World Travel.
36:09
Hi, my question is when you travel and
36:14
you go to places, do you specifically look
36:16
for vegan restaurants or do you go to
36:19
places that are not vegan and ask them
36:22
to have a vegan menu or do you
36:24
do activism as well as the travel blogging?
36:28
Thank you.
36:30
I do a little bit of both.
36:31
So obviously I'll look to see like what
36:33
the vegan restaurants are.
36:35
But again, because I'm determined to find like
36:38
the iconic vegan dish, sometimes you can find
36:42
those in non-vegan restaurants that offer it,
36:45
right?
36:45
But for the most part, all the restaurants
36:47
I go to are vegan.
36:48
Like there's a lot of great vegan restaurants,
36:50
right?
36:51
And they serve a plethora of everything.
36:54
But for example, in El Salvador, in El
36:57
Salvador, vegan food is, it's there, it's present.
37:00
It's not huge like LA, but it's starting,
37:03
right?
37:04
And I had to guess a level up
37:07
because I'm very familiar with what Salvadorian food
37:09
is, but there was no vegan restaurant there
37:12
that offered vegan pupusas.
37:15
And I was not about to go to
37:16
El Salvador and not have pupusas.
37:18
I'm sorry.
37:19
Like that's non-negotiable, right?
37:20
Like that's what people eat breakfast, lunch, and
37:22
dinner everywhere.
37:23
You will see them everywhere.
37:24
A traditional Salvadorian pupusa option that's vegan is
37:29
beans.
37:30
They don't put lard in their beans.
37:32
I asked literally everybody.
37:34
Everybody said, no, we do not use lard.
37:36
They use oil, right?
37:37
Beans.
37:37
The beans in El Salvador are delicious.
37:40
They're the best.
37:40
They're these red beans that are specifically grown
37:42
there and they have this amazing flavour.
37:44
So one of the traditions that's been around
37:45
forever, you'll see it on every menu in
37:48
El Salvador, non-vegan, right?
37:50
Every pupusaria, bean pupusas, and they will make
37:54
it for you.
37:55
And that's an example of where I was
37:56
like, yeah, I'll go to a non-vegan
37:57
place and ask for the vegan option because
37:59
I'm like, this is something that I just
38:00
have to eat because this is just what
38:03
you need to eat when you're in visiting
38:05
the country, right?
38:05
So that was, I think El Salvador was
38:07
one of the places I ate a lot
38:09
of vegan food at non-vegan restaurants, if
38:11
that makes sense.
38:13
Absolutely.
38:14
So getting back to this list, because we're
38:17
going to get through this list and then
38:18
I have a few other questions.
38:21
We've covered number four, travel with a vegan
38:24
tourism group.
38:25
Can you mention some of the other ones
38:27
and also recap again, if people want to
38:30
travel with you, you're going to Vietnam in
38:33
November.
38:34
How do we get in touch with you?
38:37
How do we make that happen?
38:38
And maybe you can give us an idea
38:40
of the cost of that.
38:43
Yes.
38:43
So for Vietnam in November, that is happening
38:46
November 7th through the 13th.
38:48
It's a seven day itinerary.
38:51
And it's going to be in Hanoi and
38:54
Ninh Binh and Ha Long Bay.
38:55
So three different cities.
38:56
There's going to be like boat cave tours.
38:58
You get to eat on a farm with
39:00
a local family.
39:01
They're going to cook you vegan food.
39:03
We're going to stay at four star hotels.
39:05
There's just going to be a cooking class.
39:07
There's going to be a lot of activities.
39:08
It's jam packed.
39:10
So I'm really excited.
39:12
And the cost is 18.99. And in
39:15
order to, and that includes everything except the
39:17
flight obviously, right?
39:20
And like almost all the meals are included
39:22
except for like one or two, because that
39:24
way it gives you free time to just
39:25
like kind of maybe do your own thing,
39:27
break away from the group, which I think
39:28
is great also.
39:30
You have to pay 25% to secure
39:32
your spot.
39:33
And then after that, you can even do
39:35
a payment plan if you want, but the
39:36
balance has to be paid 90 days before
39:38
the trip, which would be like August 7th.
39:41
So that's that one.
39:43
Also- So that's $1,899.
39:46
Yes.
39:47
Okay.
39:47
That seems very reasonable.
39:49
Yeah.
39:49
Considering that.
