St. Louis Veganuary 2027: Try Vegan This January
What Is STL Veganuary?
STL Veganuary is a free local campaign helping St. Louisans take part in Veganuary, the world's biggest try-vegan month. Every January, Project Animal Freedom and VeganSTL.com give St. Louisans the tools, information, and community to try vegan for 31 days: a free St. Louis Veganuary Starter Kit, four free online classes, meetups at the city's vegan restaurants, and a local community that keeps showing up long after the month ends.
STL Veganuary 2027 runs January 1 to 31, 2027. Our first STL Veganuary launched on New Year's Day 2026. Here's what happened the first time, what's coming next, and how to be part of it.
STL Veganuary is the January season of the Gateway to Compassion Challenge, our year-round campaign to inspire vegan living in and around St. Louis, alongside STL VegWeek in April and STL VegMonth in November. It is organized independently by Project Animal Freedom and inspired by the global Veganuary campaign (more on that in the FAQ below).
STL Veganuary 2026: What Happened When St. Louis Tried Vegan
We had never built a hometown Veganuary before. No local playbook to follow, just a conviction that St. Louisans would try vegan if someone local made it easy. So we wrote a starter kit, scheduled four classes, booked the meetups, and opened the doors on January 1.
St. Louis walked in.
The first STL Veganuary by the numbers:
768 people signed up for the St. Louis Veganuary Challenge and received the free St. Louis Veganuary Starter Kit.
Four free Thursday-night classes on Zoom: Veganism 101 (with a screening and discussion of the documentary Dominion), Vegan Meal Prep 101, Vegan STL 101, and Vegan Activism 101, plus a closing session, "Veganuary Wrapped: Vegan for Life!"
Five in-person meetups across the metro: a New Year's Day kick-off ice cream social at Clementine's, a meetup at Seedz Cafe (St. Louis' longest-operating vegan restaurant), an ice cream social at Bombay Food Junkies, a Vegan Taco Party at Terror Tacos, and a month-closing meetup at La Vie Vegan.
Local coverage: Sauce Magazine featured the campaign in its Veganuary events roundup, and Clementine's celebrated the month with a dairy-free Veganuary flavor lineup.
The biggest lesson? For many people, another list of reasons to go vegan isn't the missing piece. They need a plan, a place, and people. The Starter Kit gave them the plan. The classes gave them the place. The meetups gave them the people. That's the whole model, and it's why STL Veganuary is built around St. Louis rather than around an inbox.
Why St. Louis Needs Its Own Veganuary
The global Veganuary campaign is a phenomenon. Veganuary estimates that roughly 30 million people worldwide took part in January 2026, based on participation surveys in its core campaign countries and population data. And among respondents to its 2026 participant survey who weren't already vegan, 79% said they planned to at least halve their consumption of animal products going forward. We love it, and we want every St. Louisan to take the global pledge.
But a pledge email can't tell you which St. Louis pizzeria makes a great vegan pie, which grocery store on your side of the river stocks what you need, or who to eat dinner with on a Tuesday when your whole family thinks you've lost it. Global support opens the door. Local support gets you through it.
Research suggests the social piece matters. In a 2014 Faunalytics study of current and former vegetarians and vegans, those who had gone back to eating animals were nearly twice as likely as current vegetarians and vegans to report insufficient interaction with other vegetarians and vegans (49% versus 25%). That's an association, not proof that community keeps people vegan, but it points at exactly the barrier STL Veganuary is built to lower. Going vegan alone is hard. Staying vegan alone is harder. STL Veganuary exists so that nobody in St. Louis has to do either alone.
St. Louis Veganuary 2027 Events: Four Free Thursday Classes
What's new for 2027? Not much, and that's the point. Same four classes. Same Thursday nights. The four-class sequence returns in the same order and at the same start time: every Thursday in January 2027 at 7 p.m., free, live on Zoom, and open to everyone.
Veganism 101 + Dominion Screening and Discussion: Thursday, January 7, 2027
Start with the why. Veganism 101 makes the case for veganism in plain language: what happens to animals in modern farming, what animal agriculture does to the planet, and what the evidence says about appropriately planned vegan diets, nutrition, and health. (The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' 2025 position is that appropriately planned vegan diets can be nutritionally adequate for adults and can offer long-term health benefits.) Then we screen Dominion, the 2018 documentary on animal farming, and talk about it together.
Content note: Dominion contains graphic footage of animal suffering and slaughter. Watching it is difficult, which is why we screen it together and leave time to talk afterward.
Vegan Living 101: Thursday, January 14, 2027
Now the how. Vegan Living 101 is the practical class: what to cook, what to buy, and how to make it stick. Batch cooking, budgeting, protein without the panic, pantry staples, and grocery lists built around the stores St. Louisans actually shop at, plus reading labels, eating out, and answering the questions you’ll get at the dinner table. Bring your questions and a notepad.
Vegan STL 101: Thursday, January 21, 2027
Where to eat, where to shop, and who to eat with. Vegan STL 101 is your guided tour of vegan St. Louis: the fully vegan restaurants, the vegan-friendly favorites, STL Vegan Market, the groups and meetups, and the online communities where St. Louis vegans hang out between events.
Vegan Activism 101: Thursday, January 28, 2027
You've tried vegan. Now what? Vegan Activism 101 shows how St. Louisans turn compassion into action, from leafleting and outreach to marches, markets, and community building, and how to plug into Project Animal Freedom's work in a way that fits your life. No experience needed. Curiosity and compassion are enough.
