Whether out of love for animals, the desire to fight against climate change, or do something for one’s health, vegetarian and vegan lifestyles are becoming increasingly popular. Veggies choose to continue consuming animal-derived products such as honey, dairy, and eggs. On the other hand, vegans are part of a movement that rejects the use and consumption of all animal products.
However, both choose plant-based diets. They probably share a huge love for animals too. And may have the desire to take care of their planet somehow. In that sense, vegan support forums are great online spaces for vegans and vegetarians. It’s in these groups where they can continue learning, find resources, get informed, and support each other.
How Peer Power Is Helping Promote Vegetarianism and Veganism
As the famous feminist slogan says, the personal is political. That’s one of the first reasons why peer power and communities are so important in the promotion of social movements such as veganism. Vegetarianism is popular too these days. However, we could consider it more like a diet than a movement.
On the contrary, veganism is a way of life, a social movement. That is, a community with an attempt to impact politically, culturally, and socially. And change in the way we relate to animals and the food industry as a whole too.
However, both lifestyles are valid (obviously)! And both vegetarians and vegans need spaces where they can share their ideas, find support, and get informed. That’s how online communities, and veggie and vegan support forums were born.
In turn, the collectivization and adoption of this cause by millions of people around the world is helping promote change. And having an impact in the industries who are trying to adapt to this new paradigm were taking care of animals and the environment come first.
The Importance of Social Media & Online Vegan Groups 📲
The Internet has become a fundamental tool for any emerging social movement. And even older social movements have been able to adapt to this new tool. The Internet is not only a great space for movements to spread their message. But also as a means of gaining supporters and new members from all over the world.
These movements have managed to take hold of social media and other online spaces. Consequently, this allowed them to conquer spaces that they wouldn’t have been able to conquer on the ‘physical plane’.
Unlike other media -such as television or newspapers-, information online circulates interactively and horizontally. Instead, through the Internet, social movements can reach those who could never have been reached in person. As a result, this can generate debate and a change of consciousness. And that way, many people might adhere to a social movement thanks to having become acquainted with it through social media and online groups.
How and Where to Meet Other Vegans 🌱
As we mentioned earlier, the Internet’s a great place to meet fellow veggies and vegans! However, there are plenty of spaces -both virtual and offline- where you can meet like-minded people.
Join an Online Community
Online communities, forums, and Facebook groups are great spaces for vegan activists and enthusiasts to meet like-minded people. Also, they are great to engage in fruitful discussions, share your thoughts, ideas, and fears, and receive feedback and support.
If you keep reading, we’ll share with you five of the best online vegan support forums and communities in this article! Also, you can search for the word “vegan” on social media, particularly on Facebook, and find plenty of online and even real-life communities in your city or country.
Volunteer With an Animal Rights Organization or Movement
Apart from communities, there are a lot of vegan and animal rights organizations and movements that organize activities and charity events where you can volunteer your time or money. Many participate in demonstrations where you can join, too. These organizations provide a friendly and safe space for people who love animals. And we assure you you’ll meet others who are as passionate as you about protecting them.
Visit an Animal Sanctuary
Animal sanctuaries are beautiful spaces to see the positive effect of people fighting for animal rights. Most are rescued from harsh and painful situations, such as cows that were being taken to slaughter. In that sense, animal lovers will be able to generate a special bond with these animals. And even with the people with whom they share the visit.
List of the Best Veggie and Vegan Online Communities
Vegan Mainstream
Vegan Mainstream is a group that supports vegan business owners and entrepreneurs with a full spectrum of free and paid services. These include an online training community designed to help business owners learn, practice, and share with colleagues, monthly live workshops and training, and networking opportunities. They also offer courses, two exclusive and premium podcasts, consulting and coaching programs, and a job board with plenty of opportunities.
This group has different subscription plans according to what you’re looking for. So if you want to become part of the community, they have three possible options (they include training, activities, networking, and live support). A Quarterly Plan costs $197 per three months, a Bi-Annual Plan costs $347 per six months, and an Annual Plan costs $597 per year. However, courses, workshops, and other programs have to be paid separately.
VeggieBoards
Launched in 2000, VeggieBoards is one of the largest free vegan support forums, with more than 72,000 members. It’s dedicated to vegetarians, vegans, and plant-based enthusiasts. Therefore, the forum gathers plenty of threads where members can discuss sustainable agriculture, meal prep, recipes, leave reviews on certain products and services, and more!
Vegan Forum
Vegan Forum has around 6,747 members whose goal is to share interesting and great information with fellow vegans about recipes, health and travel advice, activism, products, tips, reviews, and more. It’s a free-to-access community, and it also has a Facebook page where they share vegan news, petitions, and fundraising campaigns.
Vegan Business Tribe
Vegan Business Tribe is a global business community that helps vegans make a bigger impact with their businesses. As a member, you’ll have access to the group’s online course “How to market your vegan business?”. This course focuses on the struggles businesses have with their customers, and tries to give vegan expert advice to business owners and entrepreneurs. They also offer their members access to a podcast (hosted by one of its founders, David), live meet-ups and events, help and support, and weekly updated content.
This community was founded in 2020 by Lisa and David. They’re also the founders of Promote Vegan, a consultancy that helps high street brands and large food companies understand vegan consumers.
They have three subscription plans. The first one’s free and it’s called Fan. It includes access to their weekly newsletter, some free content, and invitations to their occasional non-member seminars. The second one’s called Member, it costs £12.99 a month, and you can get full access to the site, the Slack community, content, courses, training, support, and events. This membership also includes a 20-minute welcome session with Lisa and David. And the third one’s Patron and it costs £99 per month.
r/Vegan
Created in 2008, r/Vegan is a Reddit-based group. And one of the largest vegan support forums on the Internet (it has more than 825,000 members).
The mission of this community is to build a safe and friendly space for active vegetarians and vegans. Today, it offers plenty of resources such as information on the position on veganism from major health organizations, documentaries, and a 30-day vegan challenge. It also has a Discord channel where members can network and discuss vegan-related topics.
In this article, we’ve mentioned just some of the best online communities and vegan support forums for plant-based enthusiasts. Want to make a positive difference in the world? Check out this list of communities impacting the planet!