39:50
And then in November, it took like kind
39:53
of- How many days?
39:54
How many days?
39:55
It's a seven day itinerary.
39:56
Okay.
39:57
Sorry.
39:57
Go ahead.
39:59
And then the flights to Vietnam are not
40:00
bad.
40:01
And then if you're in Los Angeles, you
40:02
can get really good flight deals to like
40:04
Hanoi, for example.
40:05
And then if there's another itinerary that the
40:08
Seoul, sorry, the Korea Tourism Office of New
40:11
York are promoting a vegan itinerary in Seoul,
40:13
that one's four days, three nights.
40:15
And that one's depending on the hotel, like
40:17
if you want four star or five star
40:19
hotel, that one's either $1,200 or $1
40:21
,400.
40:22
But it's amazing.
40:23
It's basically everything I did in my Seoul
40:24
video plus more.
40:25
So, but that one's end of May.
40:28
But if you are interested in that one,
40:30
please let me know and I will let
40:31
you and I will get you all the
40:33
information as well.
40:35
And then other vegan itinerary options are the
40:40
Getaway Co.
40:41
They're at a higher price point, but like
40:43
everything is 100% vegan and like it's
40:48
a little bougier, right?
40:49
Which I kind of like.
40:50
So if you like that more luxury feel
40:52
travel, definitely look into that.
40:54
And then there's also World Vegan Travel.
40:56
They do all that as well.
40:58
And yeah, so they do a lot of
41:01
great destinations as well.
41:02
And I know also there are certain celebrities,
41:05
friends of mine have travelled with Miyoko Shinner
41:08
to Italy.
41:09
Oh, yeah.
41:10
And there are some other prominent people in
41:13
the vegan world who are kind of the
41:16
host of a travel, a group travel event.
41:20
And I know a lot of people have
41:21
really enjoyed it.
41:22
So it sounds like you're doing something similar.
41:25
I think this is fantastic.
41:27
It sounds like you're building an empire.
41:29
I have a couple of quick questions.
41:31
Yes, I mean, really, I'm very impressed that
41:33
everything you're doing, this is my favourite photo
41:37
of you because you look like either you're
41:38
losing your mind or you've tasted the best
41:41
thing or I'm not exactly sure what's going
41:44
on here, but what is the most surprising
41:46
thing that has ever happened to you while
41:48
you're on these tours and trips?
41:52
Yeah, so honestly, I do actually want to
41:54
talk about this.
41:54
The reason I chose this as my cover
41:56
photo is because this dish that they served
41:58
me literally blew my mind.
41:59
So if you ever go to Singapore, which
42:01
I absolutely recommend, I love it.
42:03
It's one of my favourite countries that I've
42:04
ever been to.
42:05
And as a Western, it's pretty easy because
42:07
the national language is English.
42:08
So you have no communication issues, right?
42:11
And it's like travelling to three countries in
42:13
one because they have, you know, you go
42:16
to Chinatown and you feel like you're in
42:17
China.
42:18
You go to little India, you feel like
42:19
you're in India.
42:19
And then you have like the Singapore vibe,
42:22
which is like Malay cuisine and everything.
42:25
And like, you know, everything's like, there's so
42:27
many cultures like mixed in, right?
42:30
So if you go to Chinatown in Singapore,
42:33
something you will often see in the hawker
42:35
centres, the food courts, is this giant grill
42:38
of like, people get served this grilled fish,
42:41
right?
42:42
And they're eating it, they're on the street
42:44
in the hawker centres.
42:46
Well, this restaurant, Lotus Vegetarian, made that whole
42:49
experience 100% vegan.
42:51
They made the fish even look like fish,
42:54
like the shape, not like the shape, shape,
42:56
but you know what I mean?
42:57
Like they served it in a way that
42:59
looked like fish, but it was all made
43:00
of mung bean protein.
43:01
And when she was even cutting it, she
43:04
was cutting it as if it were like
43:05
the way you would serve it traditionally.
43:06
And I was like, this is insane.
43:09
I was just like, this is the whole
43:10
experience, but vegan.
43:13
And I know some people might think that's
43:15
weird.
43:15
They're like, well, why do you replace foods
43:17
that are vegan with stuff that doesn't look
43:19
vegan?
43:20
And I get that.
43:21
It seems a little contradictory, but the thing
43:24
I like to point out is like, it's
43:25
kind of important to do that because if
43:28
someone's transitioning to veganism for the first time,
43:31
they're gonna be drawn to foods that are
43:33
familiar to them, right?