Between the classes, we're planning in-person meetups at St. Louis vegan restaurants throughout the month, and every participant gets the free St. Louis Veganuary Starter Kit. Sign up now and we'll send the details as they're confirmed.
How to Take the St. Louis Veganuary Challenge
Sign up once. It takes about 15 seconds. You'll get the Starter Kit, class reminders, and weekly Veganuary highlights through January, and you can unsubscribe anytime. We use your information to run the challenge and stay in touch; see our privacy policy for details.
Then pick your lane:
Go all in. Eat vegan for all 31 days. The Starter Kit, the classes, and the community were built for exactly this.
Start smaller. Vegan breakfasts. Meatless Mondays. One vegan dinner a day. Every step away from animal products counts, and January is a great time to take the first one.
Already vegan? Take the challenge anyway. Bring a curious friend, show up to the classes, come to the meetups, and help the next St. Louis vegan feel welcome.
As we told Sauce Magazine last January, STL Veganuary is for anyone and everyone who wants to try healthy, sustainable, compassionate living.
St. Louis Businesses: Join STL Veganuary 2027
Own or run a St. Louis restaurant, bakery, grocer, or shop? Every January, millions of people around the world are thinking about plant-based food, and some of them are looking for their next meal right here in St. Louis. Run a Veganuary special, add a vegan menu item, host a VeganSTL meetup, or share the challenge with your customers. Then tell us what you're doing, and we'll consider it for participant updates and campaign coverage, consistent with our editorial standards. Last year Clementine's rolled out a dairy-free Veganuary lineup. Who's next? Email info@veganstl.com.
For Donors and Funders: What STL Veganuary Delivers
A lot of vegan outreach stops at the moment of persuasion. STL Veganuary is built for the harder part: what happens after someone says yes. It pairs a decision point (January) with a plan (the Starter Kit), skills (four classes), and belonging (meetups and groups). And it doesn't end on February 1, because it sits inside the Gateway to Compassion Challenge, which carries participants into STL VegWeek in April, STL VegMonth in November, and Project Animal Freedom's year-round calendar of St. Louis events.
It's designed to be lean. Online classes keep instructional costs low, local vegan businesses host the meetups, and our own team writes the Starter Kit and builds the campaign. Support for STL Veganuary helps us reach more St. Louisans by promoting the challenge, producing the classes and the kit, hosting meetups, and measuring results so we can improve the campaign year after year.
What the first STL Veganuary delivered, and what Project Animal Freedom brings to the second:
768 sign-ups for the St. Louis Veganuary Challenge in January 2026, our first.
56 events organized in St. Louis in 2025, and on track for 70+ in 2026.
Approximately 860,000 in estimated local reach in 2025 across our campaigns and communications.
Over 2 million digital views and website visits in 2026 so far, reaching an estimated 400,000+ people across the St. Louis area.
23,000+ followers across our St. Louis-focused social platforms.
How we measure success: sign-ups and class and meetup turnout, reported openly, with a recap of STL Veganuary 2027 published right here on this page. Sign-ups and turnout are outputs, not outcomes. One outcome we care about is what people are eating after January, and follow-up surveys are our next step.
Project Animal Freedom is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 83-3007847), and a gift of any size helps us reach the next St. Louisan. Want to sponsor STL Veganuary 2027 or fund one piece of it, like the Starter Kit or a class? Email info@veganstl.com.
Why Trust VeganSTL?
VeganSTL.com is a division of Project Animal Freedom, a Missouri 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded on October 19, 2018. We run STL Vegan Market, publish St. Louis' vegan restaurant guide, and organize dozens of vegan events every year, which means this page was written by the people who plan the classes, host the meetups, and answer the emails. Inclusion in our guides, directories, and features is never for sale, and we correct errors when readers point them out.
STL Veganuary FAQ
What is STL Veganuary?
STL Veganuary is the free, St. Louis-specific challenge from Project Animal Freedom and VeganSTL.com to try vegan for the month of January, with a local starter kit, four free online classes, and in-person meetups. It is the January season of the Gateway to Compassion Challenge.
Is STL Veganuary free?
Yes. The challenge, the Starter Kit, the classes, and the meetups are all free. At restaurant meetups, you order and pay for your own food.
Do I have to go 100% vegan for all of January?
No. Go all in if you can, start smaller if you can't, and use the Starter Kit and classes to keep moving at whatever pace works for you. Already vegan? You're welcome too.
When are the STL Veganuary 2027 classes?
Every Thursday in January 2027 at 7 p.m. on Zoom, all free: Veganism 101 + Dominion Screening and Discussion (January 7), Vegan Living 101 (January 14), Vegan STL 101 (January 21), and Vegan Activism 101 (January 28).
Is STL Veganuary affiliated with the global Veganuary charity?
No. STL Veganuary is organized independently by Project Animal Freedom and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Veganuary, the UK-based nonprofit behind the global January pledge. We're fans, and we encourage everyone to take the global pledge too. STL Veganuary adds the local layer: St. Louis-specific resources, classes, meetups, and community.
What happens after January?
The Gateway to Compassion Challenge continues with STL VegWeek during Earth Week in April and STL VegMonth in November, and Project Animal Freedom's events, groups, and STL Vegan Market run all year. Nobody gets left alone on February 1.
How can I support STL Veganuary?
Take the challenge and bring a friend. Volunteer with Project Animal Freedom. If you run a St. Louis business, offer a Veganuary special or host a meetup. And if you can, donate: a gift of any size helps us reach the next St. Louisan.
Written by Kyle Luzynski, founder and executive director of Project Animal Freedom, who has helped organize vegan events in St. Louis since 2015. Last updated September 2026.