✊🌎💚 Thank you to the six determined activists who joined us yesterday in the rain as we marched for a just, sustainable, plant-based food system!

Together, we exposed animal ag’s insidious role in the present ecological crisis, championed veganism as an environmental imperative, and demanded a plant-based, veganic food system. Perhaps most crucially, we called upon governments, businesses, and everyday citizens to embrace veganism, end subsidies to animal ag, and endorse the Plant Based Treaty.

Hundreds of people witnessed this powerful action, and over a dozen people stopped to speak with us, take pictures, and honk to show their support. There is not only a growing awareness of the profound environmental toll of animal agriculture, but a growing willingness to do something about it, a charge we helped lead on the Arch grounds in downtown St. Louis.

Our chants reverberated down the streets, and virtually no one heckled or laughed at us. Instead, dozens of passersby reacted positively, with several people grateful to see other vegans fighting for climate justice and one couple even asking us for vegan ice cream suggestions for their upcoming wedding.

It may have been cold, and it may have rained, especially early on during the march. But we persevered, because nothing will stop us from fighting for the future of all life on Earth. The stakes are simply too high to not take action and do what we can to avert climate catastrophe.

We hope you join us at future actions. Our voices are stronger together, and the opportunities before us too great to squander. Please join us at our Vegan Halloween Party + Vegan Chili Cook-Off next Saturday as well as we celebrate the end of our warm-month activism.

What are you waiting for? Connect with our local vegan community and join the burgeoning movement for animal freedom today!

🥳💚🍂 Thank you to the 18 volunteers who joined us at our PAF volunteer party despite the rain!

Together, we enjoyed delicious vegan Indonesian food, strengthened our bonds as fellow activists, and deepened our commitment to fighting for a world where all animals live safe, happy, and free.

Our team at Project Animal Freedom is proud to have coordinated this event, giving our volunteers a unique opportunity to mingle with fellow activists and celebrate their contributions to our mission of building a fully vegan Midwest by 2056.

We plan to continue enriching our fellowship through more volunteer-focused events, and we hope you will join us at future volunteer opportunities to qualify for our volunteer-only events.

If you are interested in volunteering with our local St. Louis chapter, please join us for our Vegan Climate March on Saturday, October 25th. Learn more about volunteering here.

What are you waiting for? Join the animal freedom movement today!

🌈💚🥳 Thank you to the four fantastic volunteers who joined us at GroveFest!

Together, we sold eight vegan-themed Pride t-shirts, distributed dozens of pieces of literature, and raised $120 to support our vegan outreach. 11 passionate vegans and vegetarians also joined our mailing list.

But most importantly, we represented veganism, our local vegan community, and the animals as the only explicitly vegan vendor at GroveFest. That’s correct; out of the 80 vendors at GroveFest, we were the only animal rights organization and explicitly pro-animal freedom booth at the festival.

With roughly 30,000 festivalgoers in attendance, GroveFest is one of the largest festivals in St. Louis. Thousands of passersby saw our booth, with dozens of nonvegans stopping to admire our t-shirts and their giggle-inducing slogans. A couple dozen people even snapped pictures to share with friends via text and on social media, spreading our reach ever further.

Vegans in attendance were especially excited to discover our booth, and we even had a productive conversation with a former cow farmer who wound up buying one of our “Eat 🍑, not Animals” t-shirts. A local student newspaper interviewed us for several minutes as well, asking genuinely curious questions about veganism, animal rights, and plant-based living.

Overall, this event was a success for vegan presence, representation, and visibility, ensuring our movement and the nonhuman animal victims we advocate for are represented at as many major community events as possible.

Please join us again at future outreach events, such as our St. Louis Vegan Climate March, and donate to support our Vegan Festivals Campaign today!

🏳️‍🌈💚🥳 Thank you to the five phenomenal activists who joined us as we tabled at Tower Grove Pride!

Together, we reached thousands of passersby, championed vegan living, and participated in the Pride & Joy Parade, reaching thousands of additional festivalgoers.

Throughout the festival, we enjoyed dozens of conversations with passersby, distributed over 100 pieces of vegan literature, collected photos of animal advocates holding pro-justice signs, and sold 16 vegan-themed Pride t-shirts, raising $301 to support our vegan outreach. 42 people also joined our mailing list, building momentum for future events.