43:35
So there is kind of that importance that
43:37
we need, like it's important for us to
43:38
kind of show them the replacements in foods
43:40
that look familiar for them to like mentally
43:43
make the switch, right?
43:44
Because if you offer them and be like,
43:46
hey, like let's say in Mexico City, hey,
43:48
do you want a wheat, you know, meat
43:49
taco?
43:50
They're gonna be like, I'm sorry, a what?
43:53
But if you say, hey, do you want
43:54
an al pastor taco?
43:55
They're gonna be like, yeah, I know what
43:56
al pastor is, you know, but it's like
43:57
ingredients are completely different.
43:59
So, yeah, that dish was amazing.
44:00
I love Singapore.
44:01
You have to go to Singapore.
44:02
That restaurant is 10 out of 10.
44:04
So here's, I think perhaps the most important
44:07
question and maybe you can give us the
44:10
answer to.
44:11
There are a lot of people who say
44:13
right now because we had moved so quickly,
44:15
so fast and we had exploded on the
44:18
world stage.
44:19
For example, when Beyond Meat went public, it
44:22
was the most successful IPO, initial public offering
44:26
in years.
44:27
And then there was a backlash from the
44:31
meat industry and to a large degree from
44:34
the mainstream media that sort of started writing
44:36
hit pieces.
44:38
And so there's a feeling that, well, veganism
44:40
might be a little bit on the retrenchment,
44:44
under attack, on the defensive.
44:46
You travel the world.
44:48
Give us your assessment of the vegan movement,
44:52
where it's at.
44:54
Are we getting to the tipping point?
44:57
What's your assessment?
44:59
I think it's only a matter of time
45:02
until there's gonna be less and less meat
45:04
and dairy, to be honest.
45:06
I feel like that's the way it's going.
45:10
Now is an amazing time to be vegan
45:13
because there's just so many options out there.
45:16
But something I don't wanna dismiss also is
45:18
we have to remember that there's a lot
45:20
of traditional dishes that have been vegan for
45:23
centuries.
45:25
Do you know what I mean?
45:25
Like an example, today, I mean, not today,
45:28
a couple of days ago, because I'm filming
45:29
a video here in Portland, I went to
45:31
a vegan Sri Lankan restaurant, Mirasada.
45:33
Mirasada is delicious.
45:35
If you're ever in Portland, please go check
45:36
them out.
45:36
But something I wanna point out is that
45:38
traditionally, a lot of the food in Sri
45:41
Lanka is actually vegan friendly because they don't
45:43
use dairy in anything.
45:45
They use coconut milk base for almost everything,
45:47
right?
45:48
And they have a lot of vegetables and
45:51
greens and tofu is very easy to access.
45:55
So their dishes are traditionally vegan.
45:56
Same with Ethiopian food.
45:58
That's not a new concept.
46:00
Same with like in every country has their
46:03
vegan dishes.
46:03
That is not a new thing.
46:04
So if people think that it was this
46:07
new thing that Westerners have come up with,
46:08
absolutely not.
46:10
You know, it's something that's been around forever
46:11
and people are now realising, hey, like, you
46:13
know what?
46:14
I wanna go back to our roots.
46:15
I wanna go back to the way that
46:16
we used to eat or maybe like, even
46:19
in, you know, a lot of people often
46:20
say that vegan food is very processed and
46:22
not healthy.
46:24
Yes, some of it is.
46:24
I will say, I won't deny that.
46:26
But also non-vegan food is like that
46:28
too.
46:29
So whether, no matter what diet you're in,
46:31
you have to choose wisely your food, right?
46:33
It's okay to every once in a while
46:35
eat the vegan novelty items.
46:37
I'm not gonna lie.
46:37
I definitely enjoy a vegan cheeseburger every once
46:40
in a while.
46:41
But I'm not gonna eat that every day,
46:42
right?
46:43
I think at the end of the day,
46:44
it's very important to just remember like, hey,
46:46
we have to remember whole food plant-based,
46:48
which is why I think even Impossible Burger,
46:50
they did their re, they just revamped their
46:52
recipe because they realised, hey, our first recipe
46:56
wasn't actually that healthy.
46:57
Let's make a healthier one, right?
46:59
Because that's what the vegan audience was asking
47:00
for.
