About VeganSTL

What Is VeganSTL?

VeganSTL.com is a locally produced guide to vegan life in St. Louis — the restaurants, events, groups, news, and advocacy that make up our region's vegan community. We publish the STL Vegan Guide (→ /guide), maintain a regularly updated calendar of vegan events across the St. Louis region (→ /events), and organize many of those events ourselves.

VeganSTL.com is a division of Project Animal Freedom, a Missouri-based nonprofit founded in 2018 and recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3). Project Animal Freedom is the legal nonprofit; VeganSTL is its public-facing platform for the St. Louis metro area. When you read our guides, attend our events, or support our work, you're taking part in that nonprofit mission.

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Vision

A vegan St. Louis marked by a thriving vegan community, a robust humane economy, and justice for all animals, both human and nonhuman.

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Mission

At VeganSTL.com, we are on a mission to make veganism more accessible than ever before in the St. Louis metro area. We aim to accomplish this by connecting people with informational resources, local events, and community groups.

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Core Values

Compassion, community, and change—these are our core values! We want to lead a revolution in compassion in St. Louis, one that prioritizes a positive impact on people and the planet, and we want to build a thriving vegan and animal rights community in the process.

What do those values look like in practice? Compassion means we strive to make our events welcoming and beginner-friendly — no perfection required, no purity tests at the door. Community means we invest in the spaces where vegan St. Louis actually gathers: markets, potlucks, dinners, classes, and marches. Change means we measure our work against a real goal — a fully vegan Midwest by 2056 — and publish honestly along the way. (How we hold ourselves to that: Editorial Standards → /editorial-standards.)

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What We Do

Here's how we make vegan living in St. Louis easier, richer, and more connected:

• STL Vegan Guide — vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants and businesses across the metro area (→ /guide)

• Events — a full calendar of local vegan events, many of them ours (→ /events)

• Groups — local vegan and animal rights communities, online and in person (→ /groups)

• Features & News — original articles on vegan life and animal rights in St. Louis (→ /features and /news)

• Veganuary — a free starter kit and local support for anyone trying vegan living (→ /veganuary)

• Volunteering — hands-on ways to help animals in St. Louis (→ /volunteer)

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Our Local Experience

We don't cover vegan St. Louis from a distance. We help build it.

Since its founding in 2018, Project Animal Freedom has built recurring vegan and animal rights programming across the metro area — markets, marches, classes, potlucks, community dinners, and annual traditions like Vegmas and the Vegan Ice Cream Social at Bombay Food Junkies (237 attendees in 2025) — working alongside the local restaurants, vendors, and organizers who make this community real. [PHOTO: original event crowd shot with descriptive alt text]

That first-hand experience is the foundation of everything we publish. When our guide describes a restaurant, it draws on current menus, direct communication with businesses, community reports, and first-hand visits where noted — not unverified listings scraped from elsewhere. Many of the events on our calendar are ones we organize ourselves — often literally setting up the tables.

Our Story

• 2018 — Kyle Luzynski founds Project Animal Freedom on October 19, 2018, with a long-term mission: a fully vegan Midwest by 2056, built through a strategic, chapter-based system.

• [FILL: year] — First annual Animal Freedom March along the Delmar Loop on the Fourth of July.

• 2023–2024 — After founding and building STL Vegan Market through its launch season, local entrepreneur Melissa “Missy” Crawford entrusted it to Project Animal Freedom. The 2024 season drew a combined attendance of more than 5,000 and featured over 70 participating vendors.

• 2025 — VeganSTL.com launches as Project Animal Freedom's dedicated St. Louis platform. [VERIFY: month/season]

• 2026 — Monthly Plant Lovers Potlucks and The Uncaged Page book club launch, while VeganSTL expands its restaurant guide, educational resources, and community programming.

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VeganSTL & Project Animal Freedom

Project Animal Freedom is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a fully vegan Midwest by 2056 through a strategic, chapter-based system. As the leading voice for animal rights in St. Louis — with 56 local events organized in 2025 alone [VERIFY: same count as above] — Project Animal Freedom launched VeganSTL.com to make veganism more visible, accessible, and connected across the region. Signature initiatives across Project Animal Freedom's broader network include the Vegan Climate Summit, Gay Vegan Expo, Disabled Vegan Expo, and Worldwide Vegan Climate March.

