💚🐄✊ Thank you to the four fierce activists who joined us for our “Dairy Is Scary” protest at Culver’s last Saturday!

Together, we showcased original vegan artwork, reached over 3,400 passersby, and urged people to ditch dairy and enjoy plant-based alternatives instead.

Several people honked in support, and the corridor leading to the South County Costco could hardly be busier; traffic was near nonstop, with over 30 cars driving past every single minute. People would often have to wait a minute or two before turning into the Culver’s parking lot because the cars kept coming!

Known for its heavy reliance on cheese, butter, and other dairy products, Culver’s is a Midwestern chain famous for their ButterBurgers and frozen custard. They claim their products are sourced from Wisconsin with “love.”

But the dairy industry is anything but loving. It relies upon the forced impregnation of mother cows. Once they give birth, their babies are kidnapped and their milk stolen for human consumption.

Mother cows often bellow for hours or even days once farmers kidnap their babies. The stress of chronic heartbreak, abuse, and exploitation leads most cows exploited for dairy to become “spent” after just 3-5 years, at which point farmers send them to slaughter.

Baby male cows are frequently tortured for veal, and baby girls endure their mother’s fate of repeat rape, heartbreak, and eventual murder. Every slice of cheese and glass of milk not only comes with literal puss and traces of fecal matter, but veal, blood, and torture.

Please, do your part to end the suffering of mother cows and their babies. Ditch dairy and enjoy plant-based milks, cheeses, and yogurts instead!

🐄📣🌱 Thank you to the three thoughtful activists who leafletted with us and Vegan Outreach at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville!

We kicked off leafleting season as the new school year begins, connecting with students and sharing resources about veganism and compassionate living.

Together, we:

• 📄 Distributed 469 “What Is Speciesism?” pamphlets and Biscoff cookies

• 💬 Connected with students about veganism and animal agriculture

• 💚 Encouraged students to make more compassionate choices

Reaching students on college campuses is a vital part of building a stronger movement for animal freedom. The beginning of a new semester provides a unique opportunity to connect with hundreds of students, introduce them to veganism, and encourage them to think more deeply about the animals impacted by their everyday choices.

It was great to be on campus and reach hundreds of individuals with a message of kindness toward animals!

Please also join us this Saturday for our Dairy Is Scary Protest as we expose the harm behind dairy!

😇💚🥂 Thank you to the 26 tenderhearted vegan foodies who joined us for our first-ever meetup at Tree House Vegetarian Restaurant!

Together, we dined gracefully upon a heavenly feast at St. Louis’ premier vegan brunch destination, soaking up the good vibes with gentle sublimity.

We enjoyed countless conversations together, laughing heartily and making new friends in the process.

We would like to thank Tree House for hosting us, as well as one of their employees, Philip, for helping make this merry meetup a reality.

You, too, can savor their positively divine brunch offerings at Tree House every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Tree House is a queer- and woman-owned restaurant, a true trailblazer in our local vegan community that has been 100%-vegetarian since the day they opened over 13 years ago!

Please drop them a follow on Facebook and Instagram. They host a variety of community meetups in their sacred space that you should seriously consider attending!

Thank you to everyone who joined us. Please join us again at our September Plant Lovers Potluck, Vegan BBQ Fest, and Vegan Trivia Night!

🥘🌱❤️ Thank you to the 26 tactful guests who joined us for our first-ever Plant Lovers Potluck at Lafayette Square Inn!

Together, we feasted at a 100%-vegan community dinner, connected with new and longtime vegans alike, and launched St. Louis’ only monthly recurring vegan potluck!

That’s right: prior to launching our Plant Lovers Potluck roughly one month ago, St. Louis had no regularly recurring vegan potlucks, a major missed opportunity in a metro area with over 2.8 million residents!

A special thank you to Andrea and Josh for hosting us in their historic inn; they approached us at our Vegan Block Party at Bougie Bites and offered their space to us. It took roughly a week to determine how to best accept the opportunity, but we quickly figured it would be the perfect fit for our brand-new vegan potluck series!