47:01
And Beyond Meat is one of the two.
47:02
Yeah, because I know they both redid their
47:04
recipes, but yeah, like they're listening to the
47:08
vegan audience and they're listening to what maybe
47:10
non-vegans also want too, right?
47:12
So I think this is just the beginning.
47:16
Like we've, you know, the last five years,
47:19
the vegan scene has grown insane and it's
47:22
just gonna keep growing.
47:23
That's how I see it.
47:25
Yeah, I agree with you.
47:27
I was just at Natural Products Expo West,
47:30
which is the largest health food convergence conference
47:34
in the world at the Anaheim Convention Centre.
47:37
I mean, it's like miles of booths.
47:41
It's unbelievable.
47:42
And I've been there before, maybe four or
47:46
five years ago, this was so much more
47:49
vegan.
47:50
It was like, it felt like every booth
47:53
either was vegan or had a vegan option.
47:56
Not everyone, but I was just astounded and
47:59
it really gave me hope.
48:01
I was like, wow, you know, there's been
48:04
a couple of big news pieces written that
48:06
were negative, balderdash, nonsense.
48:11
It's rippling, it's growing.
48:14
And it was just such a, it was
48:17
like I wanted to take all these naysayers
48:20
and take them to the Natural Products Expo
48:23
West because it was really like overwhelming.
48:29
And that has really given me a lot
48:31
of hope.
48:32
What are your thoughts?
48:34
Because, you know, look, at Unchained TV, we're
48:38
mostly volunteer run.
48:39
We're the world's only nonprofit vegan streaming television
48:42
network global, except for China and maybe North
48:46
Korea, but it's all over the world.
48:48
We're doing this because obviously we want to
48:51
save animals.
48:52
We're also concerned about human health, world hunger,
48:55
which is something that could be eliminated if
48:58
we all transition to plant-based, but also
49:01
climate change.
49:03
We have a documentary, which I produce called
49:06
Countdown to Year Zero.
49:09
If we don't transition to a plant-based
49:11
culture, you know, soon we are really barreling
49:18
toward a climate apocalypse.
49:21
Indeed, the New York Times recently reported that
49:25
Oxford University did a study that showed heavy
49:28
meat eaters who switch to a plant-based
49:30
diet can reduce their greenhouse emissions footprint by
49:34
75%.
49:37
Nobody else picked it up.
49:38
I was like, wow, that's a solution to
49:40
the climate crisis.
49:41
It's got to be on CNN tonight, on
49:43
MSNBC tonight on this.
49:45
No, no.
49:46
So that's why we're doing this, to get
49:50
the word out.
49:52
They say, you know, when 3.5%
49:56
of the population becomes XYZ, it hits a
50:01
tipping point and then the rest follow.
50:03
The reason I'm asking this long-winded question
50:05
is given the urgency, the clock is ticking,
50:11
where are we on that journey to hit
50:13
the 3.5%?
50:17
So I think that's the thing.
50:18
I think as human nature, it's easy for
50:22
people to be afraid, to be like, well,
50:24
I don't want to give up things that
50:26
I've been doing forever.
50:27
I don't want to give up foods that
50:28
I've been eating.
50:28
There's this thing where we don't like things
50:30
being taken away from us, right?
50:31
And I think that's not the way to
50:34
approach it.
50:35
You know, a lot of times people have
50:36
asked us, like, oh, what should I, you
50:39
know, I don't want to go vegan because
50:41
I don't want to give up business.
50:43
Don't think of it that way.
50:44
The way we have to start training people
50:46
to think is, how about, what if we
50:50
start with just, okay, eat the same way
50:52
you're eating, but how about instead add more
50:54
fruits and vegetables to your diet?
50:55
Add more plant-based proteins to your diet
50:57
and try it out rather than you have
51:00
to take away, you have to stop eating
51:01
this right now, right?
51:03
If you give people that positive and reinforcement
51:06
kind of experience, they're going to be more
51:08
like, hey, I like this.
51:10
And they will start, my theory is they
51:12
will start volunteering to get rid of the
51:14
foods that they know are being negative, that
51:17
are negatively impacting the environment, right?
51:19
It's all about, we just got to keep
51:21
giving people positive experiences and they themselves, once
51:25
they're convicted, will naturally start changing their habits.
51:29
I don't know if that's the way I've
51:30
answered your question, but that's how my mind
51:33
went, so.