As part of our Vegan Festivals Campaign, we also helped two vegan businesses participate in Tower Grove Pride: Sweet Treats of St. Louis, with whom we shared our booth, and Big Mama’s House, who served over 100 vegan meals to the community.

We are proud to have represented veganism and the animals at this event, fusing animal rights with the broader movement for social justice. By building coalitions with other social justice movements, we can build a larger, kinder, and more effective movement that champions freedom and justice for all.

Please join us again for Vegans at STL GroveFest, the St. Louis Vegan Climate March, and other outreach events!

🤘🎸💚 Thank you to the 39 vegan rockers who joined us for our second annual VegRock vegan rock show!

Together, we enjoyed music from local vegan artists, rejoiced in each other’s company, and advanced vegan culture in our community!

A special thank you to our musical guests: Zman the Vegan, West End Junction, Rich Reese of LOVE of Community Radio STL, and STL Vegan Punk of Banks and Cathedrals, as well as Sky Music Lounge for hosting us!

One of our subgoals at Project Animal Freedom is adding to the richness of vegan culture, which we accomplished at VegRock by supporting local vegan artists, creating a new distinctly vegan musical tradition, and being a trendsetter for other vegan groups across the country and around the world.

VegRock will hopefully go on to help inspire other vegan musical experiences, and we are so grateful to everyone who joined us this year and last as we jump-started this new tradition.

Please join us again at our Vegan Halloween Party, Vegan Karaoke Night, and Vegan Thanksgiving Feast!

✊💚🐮 Thank you to the seven superb activists who joined us for our third annual March to Close All Slaughterhouses!

Together, we reached hundreds of passersby, championed a plant-based food system free from the atrocities of the abattoir, and built momentum for a slaughter-free St. Louis.

Slaughterhouses are indeed a strategic weak point for the animal abuse industry: the public already widely recognizes their cruelty, and support for phasing them out is growing.

By targeting slaughterhouses, we threaten the entire system of animal abuse. We weaken the economies of scale central to its success, making animal agriculture increasingly unprofitable and untenable as a business model.

But perhaps most importantly, we highlight the foundational cruelty of animal agriculture: the needless killing of innocents that drives animal commodification and consumption. The reality becomes inescapable; consumers can no longer deny the cruelty inherent to a system founded upon systemic violence.

And if we convince consumers that all slaughter is fundamentally unjustified, that slaughterhouses are moral abominations that must be ended through individual action paired with vigorous legal intervention, we can grind the system to a halt, ending the violent institution of the abattoir forever. And it all begins by spotlighting the undeniable violence, cruelty, and overall depravity inherent to the slaughterhouse model.

By opposing slaughterhouses, we therefore strike at the most foundational roots of animal oppression, challenging assumptions about human supremacy and demanding we properly value—and diligently protect—animal lives.

🥳💚🎶 Thank you to the over 400 people who joined us on Labor Day weekend for our first annual Vegan Block Party at Bougie Bites!

Together, we savored vegan takes on American classics, including burgers, pancakes, ice cream, nachos, and more. We relaxed, partied, and refueled our souls for challenges and opportunities to come. And we celebrated vegan community while uplifting St. Louis’ newest vegan restaurant.

We provided a vibrant, joy-filled alternative to a traditionally meat-centric holiday, reaching over 26,000 St. Louisans and generating over 35,000 views between Facebook and Instagram alone. Our KMOV article performed even better, generating over 400,000 views and achieving a 1.46% click-through rate.

Each view represents a seed of compassion being planted in the minds of over a quarter million St. Louisans. These gentle reminders, small nudges, and mini motivators increase the salience of veganism in our community, slowly but surely inspiring diet change as veganism becomes more relevant, accessible, and attractive to fellow St. Louisans.

A special thank you to Bougie Bites for hosting our event and accommodating all 400+ guests, alongside our wonderful vendors who helped make this event so exciting and rewarding to attend.

Please join us again next Saturday at STL Vegan Market - September 2025!

✊⚖️🌎 Thank you to the eight excellent activists who joined us as we demanded justice for all beings on World Day for the End of Speciesism!

Together, we reached roughly 12,000 passersby with our anti-speciesist, pro-justice message; raised awareness about the injustice of speciesism; and championed a future where all beings live safe, happy, and free.

