First-Ever Online Vegan Food Drive Smashes Its Goal

How do you save animals, feed hungry people, and prevent disease all at the same time? Just ask the organizers of the first-of-its-kind Very Vegan Food Drive, an online event that raised more than 3,000 pounds in donations of fresh fruits, vegetables, and other healthy and humane vegan foods for charities that fight hunger.

Organized by VegFund and A Well-Fed World in partnership with Amp Your Good and the Food Recovery Network, the drive ran from World Vegetarian Day (October 1) until World Vegan Day (November 1) and surpassed its goal of collecting 2,500 pounds of vegan foods.

That’s an achievement we can all celebrate—not only does it spare animals intense confinement, painful mutilations, and terrifying deaths, it also gives people access to meals that are packed full of protein, iron, calcium, and fiber as well as free from cholesterol and low in saturated fat.

Vegan foods give hungry people the nourishment that they need right now, and they protect their long-term health: According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, meat-free eating reduces a person’s risk of suffering from heart disease, cancer, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and many other chronic degenerative diseases and conditions. Researchers have found that vegetarians are up to 50 percent less likely to develop cancer, even after controlling for other factors, such as smoking.

Choosing vegan foods also fights hunger around the world. A study published in 2013 by the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota found that 36 percent of calories produced by the world’s crops are currently being fed to animals who are raised for meat, milk, and eggs. Only 12 percent of those calories end up being consumed by humans. Feeding crops directly to hungry people instead of funneling them through animals who are killed and eaten is so much more efficient and humane.

Eating vegan does a world of good for everyone. Are you ready to take that healthy, humane step? Order our free vegan starter kit. Already vegan? Show others how easy and tasty it is—and start them on the road to good health—by making a vegan meal for a needy family in your community or dropping off some vegan groceries at a local food pantry.