Finding a Vegan Community

Existing as a vegan in a non-vegan world can be really lonely, exhausting and has even been shown to lead to burnout. You may feel isolated from society or feel like an outsider because you can't fully participate in social activities with omnivores like you once did. Feeling socially isolated can cause some people to start eating animals again, which is the last thing any of us want.

Having a vegan community can help you find recipes, products, answer questions you might have, give you a safe space to vent, and just allow you to be around people who understand you without judgement. 

Some common examples that can lead to burnout

Some common social examples that could lead to burnout.

• Being the only vegan at work, in your family or in your friend group.
• Family dinners, holidays, birthday parties, cookouts and any type of celebration that really revolves around food (which will usually contain animal products).
• Dating - if you're trying to find a vegan partner, it becomes very apparent how few vegans actually exist. If you're dating omnivores, or even vegetarians, you can often feel misunderstood or just sad because the person you care doesn't share your beliefs.
• Traveling or living somewhere with very limited vegan options at restaurants and grocery stores can be really frustrating and exhausting. Maybe you just feel like you literally can't do anything outside of your house without having a detailed plan for where you're going to eat, or you have to go to multiple stores and order products online just to get your basic groceries.
• Answering the same questions over and over again about veganism, and hearing the same anti-vegan jokes is the worst, especially if it's at work and you have to remain positive and upbeat.
• Speaking of work, there are many things that can make you feel left out. Work lunch and learns, team building, or just office donuts that don't take into account that you're a vegan can make you feel like you're a lesser valued member of the team.

Faunalytics: Study of Current and Former Vegetarians and Vegans (2014)

In 2014, Faunalytics did a pretty interesting study that hits on some of these themes.

Per the study, 85% of vegetarians/vegans abandon their diet. I will say that I think the word "vegan" in this context is used fairly loosely, and some of the people within this 85% may have just been plant-based.

Of these lapsed vegetarians/vegans:

• 34% of them maintained the diet for 3 months or less.
• 58% cited health as the motivation for their diet.
• 84% said that they were not actively involved in a vegetarian/vegan community, online or in person.
• 63% said that they disliked that their diet made them stick out from the crowd.
• 58% said that they did not see it as part of their identity.
• 37% said that they are interested in re-adopting their diet.

A large number of the lapsed vegetarians/vegans stating that they weren't actively involved in a community, they didn't like that their diet made them feel like they stuck out from the crowd and they didn't see it as part of their identity is really interesting. I think some of these people could have stayed vegetarian/vegan if they would've had community, and didn't feel so alone and left out.

My personal favorite statistic was that 37% said that they are interested in re-adopting their diet. This is so hopeful and I think it shows that leading with kindness, empathy, and providing resources and support is a good way to rehab ex-vegans and vegetarians.

Faunalytics - Bringing Back Former Vegans and Vegetarians: an Obstacle Analysis (2023)

Speaking of rehabbing former vegans and vegetarians, Faunalytics also did an analysis on that subject in 2023. 

Per this study, helping lapsed vegetarians and vegans resume their diets means making the diets as accessible as possible, providing them with motivational boosts and practical support.

This is where community comes in! Sharing recipes, product recommendations and tips and tricks on how to make tasty food and keep it affordable is important work. I think back to when I first went vegan, and I literally had no idea what to cook for the first few months. I basically lived on vegan protein bars and tofu scramble. Once I figured out how to cook a variety of things and find vegan options at local restaurants, my life drastically improved. Just being there for your fellow vegans when they have questions or need someone to listen is also really important and can be the difference between someone sticking with a vegan diet or not.

Some other issues that former vegetarians and vegans noted in the study:

• Dissatisfaction with the food was the most common struggle.
• Access to vegetarian and vegan food options.
• The cost of vegetarian and vegan food.
• Social struggles and accessibility challenges.

Some of these issues are more challenging to fix until society catches up. Specifically, the cost of vegetarian and vegan food, and accessibility challenges. There is stuff that we can do now like provide recipe ideas that are more affordable and easier to make, but we have little control when it comes to the cost of these options at restaurants. That said, the more vegans there are, the more likely we are to see prices decrease and options increase.

Faunalytics - Study of Former Vegetarians and Vegans: Qualitative Findings

This is the last study I want to reference, because I think it gives us some insights on how we can help new vegans/plant-based eaters stick with it.

From this study, former vegans and vegetarians were asked to give their primary reason for stopping their diet:

• 32% - unsatisfied with the food
  • Community can help with providing tasty recipes and restaurant and product recommendations.
• 26% - health
  • A vegan community can help provide resources on how to get protein, iron, B12, etc.
• 13% - social issues
  • Community can definitely help with social issues by providing vegan socializing or just having a place to vent.
• 13% - inconvenience
  • Vegan communities can share tips and tricks on how to find options at non-vegan restaurants and easy/quick recipes.
• 6% - cost
  • Vegan communities are a good place to ask for affordable recipes with common ingredients.
• 6% - lack of motivation
  • A vegan community can provide the motivation needed to stick to a vegan diet.
• 25% - other

Now that I've bored you with all the data that proves vegan communities can help determine whether or not someone stays vegan, I'm going to cover how to find a community. 