Over 100 organizations participated in this worldwide day of action, united around five core demands:

• 1️⃣ Create a new legal category for animals that abolishes their property status

• 2️⃣ Launch global education campaigns against speciesism and for nonviolence

• 3️⃣ Build a nonviolent dietary culture free from fishing, slaughter, and other cruelty

• 4️⃣ Advance ethical research without animal exploitation or torture

• 5️⃣ Ensure all environmental decisions consider animals’ interests, including those of wildlife

With a giant banner that PETA loaned us, we made our position clear: end speciesism—and with it, all forms of oppression, including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia.

At this political moment, a consistent anti-oppression message has never been more critical, urgent, or necessary. We are proud to have represented the cause for a united social justice movement that champions the rights of all beings, regardless of sex, sexuality, or species.

Please join us again at our March to Close All Slaughterhouses as we fight to build a #SlaughterFreeSTL!

🍕💚🤤 Thank you to the 50 pizza connoisseurs who joined us for our Vegan Pizza Party at Seedz Cafe yesterday evening!

It was a highly enjoyable, relaxing night filled with friends and brimming with arguably the best vegan pizza in all of St. Louis.

Together, we savored six unique pizza combos, delighted in each other’s company, and enjoyed the cool, comforting weather.

Even more importantly, we supported a phenomenal local business and jump-started our K-12 and college outreach programs for the Fall 2025 season.

From building allyships with K-12 and college students to meeting a teacher at a local high school trying to deliver vegan education to her students, we made meaningful progress toward kinder, more compassionate campus communities in the St. Louis region.

Please join us at future outreach events, such as our upcoming March to Close All Slaughterhouses!

🐥💚🐷 Thank you to the five phenomenal leafleters who joined us for our SLU Leafleting Field Trip with Vegan Outreach!

Together, we distributed over 3,400 leaflets, spared an estimated 1,700-2,400 animals from a lifetime of suffering, and started the semester strong.

Research conducted by Vegan Outreach, Mercy For Animals, and The Humane League, for example, has consistently found that roughly one animal is spared from a lifetime of suffering for every two booklets distributed. Distributing leaflets at colleges and universities can be especially impactful.

In a single minute during a class change, you can easily distribute several leaflets, sparing multiple animals from horrors, injustices, and atrocities so profound, our language can hardly accommodate their excesses. Leafleting is therefore one of the simplest, most effective actions you can take to reduce animal suffering en route to building a just, sustainable world.

It’s astonishing that just five people could meaningfully impact this many lives in just four hours. Imagine what we could accomplish if the estimated 168,000 vegetarians and vegans in the St. Louis region consistently took action for animals beyond simply not eating them.

There is massive, pent-up potential for transformative change in our community. Be one more changemaker unlocking that potential: make a commitment today to attend our next outreach event!

😍💚🛒 Thank you to the over 500 attendees who joined us for our August market!

Like roughly half our markets so far this year, this market proved challenging:

The heat index was 107°. A storm rolled through and destroyed several tents. Vendors skipped due to the extreme weather. And over half a dozen other major events took place in St. Louis on the same day, including four large food festivals.

But we still found a way to throw a successful event where vendors enjoyed good business, we celebrated stellar vegan vibes, and we built a more vegan- and animal-friendly St. Louis—together!

A special thank you to our steadfast vendors and attendees who braved the hot weather to participate in our August market. We would also like to thank our sponsors—Carol House Furniture, Bougie Bites, Bombay Food Junkies, Sun Solar, Harvest Shreds, Seedz Cafe, Pieces Board Game Bar and Cafe, and Pearl’s Plant Kitchen—for continuing to make the market possible.

The market is a labor of love that has become a vegan awareness-raising powerhouse, generating over 1.5 million views and reaching over 310,000 St. Louisans so far this year alone. But we couldn’t do it without the hundreds of faithful supporters who show up, market after market.

Thank you for making this community event so vibrant, impactful, and joyous, and see you again at our September market!

🥳🍦💚 Thank you to the 237 people who joined us for our final Vegan Ice Cream Social of the season at Bombay Food Junkies!

This event was our largest ice cream social ever, our largest restaurant meetup ever, and the largest restaurant meetup in St. Louis history, obliterating our previous record of 180 attendees.

Together, we celebrated National Ice Cream Day, savored the best vegan ice cream in St. Louis, and helped build a world where animals no longer suffer and die in the dairy industry.

But more than anything, this mighty turnout signified the enormous potential of our local vegan community and the growing strength of our local animal freedom movement.

