Placing vegetarians
From AFSWiki
Note: FRA and ESP Summer Language Study Programs can accept students with dietary restrictions as they are not homestay programs.
Vegetarian Acceptance Cheatsheet
Updated 10.2.2011
| Country | Y/N | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| ARG | No | Vegetarians are difficult to place, but we can accept up to 5% of vegetarians. Argentina is a "meat" country. |
| AUS | No | Placement of vegetarians is often difficult, especially in rural areas. The family will eat a non-vegetarian diet to which they will expect the participant adapt. |
| AUT | Yes | In general Austrians eat a lot of meat, vegetables, pasta and pastries. Vegetarians are accepted by many hostfamilies if they also eat dairy products; We definitely cannot accept Vegans. Allergies to special food products are also acceptable. |
| BFL | Yes | Students on a wheat-free diet are very difficult to place |
| BFR | Yes | Difficult to place vegetarians. The student must be ready to help or to cook on his own. Very low quota. Pork is part of our traditional dishes. Very low quota for paxs unable to eat pork. |
| BRA | No | Strict vegetarians not willing to eat any kind of meat cannot be placed. Brazilians eat a lot and the food is quite heavy. Usually, the two main meals are lunch and dinner, which consist of rice, beans, some sort of protein (pork, beef, chicken or fish) and a green and tomato salad. Placement for vegetarians might be an issue. |
| CHI | No | Vegetarians are very difficult to place and their guaranteeing will depend on finding a hostfam willing to host them. They will remain in FF until a hostfam is found. |
| CHN | Maybe | It is possible for us to host some vegetarians. However, many Chinese families may eat meat and we hope that the student can understand that it is highly unlikely for us to find a vegetarian host family. |
| CRC | No | Costa Rican families consider meat consumption not only healthy and necessary, a basic part of their diet, but in many cases something they are grateful to be able to afford. It is expected from any participant on this program to adapt to that reality. |
| CZE | Yes | Vegetarians are mainly accepted by the families, other dietary customs are hard to place and have to be discussed in advance. |
| DEN | No | Most Danish house holds eat meat. We cannot guarantee a vegetarian host family or other kind of special diet restrictions. |
| DOM | No | Only 2% of students will be accepted (do not guarantee) |
| ECU | Yes | We will automatically accept all vegetarian students whose applications are sent to us, provided that they do not have any other major limitation in placement, but students should know that meat is typically eaten at lunch and dinner. |
| EGY | Yes | Please be as specific as possible when stating a participant's dietary restrictions. |
| FIN | Maybe | Vegetarians are difficult to place, most host families prefer to host a student with no dietary restrictions. |
| FRA | No | Vegetarian people are very difficult to place in France and can't be guaranteed if they don't accept to eat at least fish and poultry. |
| GER | Maybe | Students that don't eat vegetables are difficult to place, also students that are vegan (no animal products at all). Students with celiac disease are difficult to place, as traditionally two out of three meals (at least) involve eating bread or other wheat / rye / barley products. |
| GHA | No | Most Ghanaians eat meat and fish. Finding host families for vegetarians is a big challenge to AFS Ghana. Vegetarians must be willing to be flexible with their eating habits once in Ghana |
| HON | Yes | Strict Vegetarians are also difficult to place. Vegetarians that include some animal products in their diets are a bit easier to place, as long as they prepare their own meals. |
| HKG | Yes | |
| HUN | Maybe | Vegetarian students were difficult to place in the past. Now families are more open to vegetarianism and though they eat meat, they try to meet the expectations of a person with different eating habits, but it may be difficult to place students with any special requirements. |
| IND | Yes | A large section of the Indian population is vegetarian, not having even eggs. Their diet includes a lot of milk and milk products. Therefore, please note that we will not be able to host students with lactose intolerance or those who do not have milk or milk products. |
| ISL | No | It is almost impossible to find placements for vegetarians or students with dietary preferences. |
| ITA | No | Vegetarians are difficult to place. The more flexible they are, the easier it is to place them (i.e. if they eat white meat and fish). |
| JPN | No | No vegetarians and no lacto ovo. Japanese HF eat variety of foods. We strongly would like to ask stus to have good enough flexibility to eat meat etc. during the program. Statuses of these students are subjects to negotiations, but we need to have good enough time to consider about these matters |
| LAT | Yes | May accept vegetarians who are willing to eat dairy and eggs. People in Latvia are traditionally used to heavy food with a lot of meat and potatoes, however, now there is a growing number of people, who would prefer organic, healthy food. |
| MAS | Yes | Flexible. |
| MEX | No | Vegetarian participants are hard to place. |
| NED | Maybe | Can host a limited number of students with dietary, physical or other limitations (should not be guaranteed) and should sent as soon as possible |
| NZL | No | We cannot guarantee vegetarian host families. Please ensure that if a candidate is a vegetarian that they are willing to eat meat while in NZ. |
| NOR | No | Vegetarian students difficult to place, not common in Norway to be vegetarian. Vegetables and fruit also quite expensive during the winter. |
| PAN | Yes | Vegetarian must be prepared to eat whatever the family prepares for themself, just skip the meat. Special meals will not be prepared. Panamanian food is usually very simple, rice being the mean meal and with deep-drying as the prefered method of preparing other dishes. Strict vegetarians need to adjust to the usual meals of the family and not impose preferences for specific foods. |
| PAR | No | Meat is a very important item in the Paraguayan diet. Paraguay has a strong meat production, and meat is not expensive in the country. Most Paraguayan families eat meat and it is VERY difficult to place a vegetarian in this country. |
| PER | Maybe | In Peru, vegetarian families are very little. So vegetarian participants will be accepted only if they are flexible enough to adapt to the family food. We will not be able to accept rigid or extreme vegetarian practices. We eat lots of RICE, potatoes and chicken meat. Food is spicy and hot. Vegetables are not much popular and rarely are the center of the meal. Lunch meal portions tends to be large and plenty |
| POR | No | Prefer non-vegetarian as red meat and fish are part of everyday diet. |
| RUS | No | Vegetarians are difficult to place. |
| RSA | No | South Africans eat a lot of meat. We prefer that students are not vegetarians as they are very difficult to place. Vegans cannot be accepted on the program. |
| ESP | No | Red meat and pork are basic food in our meals almost everyday. For this reason we cannot accept vegetarians or students who are not able to eat pork/meat for personal reasons. |
| SWE | No | We can only accept a few students that are vegetarians each year. |
| SUI | Yes | No problems to place vegetarians in German speaking area, not welcome in French speaking area. |
| THA | Yes | Vegetarians OK, but strict vegans difficult to place. Thailand does not have many dairy foods and what we do have is expensive. If student only eats dairy foods it would be very difficult to find hostfam. |
| TUR | No | Vegetarians are hard to place. Students with asthma and allergies are hard to place |