Community members have asked us for years to integrate more potlucks into our event lineup, and we have now delivered; instead of just 1-3 potlucks per year, we will now host 12-15, giving people more opportunities than ever before to get involved with our local vegan community!

Please join us again for our next Plant Lovers Potluck, our Vegan BBQ Fest, and our Vegan Trivia Night!

🥳💚🛒 Thank you to the nearly 400 people who joined us for our grand return to 2 Acre Park as STL Vegan Market!

Despite the hot weather, with temperatures as high as 95° and a heat index as high as 108°, we still enjoyed a surprisingly robust turnout.

20+ vendors participated, and we had several hot prepared food vendors, three dedicated drink vendors, and a variety of other foods, goods, and services vendors to visit and appreciate!

After our Vegan Block Party at Bougie Bites, the market is now well into recovery mode, and the outlook is deeply positive, especially since weather, moving forward, should be much cooler and more manageable!

That said, we have begun the search for an indoor venue so we no longer have to deal as heavily with the extremes of St. Louis weather, which is already notorious for its unpredictability!

If you know any large, affordable venues that could accommodate our markets, please let us know by emailing us.

Join us again for our Vegan BBQ Fest, Vegan Trivia Night, and Vegan Day @ Randy’s Rescue Ranch!

🧼💚😌 Thank you to the 11 people who purchased tickets to our Vegan Soap-Making Class with master chemist Priyaah Pratt of Life and Styles!

Together, we smelt dozens of calming essential oils, created our very own artisan soap, and relaxed in the company of fellow vegans at Priyaah’s tranquil studio in Wildwood.

This laid-back experience gave us the opportunity to disconnect from the outside world, reflect on our lives, and achieve peace, happiness, and contentment alongside kindred souls.

Dr. Pratt is a master crafter who not only makes almost everything from scratch, from fabric to scented oils, but who offers over 30 different workshops. Visit her website here to view her crafts and sign up for one of her workshops.

We look forward to hosting a Vegan Candle-Making Class with Dr. Pratt in the leadup to Christmas, and we hope you can join us for our Vegan Tea Party, Vegan Trivia Night, and Vegan Thanksgiving Feast in the meantime!

🎲♟️💚 Thank you to the 15 phenomenal gameboard enthusiasts who joined us for our latest Vegan Game Night at Pieces Board Game Bar and Cafe!

Together, we held a PAF - STL council meeting with two special guests, including the new leader of our local Anonymous for the Voiceless chapter and the founder of our Uncaged Page vegan book club.

After our meeting, we chummed it up by enjoying vegan cookies, Harvest Shreds, and enough board games to last the whole evening! We ate, drank, and played to our heart’s content.

Our Vegan Game Night tradition, which dates back to October 9th of 2022, has been going steady for nearly four full years with only a handful of hiccups. While we typically only host it once every two months now, we are proud of this St. Louis vegan tradition and the dozens of people it has united across the board and in spirit.

If you are lonely, struggle to connect with people, or are simply looking to have more fun in your life, our Vegan Game Nights are a great opportunity to plug into our local vegan community.

Board games provide more structure than more “casual,” less structured meetups, and they often prove to be a great outlet for people who are socially awkward, autistic, or otherwise desire more structure when connecting with other people.

Whatever your motivation, background, or disposition, please join us again for our next Vegan Game Night, our Vegan Tea Party, or our Vegan Trivia Night!

🐓💚🤲 Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Summer Flock Party hosted by Second-Hen’d!

Together, we celebrated 10 years of Second-Hen’d, St. Louis’ leading “spent hen” adoption nonprofit!

Second-Hen’d is one of the most amazing, but underreported animal welfare organizations in St. Louis, having now given over 1,000 hens a second chance at life.

While at the Summer Flock Party, we had the opportunity to:

• 🍕 Enjoy delicious vegan pizza from Pizza Head

• 💚 Connect with the leaders spearheading this critical, life-saving work

• 🐔 Meet the chickens themselves and spend quality time with them

• 🎓 Learn about chickens’ personalities, needs, and remarkable capacity for companionship

• 🏡 Discover how Second-Hen’d helps former egg-industry hens find safe, loving forever homes

It was incredibly heartening to meet the chickens themselves, spend quality time with them, and renew our collective commitment to fighting for them.

