Eat, Drink, Inhale: a Plant-Based Tour of Jamaica

With a wide variety of soil and climates, Jamaica is one of the most fertile corners of the Caribbean. Add to this a local preference for vegetarian food, incredible coffee and cannabis, and you have a perfect destination for lovers of all things plant-based.

Early Rastafari adopted a practice of observing a vegetarian diet from Indian indentured servants living in Jamaica. This evolved into Jamaica’s unique Ital cuisine, which aims to increase liveliness (Livity) by using only ingredients that are natural and directly from the earth.

You can sample this cuisine at Stush in the Bush, a place of self-professed sustainable luxury and sexy vegetarianism. Here, owners Lisa and Chris offer elaborate, six-course meals that include dishes like coconut-crusted yam, and sweet potato and pumpkin gratin, all from regenerative agriculture.

Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is a real highlight, as the humidity of the Blue Mountains region makes for a great growing environment for the Arabica Typica bean. Famous for its scent and smooth flavor, Blue Mountain coffee is considered one of the finest coffees in the world – and it's certainly one of the most expensive and sought-after.

Since 80 percent of the export is snapped up by the discerning Japanese market, many visitors to the island have never even heard of it. Try it at Deaf Can! Coffee, which exists to support young deaf people, and trains them to plant, roast, and brew Jamaica’s best.

Cannabis – locally known as ganja – has deep roots in Jamaican culture and soil; Rastafari smoke it as a sacrament. Since 2015, medical cannabis has been legalized and visitors to the island can purchase and carry a small amount provided they have a medical license, which can be brought from their home country or obtained locally.

At Kanya Herb House, a set of three dispensaries around the island, a doctor on the premises can provide the license, and the locally grown ganja can be enjoyed right there in the ‘consumption lounge’. Kanya isn’t just a dispensary though: it's also a pizza restaurant, a bar, and a gift shop. As the first medical herb house in the Caribbean, it aims to create a wellness ecosystem by spreading knowledge about ganja, empowering local communities, and maintaining respectful relationships with both people and nature.

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