Pittsburgh Vegan Society

As a co-organizer of the Pittsburgh Vegan Society (PVS), I am applying to the Elevate Prize to create a plant-based food access system in Southwestern Pennsylvania where no such infrastructure exists. Consistent with PVS’ mission of social justice, this initiative would address food inequities by increasing access to vegan food and wellness (i.e., hygiene products) items to those in economic need - crucial at all times and especially during the COVID-19 era. This need has been confirmed by a local organization, 412 Food Rescue, which prevents and decreases food waste by redistributing donated items to those in most need. 

Currently, PVS is collaborating with Food Not Bombs and Pittsburgh Mutual Aid in providing plant-based food and wellness items for distributions on a regular basis. We are seeking to expand the frequency and scope of these efforts. However, PVS does not yet have our own physical space to serve as a storage and pick-up site. The Elevate Prize funds would provide the needed capital for this as well as for hiring a staff person to lead these critical efforts. PVS will coordinate and collaborate with other organizations to have distribution sites especially in regions most affected by food insecurity. 

My name is Chris Wright (he/him) and despite growing up in a “meat and potato” household where green food was seldom served, I always had a “soft spot” for animals. After seeing PETA’s “Meet Your Meat” in college in 2009, I swiftly became vegetarian, and several years later, decided to make my values match my actions, and went vegan. I found veganism to be not only exciting but also an imperative message that needed to be shared and spread. 

I attempted to create a “veg” club in college, but never succeeded because of university bureaucracy. The responses from officials, many of whom were people of rural southeast Idaho (where I attended school), were unsurprising. When I moved to Pittsburgh, I figured it would be a place with more fertile ground for the message. While some vegan and plant-based groups existed, I felt it was necessary for there to be a social group that met together often. Upon finding two locals who felt similarly, Ellie Gordon (she/her) and Sean Moundas (they/them), we created the Pittsburgh Vegan Society (PVS).

Our vision is to encourage people to go vegan and to be a resource and a community for those in the Pittsburgh area.

Food inequities are persistent and pervasive. Approximately two billion people experience food insecurity according to the Global Food Banking Network. Sadly, these numbers are likely doubling with the pandemic (UN World Food Program, 2020). 

Food access challenges are intense and increasing in the Pittsburgh region. Even pre-COVID-19, about 21.4 % of individuals experienced food insecurity, nearly double the national average at the time. Concerningly, some neighborhoods had a 70% rate of food insecurity. (City of Pittsburgh, 2017; US Department of Agriculture, 2019) and a 42% increase in food insecurity regionally has been projected utilizing Map the Meal Gap data (Feeding America, 2020).

Congruent with national experiences of food apartheid by race and class, the most food insecure areas largely consist of individuals in BIPOC communities. Indeed, a recent study (Dubowitz et al., 2021) showed that in the past 2 years, food insecurity worsened from 20.7% to 36.9% of people in two neighborhoods where the majority of residents are Black and African-American; this increase is notably larger than the national increase in the same time frame.

PVS, an all-volunteer 501(c)(3), is collaborating with Food Not Bombs and Pittsburgh Mutual Aid to provide food and wellness items to people in need.

PVS’ work is unique compared to other local vegan organizations regarding the comprehensiveness of our scope (i.e., focus on animal rights, human social justice and health, as well as planetary sustainability), the extent of our collaboration,  and mentoring opportunities. 

To illustrate, PVS is the sole vegan organization in the Southwestern PA region, per our experience and research, to be currently, actively engaging in ongoing food equity initiatives, specifically with Food Not Bombs and Pittsburgh Mutual Aid, and engaging in ongoing fundraisers for animal sanctuaries. As well, we are the only local organization to initiate vegan-based, diversity, equity and inclusion focused programming in recent years. In early 2019 and early 2020, PVS organized a panel discussion of veganism within BIPOC communities. Throughout late 2020 and in early 2021, we have co-coordinated with Peace Advocacy Network (PAN), HUMANE ACTION Pittsburgh, Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, and Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens to have several dialogue-based programs focused on veganism within communities of color. 

Consistent with our mission of community support, PVS is the first local organization to collaborate with PAN to offer the upcoming Vegan Pledge Program (at a refundable $10 cost), which mentors individuals who are interested in engaging in veganism. 

Supporting people to become and stay vegan can have positive impacts on human and planetary health.  A meta-analysis (Poore & Nemecek, 2018) showed that animal products contribute more negatively to the environment than do plant foods. Recent empirical studies (Kim et al., 2019; Tong et al., 2019) show positive cardiovascular effects of plant-based diets. 

As well, meat production has been linked to negative consequences: qualitative (Victor & Barnard, 2016) and quantitative (Leibler et al., 2017) research demonstrate higher rates of health and domestic violence problems among slaughterhouse workers, and people of color are disproportionately affected. 

There are also positive local impacts. Since March 2021, the food donations collaboration with Food Not Bombs and Pittsburgh Mutual Aid have provided over 200 food and wellness items to people. As we do not yet have our own physical site, partnering with these local organizations for distribution of vegan items has been effective, and we intend to continue to connect with aforementioned local organizations as well as 412 Food Rescue, Chilis on Wheels,  and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to extend these efforts. We have also posted listings for related volunteer positions on Idealist and Vegan Jobs.