All chickens deserve to live safe, happy, and free, and Second-Hen’d is a deeply meaningful member of our local animal welfare landscape making that dream a reality.

We have nothing but the utmost respect to the people who work so tirelessly to help all these chickens live their best lives.

Please support their work. Literally 100% of your donation goes to helping care for, rehome, and adopt out chickens!

🥚🌱❤️ Thank you to the four fantastic activists who joined us for our Whole Foods Cage-Free Egg-Sposé!

As part of this engaging action, we:

• 🎓 educated the public about what feel-good marketing terms like “cage-free” actually mean

• 🤒 exposed the suffering caused by the egg industry, no matter the label

• 💚 distributed Just Egg to encourage compassionate, plant-based living.

Cage-free eggs are often promoted as a major victory for animals, but the reality is far more complicated.

Here are five reasons advocates are taking a closer look:

1. 🩹 Cage-Free Does Not Mean Cruelty-Free: Hens in cage-free facilities may still endure severe overcrowding, painful bone fractures, aggression, respiratory illness, infectious disease, and chronic stress.

2. 🐣 More Hens May Be Harmed: Cage-free hens often produce fewer marketable eggs. Maintaining the same level of egg production may therefore require exploiting more birds, potentially increasing total suffering.

3. 🌎 The Environmental Impact May Be Greater: Cage-free systems can require more feed, resources, and hens per egg produced, resulting in higher greenhouse-gas emissions than conventional caged production.

4. 🏭 Humane Labels Can Hide Industrial Conditions: “Cage-free” may conjure images of hens roaming freely outdoors, but many remain confined inside crowded industrial buildings. The label can reassure consumers without accurately showing how the birds actually live.

5. 🌱 We Need More Transformative Solutions: Focusing on cage-free conversions may divert attention from reducing egg consumption, promoting vegan alternatives, and confronting the broader system that treats animals as production units.

⚖️ The Final Verdict

Cage-free may sound like progress, but meaningful change requires asking whether these campaigns truly reduce suffering or simply place a more compassionate label on the same exploitative industry.

Please join us next time for our Dairy Is Scary Protest as we expose the harm behind dairy!

😋💚🍦 Thank you to the 96 people who joined us for our latest Vegan Ice Cream Social at Bombay Food Junkies!

Together, we savored the best vegan soft-serve ice cream in St. Louis, enjoyed spending time with our thriving vegan community, and supported St. Louis’ most pro-animal rights restaurant!

This event was promoted entirely organically; not a single penny was spent on advertising, yet nearly 100 people still showed up to support, indulge, and celebrate!

A nearly 100-person turnout testifies to not only the vibrancy of our local vegan community, but the strength of the movement for a fully vegan Midwest by 2056 we are working so diligently to build.

A special shout-out to Bombay Food Junkies for hosting us, the owners of BFJ for donating generously to support St. Louis’ first-ever Animal Freedom March, and Animal Rights Collective of Chicago for joining the party as well!

While we may not have enjoyed the roughly 200-person turnout we are accustomed to, we did enjoy deeper conversations, building stronger, more robust connections that help glue the movement for animal freedom together.

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped make our vegan ice cream socials the delightful, community-building powerhouses that they are.

Please join us again for our Vegan Game Night, our August vegan market, and Whole Foods Cage-Free Egg-sposé!

🥳💚🎶 Thank you to the 300+ people who joined us for our Vegan Block Party at Bougie Bites yesterday!

Together, we savored the juiciest vegan burgers in town, enjoyed our loveliest market yet this season, and soaked up sweet summer vibes with our thriving vegan community.

A special thank you to Bougie Bites for hosting us and to the seven spectacular vendors who joined us: A Good Day To Be Black & Vegan, Chiro One Wellness Center, Elle Aura Beauty, Life and Styles, Mighty Kind, Mini Bundtlets, and Yummy Sweetcakes!