At Project Animal Freedom, we will continue to steward our community forward and unlock the vast untapped potential not only here in St. Louis, but also across the broader Midwest.

What are you waiting for? Join the fight for animal freedom today!

Our Vegan BBQ Fest attracted just under 1,300 attendees, making it our largest, most successful market ever.

40+ vendors participated, and nearly a dozen of them sold out, including some vendors like Paradise Coconut Drinks who had never sold out at one of our markets before.

Better yet, this market reached more St. Louisans than any previous market, accumulating a jaw-dropping 590,000 views between Facebook, Instagram, and our KMOV article, which alone accounted for 259,000 of those views.

While we don’t have the exact number, this one event likely reached over a quarter million St. Louisans, showcasing what an awareness-raising powerhouse our markets can be. That’s 250,000+ seeds of compassion planted and more than 500,000+ gentle nudges to go and stay vegan, aiding people along their vegan journey.

Our second annual Vegan BBQ Fest has redefined what our markets can achieve, and we’re already planning to expand its reach even further, paving the way for continued, robust growth.

🗽⚖️🦅 Today is Animal Freedom Day, which, for Project Animal Freedom, is the biggest animal rights holiday of the year!

“What is Animal Freedom Day,” you ask? It’s a celebration of freedom for all, honoring our collective struggle for total liberation and the progress we make as a movement toward a just, compassionate world.

Coinciding with the 4th of July, this new animal rights holiday celebrates the values most Americans hold dear: freedom, equality, and justice for all. It appeals to our shared desire for freedom by expanding that vision to include all sentient beings, human and nonhuman alike.

Steeped in these values, veganism represents a true American ideal: a world where everyone can enjoy the riches of life, the joys of freedom, and the securities of justice.

Animal Freedom Day traces its roots back to 2021, but it was not until 2023 that we officially began celebrating it. You can celebrate Animal Freedom Day by:

• 🍔 savoring vegan BBQ on the 4th of July

• 🌭 organizing a vegan BBQ potluck or other vegan event

• ❌ refraining from shooting off fireworks

• ✊ protesting 4th of July cruelty

• 🗽 joining Vegan USA on Facebook

• ➕ inviting 10+ of your friends to join Vegan USA

• 😸 honoring the struggle for animal freedom in your own way

Animal freedom is a cause worth celebrating. Let’s transform the 4th of July—a traditionally meat-centric holiday—into a resounding call for freedom for all, nonhuman animals included.

Take pride in being vegan. Take pride in being an animal rights activist. Take pride in fighting for the most innocent, vulnerable, and defenseless among us, and celebrate our wins.

Because one day, these small victories will add up to total animal liberation. And that is something worth rejoicing over!

🍣💚🤤 Thank you to the 40+ vegan sushi connoisseurs who joined us last night for Vegan Sushi in the Park!

Together, we savored chef-prepared vegan eats, sipped Bo.co Boba’s delightful bubble teas, and enjoyed the lovely evening weather in historic Tower Grove Park.

This community-building event was the perfect opportunity to relax with vegetarians, vegans, and other veg-curious folk, nestled among the trees in a peaceful, secluded area of one of St. Louis’ most beautiful parks.

A special shout-out to Chef Kris for catering this event; people loved the food and delighted in each other’s company!

Please join us again later this month for our Vegan Ice Cream Social at Bombay Food Junkies.

🏳️‍🌈💚🐷 Thank you to everyone who joined for our Vegan Pride Parade at St. Louis PrideFest last Sunday!

Together, we championed animal rights as a vital social justice issue, represented our local vegan community, and reached tens of thousands of St. Louisans with our message of compassionate, plant-based living.

Throughout our Vegan Pride Parade, “Go vegan!” cheers broke out several times, with dozens of people shouting their support. Vegetarians, vegans, and nonvegans alike were thrilled to see our “Eat 🍑, not Animals” banner, laughing heartily and snapping photos to share with friends and family.

The experience was overwhelmingly positive, reaffirming the power of queer vegan outreach. The LGBTQIA+ community and its allies are uniquely receptive to calls for justice, love, respect, and compassion for all beings, nonhuman animals included, making this outreach especially impactful.

At Project Animal Freedom, we’re proud to celebrate Pride Month in ways both big and small. Please join us again on National Coming Out Day for our Gay Vegan Expo!

🤓💚🐷 Thank you to the 20 prospective volunteers who joined us for our Vegan Volunteer Meeting at Bombay Food Junkies!