Events organized by Project Animal Freedom are identified as ours; everything else is covered under the same published editorial standards, and a relationship with VeganSTL or Project Animal Freedom never guarantees inclusion or favorable treatment. (Full policy: Editorial Standards → /editorial-standards.)

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Our Impact

Numbers we can stand behind — each one scoped and dated:

• 56 events organized in the St. Louis region during 2025 — 24 activism and outreach events, 32 community-building events (Project Animal Freedom's St. Louis chapter)

• 768 people registered for the St. Louis Veganuary Challenge in January 2026]

• 19 restaurants and businesses currently listed in the STL Vegan Guide (as of July 2026)

• Combined attendance of more than 5,000, with over 70 participating vendors, across the 2024 STL Vegan Market season

• 1,200+ members in the VeganSTL Meetup community, 213 events held (as of July 2026)

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Who Creates VeganSTL

VeganSTL is written and edited by Kyle Luzynski, Founder and Executive Director of Project Animal Freedom and a longtime St. Louis vegan organizer. Kyle has spent years building the events, groups, and resources this site covers — which is exactly why he covers them. Read Kyle's full bio → /authors/kyle-luzynski

Contributors, photographers, and community members are credited on the work they help create.

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How We Work & Earn Trust

We collaborate with local restaurants, vendors, venues, organizers, and nonprofits across the metro area — that's the whole point. A few practices keep the work honest:

• We define our restaurant classifications — fully vegan, vegetarian, vegan-friendly — and apply them consistently.

• Inclusion in our guides and directories does not equal endorsement, and it's never for sale.

• We describe first-hand experience honestly, and we never invent it.

• We date our work, update it when facts change, and correct errors — and we make errors easy to report.

• Sponsorship never buys favorable coverage; sponsored material is labeled; and we disclose free food, products, admission, or services whenever they're relevant to our coverage. [FILL: confirm current practice]

• Project Animal Freedom's own events and initiatives are identified as ours.

Read the full VeganSTL Editorial Standards & Review Methodology → /editorial-standards

Nonprofit transparency: VeganSTL.com is a division of Project Animal Freedom, recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) (EIN: 83-3007847). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Questions about our finances or governance? Contact us (→ /contact) — we'll answer.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who runs VeganSTL?

VeganSTL.com is operated by Project Animal Freedom, a Missouri-based nonprofit organization recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) and founded in 2018. It is written and edited by Kyle Luzynski, Project Animal Freedom's Founder and Executive Director.

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Is VeganSTL a nonprofit?

VeganSTL is not a separate legal entity — it's a division of Project Animal Freedom, a Missouri-based nonprofit organization recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) (EIN: 83-3007847). Donations support that nonprofit mission.

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How do restaurants get into the guide?

We add businesses that meet our classification criteria — fully vegan, vegetarian, or vegan-friendly — based on menus, official sources, and first-hand visits where noted. Listing is free, and inclusion is never for sale. See our Editorial Standards for the full methodology.

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Does being listed mean VeganSTL endorses a business?

No. A directory listing means a business meets our classification criteria — not that we vouch for every dish. Our “best of” picks involve editorial judgment, and we explain the criteria behind them.

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I found an error. How do I report it?

Email info@veganstl.com with a link to the page and the correction. We review credible reports, correct material errors promptly, and add dated notes for substantive corrections.

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Can businesses advertise or sponsor VeganSTL?

Sponsorships support our nonprofit work, and sponsored content is always labeled. Sponsorship never buys favorable editorial coverage. Contact us to learn more.

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Join the Movement

You don't need to be a perfect vegan to belong here. You just need to care.

• Explore the STL Vegan Guide → /guide

• Find your next event → /events

• Join our mailing list → /subscribe

• Find your people → /groups

• Volunteer to help animals → /volunteer

• Support our nonprofit work → /donate

Compassion, community, and change. Join us.