This market season has been unusually challenging, especially with the heavy winds at our first two markets and the possibility of severe thunderstorms during our June market. But we bounced back yesterday, proving the market is here to stay!

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us yesterday and made our Vegan Block Party such a blast for us, Bougie Bites, and the vendors who came out to support.

Please join us again for our Vegan Ice Cream Social and our next Vegan Market!

🐔💚✊ Thank you to the nine nimble activists who joined PETA and Project Animal Freedom as we demanded freedom, justice, and respect for chickens abused by Raising Cane’s!

Together, we advocated for chickens trapped in the fast-food industry, raised awareness about the horrific suffering these animals endure, and encouraged the public to choose compassion by going vegan.

Stationed along Vandeventer, we reached an estimated 3,900 passersby, many of whom honked in support of our action. That’s 3,900 people confronted with the truth and asked to take action to alleviate animal suffering.

There is a growing awareness that animals raised for food are horrifically abused. We heightened this awareness, inspired people to engage in small acts of solidarity, and urged them to ditch animal products in favor of delicious plant-based alternatives.

Raising awareness, creating easy onramps to pro-animal advocacy, and energizing people who oppose cruelty and support animal freedom generates change, bit by bit, meal by meal, person by person.

We followed this impactful action with a relaxing trip to Seedz Cafe where we enjoyed vegan smoothies, sandwiches, and even their signature vegan chicken dinner special, strengthening our bonds as fellow animal advocates

Please join us again for our Vegan Ice Cream Social, Whole Foods Cage-Free Egg-sposé, and Vegan Game Night!

✊❤️🗽 Nineteen activists. One heat dome. Zero excuses.

On the morning of July 4th, St. Louis made history with its first-ever Animal Freedom March!

Through this bold, inspiring action, we championed the rights of nonhuman animals, raised awareness about their plight, and built the movement for animal freedom.

How? By carrying stunning signs, proudly displaying our thought-provoking banner, and chanting in unison as we marched down the Delmar Loop.

Hundreds of onlookers witnessed our action, captivated by our unusual display of solidarity with all oppressed groups, especially nonhuman animals.

And we did it all despite the extreme heat warning, with the heat index reaching a scorching 102°F during the march. Nothing, not even a heat dome, can stop the movement for animal freedom!

A heartfelt thank you to our keynote speaker, Maxi Glamour, for powerfully connecting the struggle for animal liberation to the fight for human rights, and a special shout-out to Bombay Food Junkies, whose generous donation made this march possible.

Together, we championed veganism as an American ideal, demanding freedom and justice for all.

Their freedom is our freedom. Now let’s fight for it!

🏳️‍🌈💚✊ Thank you to the 12 terrific vegan activists who marched with us in our fourth annual Vegan Pride Parade!

Together, we championed animal rights as a vital social justice issue, showcased the vibrancy and diversity of the vegan movement, and helped fuse the struggle for animal freedom with the fight for human rights!

We proudly carried our banner down Market Street as part of the Grand Pride Parade hosted by Pride St. Louis, demanding justice for all, especially the most vulnerable! We believe that animals, queer folk, trans people, disabled people, People of Color, immigrants, and women are under attack, and that we must all resist their oppression. Because justice for all means justice for animals and every other oppressed group.

And contrary to what some animal activists say, building a more inclusive, intersectional movement for animal freedom is not a “distraction” from animal issues; it is essential to achieving liberation for all beings. As the saying goes, no one is free until everyone is free, and a threat to justice anywhere is indeed a threat to justice everywhere.

We are proud to have carried signs making the case for total liberation at St. Louis’ most colorful parade of the year. For there is no true liberation without animal liberation, just as there is no true liberation without trans liberation, queer liberation, or eco-liberation.

To everyone who doubts the value of queer vegan outreach, consider this: hundreds of people cheered for us, some even chanting the slogans on our signs. Thousands more witnessed our action yesterday, and not a single one of them heckled us. This was truly our funnest, most visible action of the year, and arguably our most impactful.

Please help keep our local momentum for animal freedom going by joining us this Saturday for our Animal Freedom March!

What are you waiting for?

