What Is Vegan Dating?

Vegan dating is dating where veganism is part of the match: you meet someone through a vegan dating site, an app, an event or a friend, and you both already know where you stand on animals and food. It can be as loose as two people who happen to be plant-based or as deliberate as a site where everyone joined to meet vegans.

What does vegan dating actually mean?

At its simplest, it is dating with a shared starting point. Veganism, as The Vegan Society has defined it for decades, is a way of living that tries to avoid using animals for food, clothing or anything else, as far as is possible and practicable. For most people it is not a diet they try for a month, it is a set of values they live by. Vegan dating is the recognition that those values are easier to live with when your partner shares them.

That does not mean every vegan only dates vegans. Plenty are happy with a vegetarian partner, or with a partner who eats meat but respects the choice. Vegan dating simply puts the shared values first, rather than hoping they turn up later.

Why vegans look for vegan partners

Ask vegan singles why they want a vegan partner and the same reasons come back. Food is the obvious one: cooking together, eating out together, a fridge without negotiations. Then there is the deeper part. If veganism is about animals, the planet or both, it touches holidays, clothes, weddings, how you might raise children and how you spend your money. Sharing that with someone means one less thing to defend at home.

There is also the simple tiredness of explaining. Many vegans have been on dates where the first half-hour went on protein, bacon jokes and whether plants feel pain. A vegan dating site takes that conversation off the table.

Vegan, vegetarian, plant-based: is there a difference?

Yes, and it matters on a profile. A vegetarian skips meat and fish, though dairy, eggs and honey may stay on the menu. A vegan cuts out every animal product, and most extend that to leather, wool and anything tested on animals. Plant-based usually describes the diet without the wider ethics; some people use it because it sounds less loaded, others because their reasons are about health. On Just Vegan Dating, say which you are and what it means to you, and look for the same on other profiles. Our vegetarian dating page covers how vegetarians fit in.

Where vegan dating happens

General apps treat it as a detail: Tinder, for instance, added a Plant-Based interest you can pin to your profile in 2021. Dedicated vegan dating apps and sites make it the starting point. Off-screen, vegan festivals, markets, cookery classes, animal sanctuaries and local vegan groups all bring like-minded people together. Our guide to the best vegan dating sites and apps sets the online options side by side, and how to find a vegan partner covers the offline ones.

How a vegan dating site works

On Just Vegan Dating, you join free, build a profile with photos, a bio and interest labels such as Vegan, Cooking and The Outdoors, and set who you are looking for and how far you will travel. Each day the site suggests members near you who fit, and you message the ones you like. Free members can send a limited number of messages a day; VIP removes the limit. The membership is mostly British and American, and it leans towards people in midlife and beyond. How it works has the full detail.

Join free and build your profile