Different people will want different communities. Some people may be fine with a fully online community, while others will want an in-person community that they can have meet-ups with.

Online Communities

Instagram/Tiktok

There's a large vegan presence on both Instagram and TikTok, which makes it a great place for finding vegan recipes, hearing vegan ideas and keeping up with vegan-related news. A downside of both of these apps is that the trolls run wild and there are many trolls. If you're someone who doesn't want to see annoying trolls comments, the comment sections of Instagram and TikTok may not be the right place for you. 

It can also be difficult to create one-on-one interactions on these apps unless you go seeking out other vegans. This can be a lot for more introverted people because it does require you to go interact with strangers and potentially post. Sometimes there will be vegan follow back posts where people comment that they basically are open to interacting and following other vegans, so you may have luck making friends there. 

Facebook Groups

I personally don't like Facebook, but Facebook groups are kind of cool because they can be made private, which means trolls can't get in (and if they do, they can be dealt with). 

This is a great place for sharing recipes and finding local events. It might also be easier to make individual friends because the community is smaller.

Reddit

I think Reddit is an excellent place for asking questions and getting information on veganism. That said, some of the communities can get a little negative (even puritanical) and in lesser moderated subs, you will end up with a lot of trolls.

Some of the communities that I personally enjoy are:

• /r/veganfitness - mostly fitness focused if you like that sort of thing, and it's well moderated. Health and high protein recipes are shared in there frequently, along with progress pictures. It's a good place to ask fitness and food-related questions.
• /r/eatcheapandvegan - this is an excellent sub that is well moderated. People share affordable vegan recipes and food.
• /r/veganrecipes - this is where most vegan recipes end up getting shared. It's also a good place to go if you're looking for a specific type of recipe.
• /r/deficientvegans - this is our Discord so I'm a little bias, but it is a good place to keep up with news, learn vegan-related things, share recipes and ask questions.

YouTube

While YouTube is an excellent place to learn a lot of things about veganism and find a lot of vegan recipes, it's not a great place for socializing.

Discord

If you haven't used Discord before, it's a free app where people build communities. Within each community, there are channels (recipes, vegan news, etc.), and it's kind of just one large group chat, so it's great for having real conversations with people who actually want to interact with other vegans.

I would say that this is the best option all around for building and finding an online vegan community. Well-managed Discord groups can keep trolls out so that it becomes a fully vegan-friendly place to hangout. Larger cities often have local Discords, and they set up in-person meet-ups!

We actually have a Deficient Vegans Discord if you want to join! We haven't had a single troll, jut a bunch of really kind and awesome people!  Our Discord has channels for food & recipes, fitness, nutrition, vegan news, hobbies, movies/tv, music, and a bunch more. We also run a quarterly Vegan Book Club in there so that's really fun too!

In-person Communities

It can be more challenging to find in-person vegan communities, especially if you live in a smaller town, but here are some ideas on how you could go about finding one:

• Some cities have their own Discords, Subreddits and Facebook groups, so it's always worth checking there first. Even if you don't live in a big city, I'd recommend searching for the closest nearby city, because there may be people there that live close to you!
• Try checking with nearby vegan businesses. The vegan community, in general, tends to be pretty tight-knit because there are so few of us. If there is a vegan community near you, your local vegan businesses may know how you can get in contact with them.
• Checkout nearby animal sanctuaries or pet shelters.
• Start a vegan group at work.
• Go to vegan festivals, restaurants or conferences to make some vegan friends.
• Check the community tab of Happy Cow for people in your area, and try sending them a friendly (non-creepy, do not be creepy) message.
• See who's commenting on local business Instagram/Tiktok posts.
• Covert your existing friends to veganism.
• Start your own Discord, Subreddit or Facebook group! 

Once you've found or built your in-person vegan community, you can do all kinds of stuff together, but here are a few ideas of things you can do as a group:

• Potlucks
• Group visits to animal sanctuaries
• Host volunteer events like vegan food kitchens or helping an animal shelter
• Participate in local activism
• Check out and support vegan restaurants and businesses
• Vegan Book Club
• Vegan Cooking Club
• Movie Nights

Passive Community

You may not need virtual or in-person communities that involve actively talking to other vegans, but it can still feel good to exist, even passively, in vegan spaces. Here are some ideas for that too:

• Listen to vegan Podcasts
• Watch vegan YouTube channels
• Follow vegan creators on whichever social media you hangout
• Read vegan books
• Support local vegan restaurants

Conclusion 

If you're a vegan, especially a newer vegan, it can be really helpful to find a community, either in-person or online, where you can ask questions, share struggles and stay on track.

Even if you don't feel like you personally need a community, being part of one and supporting fellow vegans who need help or who are struggling can quite literally be the difference between them staying vegan or becoming another statistic. 

Help your fellow and future vegans by sharing good recipes, answering questions, being patient, kind and understanding, and being there when they need someone to talk to. We're all trying to build a vegan world together!

If you're reading this and you have questions, need help or just need someone to vent to you can join our Deficient Vegans Discord, send us an email or reach out to us on our social medias!