If there’s one good use for social media, it’s as a plant-based directory.
Okay, it’s good for more than that: looking at vegan food, sharing vegan food, learning how to make vegan food..! Joking aside, social media has become our go-to directory for pretty much everything. We use Facebook as a search engine, Instagram as a visual menu, TikTok as a recipe book and Youtube as our very own, personal culinary tutor.
With so much at our fingertips, what’s the use of a plant-based directory?
Since becoming plant-based myself, I have been sharing information. I have spoken to friends and family, shared social media posts, written blogs for my website, and more. To begin with, I felt this necessary for the reasons I became plant-based: for health, for compassion and for the planet. But I soon realized that there was a greater necessity for sharing news, statistics, advice and recommendations.
I strongly believe in the benefits - both personal and planetary - for moving towards a plant-based lifestyle, but what I found was that nowhere near enough noise was being made. I was constantly ‘accidentally’ discovering eateries, playing Indiana Jones in my search for a reliable grocery store, and hitting numerous challenges when needing other vegan services.
Yellow Pages can help so much, but many businesses don’t update their listings or include images and customer reviews. It’s also a one-trick pony: sure, you can search and find, but what about actually supporting the vegan community, finding delicious plant-based recipes or learning more about the plant-based movement, good health and advice?
Added to this, good ol’ Yella also isn’t so reliable. You can search ‘vegan restaurant’, do your homework, plan your route and arrive at the front door… only to find your carefully chosen “vegan” eatery is a steak house with only one vegan option on the menu: french fries!
A plant-based directory offers all of the information found within those now digital yellow pages but it also provides assurance. Assurance that the business is genuinely plant-based or that it has a wide selection of choices; assurance from like-minded customers; assurance that you are supporting businesses that are genuinely trying to make change in the world. But a plant-based directory gives you more.
With a blog, you’ll be able to increase your knowledge of plant-based living, you’ll be able to do a single search of your local area, you’ll be able to discover mouthwatering recipes from the very businesses you are searching for and you’ll be able to do all of this knowing that you are actively supporting the vegan community.
Our actions as individuals may seem futile, but the right choices can ripple much further than we can reach. A plant-based directory is a voice for the entire vegan community, helping to share information wide and support those businesses we love, and that we want to see more of. Supporting a plant-based directory means that you are actively contributing to broadening that reach, encouraging the businesses involved and helping to make plant-based food, products and services more accessible for everyone.
That isn’t only confined to fellow vegans, vegetarians or plant-basers. Plant-based food, in particular, is expanding so rapidly. Last year alone, the plant-based food industry grew by over 20%, five times more than the food industry at large [1]. Not only does this indicate that more people are choosing a plant-based lifestyle, it also means that more people are opting for vegan products, regardless of their larger choices. Meat-eaters, vegetarians and the veg-curious are realizing the viability of entirely plant-based products as a healthier, kinder, more sustainable choice within their existing diet.
So how does a plant-based directory help? By highlighting local options, making access to vegan businesses far easier and diverse, and by actively promoting these better choices, a plant-based directory makes the choice more and accessible viable for everyone.
The simple truth is, if we don’t make as much noise as possible, the change we wish to see in the world is never going to happen.
A plant-based directory makes that noise, loud and clear, with images, details and a direct link to Google Maps. All this, plus a host more information to encourage non-vegans to incorporate plant-based living into their regular diet.
Before becoming plant-based, it can seem like a major hassle. You need to alter your grocery list, search out restaurants, and significantly change your perspective to make it work. But that’s only what it looks like from the outside, and after a short transitional phase, it becomes clear how easy it is after all. A plant-based directory helps to make the shift even easier, providing all the information in the palm of your hand, allowing more people to discover news, eateries and services and try out plant-based living at their convenience.
I created VegReg specifically for these reasons:
To support and encourage local vegan businesses
To provide all the information you’re looking for in one place
To make plant-based options and living available and easy for everyone
And to encourage a lifestyle that I now know to be the most profound benefit to our health, our environment and the many animals who suffer.
So, support your local plant-based directory! We aren’t doing this for us; we’re doing this for the animals, the future, and for you.
[1] https://www.supermarketnews.com/consumer-trends/us-plant-based-food-retail-sales-jumped-27-2020