Together, we:

1. 🙋‍♀️ explored opportunities for local vegan outreach, advocacy, and activism

2. 🧠 brainstormed bold ideas to boost our impact in St. Louis and beyond

3. 💪 strengthened our foundation for a Midwestern animal rights revolution

Most attendees were relatively new to Project Animal Freedom, and many had little to no prior experience in animal advocacy. That means with just one volunteer meeting, we injected nearly a dozen new activists into the movement!

Thanks to this event, we expanded our committees, infused our St. Louis chapter with new energy, increased our capacity, and laid the groundwork for deepening our impact across the St. Louis region.

We are proud of all 20 animal rights advocates who took the initiative to make a meaningful difference in the fight for animal freedom. We’re deeply grateful for their dedication to building a just, compassionate world where animals no longer suffer and die needlessly, and we commend their enthusiasm for helping achieve a fully vegan Midwest by 2056.

You, too, can volunteer with our St. Louis chapter, our flagship chapter whose strength sustains our entire network. What happens here ripples outward, making your support absolutely critical as we transform the Midwest, one city at a time.

By volunteering with us, you can have an outsized impact not only in St. Louis but across the entire Midwest as you help build momentum for our chapter network.

👉 Apply to volunteer with us here.

The animals are counting on you, and they cannot bear to suffer any longer. What are you waiting for? Get active for the animals today!

STL Vegan Market just hit a major milestone: over 1,000,000 views (and counting!)

That’s right—STL Vegan Market content has been viewed more than one million times in 2025, with over 750,000 of those views happening in just the past 90 days.

Since its launch three years ago, STL Vegan Market has reached more than 370,000 St. Louisans, becoming a true powerhouse for awareness, education, and community-building around sustainable, plant-based living in the St. Louis region.

Think of it this way: we’ve planted over one million seeds in 2025 alone, and each one holds the power to gently guide someone toward a more compassionate way of life. This kind of exposure doesn’t just raise visibility; it sparks change, bit by bit, person by person.

How? By:

• 🌱 Raising awareness about veganism and its connection to environmental sustainability and animal wellbeing, empowering people to make more thoughtful, informed choices

• 🌟 Showcasing the vibrancy of a vegan lifestyle, giving people an aspirational vision of vegan living and in turn inspiring more people to go vegan

• 💚 Reinforcing the value of veganism for both new and longtime vegans, strengthening commitment and reducing the rate of dietary relapse

• 🤝 Energizing the community through connection, purpose, and collective action, leading to greater impact

• 🐷 And helping build a humane economy where animals no longer suffer and die for profit

We’re incredibly grateful for the impact STL Vegan Market is having on our local community, and we look forward to stewarding its continued growth.

Thank you for helping turn this market into a thriving tradition rooted in compassion, sustainability, and justice for all.

Together, we’re growing something beautiful, and we couldn’t be more proud!

🥳🏳️‍🌈💚 Thank you to the over 500 people who joined us for our June market!

Many people joined us after protesting earlier in the day, and we are grateful to have provided an outlet for joy amidst all the uncertainty in our country right now.

30+ vendors participated, selling everything from lasagna bites and vegan cinnamon rolls, to guava juice and fresh-squeezed limeade, to canvas art and gemstones.

While not as many people participated as usual due to the protests, the weather report, and Father’s Day weekend, we are proud to have celebrated Pride at our market.

100+ guests came dressed in their Pride gear, and at least half a dozen vendors sported Pride-themed merchandise at their booth. From Pride-themed vegan t-shirts to rainbow-adorned essential oil blends being sold as a fundraiser for The Trevor Project, this was our most colorful, pro-queer market yet!

Please join us again next month for our second annual Vegan BBQ Fest, St. Louis’ only 100%-vegan BBQ festival!

😍💚🛒 Thank you to the nearly 800 people who joined us Mother’s Day weekend for our latest STL Vegan Market!

40+ vendors participated. From flower bouquets, to scented bars of soap, to scrumptious cookies, there was something for everyone to enjoy!

Many attendees bought gifts for their mothers, friends, and loved ones while at the market; our flower vendor, Sophia’s Crowns Flower Shop, sold out in record time!

Together, we enjoyed the beautiful spring weather; supported small, local businesses; and helped build a world where animals no longer suffer and die for profit.

Please join us again at STL Vegan Market - June 2025 and our upcoming Vegan BBQ Fest!