🍕💚🤤 Thank you to the 29+ vegan pizza lovers who joined us yesterday for our Vegan Pizza Party at Pizza Head!

Together, we savored some of St. Louis’ most beloved vegan pizza, enjoyed the beautiful evening weather, and spent time relaxing alongside fellow vegans. We left full of pizza and energized by vegan fellowship!

A special thank you to Pizza Head for so kindly hosting us and serving our group. It was an honor to host our first event with St. Louis’ premier punk-rock pizzeria!

We’d also like to recognize STL Vegan Punk for helping promote the event, as well as all the volunteers who joined us for our Vegan Pride Parade with Pride St. Louis earlier today.

You helped prove an old theory of ours true: from community, all else follows.

Community is the foundation of any successful movement. And by building thriving vegan communities, we can sustain a mass movement for animal freedom.

Thank you for being that community and for fighting for animal freedom in all ways, big and small.

Please join us again for our Animal Freedom March!

🏳️‍🌈💚🥳 Thank you to the four fantastic activists who volunteered at our Vegan Pride Booth at Pride St. Charles!

Together, we distributed vegan literature, sold vegan-themed Pride t-shirts, and enjoyed some of the delicious vegan options at the festival.

Over a dozen queer, vegan, and animal allies posed for photos holding signs that read “Compassion for All,” “Trans Rights,” “Save Animals,” “Love Is Love,” and more. These signs are a simple but powerful way to express solidarity with marginalized human communities and oppressed animals while encouraging small acts of everyday activism for a kinder world.

We believe animal rights should be represented at local festivals, especially those with clear social justice missions like Pride St. Charles. Connecting animal rights with human rights is essential to building a more just society that values everyone, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, or species.

Please join us again soon for our Animal Freedom March and Vegan Pizza Party @ Pizza Head!

❤️🌱🍝 Thank you to the 101 people who joined us for our first-ever Plant Italia Dinner!

Together, we savored a 100%-vegan Italian meal, delighted in each other’s company, and supported St. Louis’ newest all-vegan ghost kitchen!

That’s right: St. Louis is now home to Plant Italia, a 100%-vegan Italian ghost kitchen brought to you by the fine folks behind Bombay Food Junkies!

You, too, can enjoy the incredible Italian eats from Plant Italia at Bombay Food Junkies by ordering online here.

Plant Italia is located inside Bombay Food Junkies’ main kitchen, and you can order their food online above or via the Plant Italia QR code at their restaurant in Creve Coeur.

Please join us again for our Fish Free Fry, our next major dinner!

🐘💚✊ Thank you to the 12 terrific activists who joined us for our circus protest last weekend!

Together, we protested circus cruelty, demanding that animals held captive by the circus be freed from their labor and delivered to animal sanctuaries.

Studies have shown that wild animals in circuses spend nearly 96% of their lives in cages or chains, traveling, or being confined in transport vehicles.

This is no way for anyone to live, and we are proud to have raised our signs in favor of freedom for these animals.

Please join us again at our Plant Italia Dinner and future protests!

🥐🇫🇷💚 Thank you to the 16 vegan foodies who joined us for our meetup at La Vie Vegan last night!

Together, we had a glorious time at the cutest, pinkest vegan café in St. Louis, savoring the best vegan croissants, crêpes, macarons, and more in town.

In fact, La Vie Vegan is the only 100%-vegan French café in the entire Midwest. Better yet, they just opened La Pâtisserie Paris in the second half of their restaurant, making tea time more enjoyable than ever!

Thank you to Charlotte and the team for hosting us; we had a splendid experience at this amazing restaurant in historic downtown St. Charles!

Please join us again at our Plant Italia Dinner for more delicious eats. 😋

🌮💚🤤 Thank you to the 16+ terrific taco enthusiasts who joined us for our Vegan Taco Party at Terror Tacos!

Together, we enjoyed the best vegan tacos, burritos, and quesadillas in town while delighting in each other’s company! Some of us even enjoyed booze and mocktails from the bar.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and thank you to Terror Tacos for hosting us; we had a blast!

Please join us again at our Plant Italia Dinner!