51:34
Well, yes, but I guess what I was
51:36
also saying is as somebody who travels the
51:39
world, what are you seeing?
51:41
Like my experience going to the Natural Products
51:44
Expo West was very reassuring.
51:47
But then sometimes I can just go to
51:51
a hotel, be invited to an event at
51:54
a hotel in my neighbourhood, which is in
51:56
Los Angeles, which should be filled with a
51:59
plethora of vegan options and find that no,
52:02
there's no vegan options here and the waiters
52:05
are acting like I'm a pain in the
52:07
neck because I'm asking for something vegan and
52:09
I'm like, oh my gosh, are we still
52:13
in the 50s?
52:14
Like, why is this happening?
52:16
So it's kind of like, it's hard for
52:20
me to assess.
52:21
I think it'd be hard for anybody to
52:22
assess globally where our global culture stands when
52:25
it comes to plant-based, but you might
52:27
have a good, since you travel the world,
52:30
you might have a really good handle.
52:32
I have my two cents on that.
52:34
So globally, it's present.
52:36
I've seen it literally in every country I've
52:37
been to, and even to my surprise, El
52:39
Salvador, where I thought was not going to
52:40
be present at all, but it was there.
52:43
So that just says something, that it is
52:46
present everywhere.
52:47
However, places where it needs to improve, airports,
52:51
for goodness sakes, airport lounges.
52:54
I have, I'm like, if I ever, like
52:56
I just have another big idea that I
52:57
will eventually hit, but there's still a lot
53:00
of room to improvement, particularly like in the
53:02
US and like more mainstream places.
53:04
There's still a lot of work to be
53:06
done.
53:06
So even though there is a presence of
53:08
veganism in every country, there's still major places
53:11
that still need to work.
53:13
And I don't know who we need to
53:15
talk to to go do these things, because
53:16
like you said, you're in Los Angeles.
53:17
You would think in Los Angeles, like the
53:19
UK, there should be a vegan option literally
53:21
everywhere.
53:21
In London, I was shocked.
53:23
Everywhere you go, literally everywhere you go, there's
53:26
a vegan option.
53:27
So it's like, why is that not the
53:28
case like in Los Angeles or like in
53:31
other, in all major US cities, right?
53:35
Because now it's becoming, it's a norm.
53:37
Vegan diets are becoming more mainstream.
53:40
So I think people just need to adopt
53:42
that mindset, even if they themselves are not
53:44
being in business, they should start thinking, hey,
53:46
vegan people exist.
53:47
We should probably include one or two vegan
53:50
options, right?
53:51
So that's my, that's my thing.
53:52
It's present, but we still have some way
53:53
to go.
53:54
I agree with you, airports and hotels.
53:58
There needs to be just a campaign to
54:01
get airports and hotels on board.
54:03
And it almost seems like the airports are
54:05
going backwards.
54:06
I think they, about six years ago, they
54:09
were kind of doing it as a trend.
54:11
And I think they sort of have just
54:13
regressed, but you know, there's always going to
54:16
be those pockets, but overall we are out
54:19
of time, unfortunately.
54:20
I could talk to you for hours about
54:22
this.
54:23
It's so exciting to have you on Unchained
54:26
TV, Eunice Reyes.
54:28
I urge everybody, check it out.
54:30
Here's just a screenshot of, just go to
54:34
Unchained TV, watch.unchainedtv.com and go under
54:38
travel.
54:39
There she is, a whole bunch of fabulous,
54:42
fantastic shows.
54:43
And you can also take a trip if
54:46
you want with Eunice Reyes to Vietnam this
54:50
coming November.
54:51
It sounds so much fun.
54:52
And everybody always have to remind you, please,
54:55
if you haven't already, we are the world's
54:57
only vegan streaming television network.
55:00
And we are absolutely free for you to
55:03
watch.
55:04
We urge you please to download it.
55:08
So easy, download it on your phone for
55:10
free, download it on any Samsung TV, and
55:13
you can also download it on any TV
55:16
with an Amazon Fire Stick, a Roku device,
55:18
or an Apple TV device.
55:19
You could also watch online at unchainedtv.com.
55:23
So thank you for joining us.
55:24
We will see you next time here on
55:27
Unchained TV and Eunice Reyes, thank you so
55:32
very much for being a part of our
55:34
show, yay!
55:36
Thank you, bye!
55:37
See you next time, bye!