Welcome to Veganeur.com!
My name is Heather. I’m the founder of this site, and for the past 13 years I’ve been committed to a vegan lifestyle.
But before that, almost three decades ago now, (!), when I was still a child, I made the switch to a vegetarian diet, and this was long before you could find the odd plant-based option on the menu of a mainstream restaurant. It was long before plant milks and alternatives to meat could be found in any supermarket, let alone your local one. And it was to be some years before I would ever even meet another vegetarian in the flesh. (Pun possibly intended). In short, those were some difficult years!
At the same time, I stopped wearing all forms of leather, and I became aware of animal testing and so stopped using cosmetics and perfumes.
My family had no idea what to do with me! I remember, back in the day, I ate a lot of cheese, as it was the only ‘substitute’ my parents and grandparents, (God bless them), could find and afford.
From there to here
Fast forward on the path that led me from those early days to where I am now: the founder of a vegan directory site; As the years passed, I’d heard about veganism, but again, knew no-one. It still had this eccentric, hippie and fringe stereotype to it, and it was never talked about. We still didn’t have the internet at home, and whilst it now much easier to find vegetarian products, still nothing you could buy was vegan-friendly! And anything that might have been ”accidentally vegan”, certainly wasn’t labelled as such.
With time however, ‘vegan’ became slightly more of a mainstream word, even if it was still a few years away from becoming popular or the buzzword it is today. I finally got the internet when I started University and through connecting with vegans and learning about all the further harms in Animal Ag, – the ones which are less obvious or well-known to most people, I switched to a vegan diet, and stopped wearing wool. Cue a few more years of almost no chocolate, cakes, cheese, etc. Again, these items existed, but where I lived in the UK, you had to go to the other side of the city where there were a couple of specialist mini-markets, so occasionally I would treat myself, but I couldn’t afford to do it often!
At last!
Then it started to become more popular, and many helpful vegans would post in internet forums about their latest finds. The joy of discovering a new product was, and still is, immeasurable. There were so many more things out there than I thought, and as more entered the market, we’d share the information with each other. It’s these experiences that ignited my passion for creating Veganeur.com.
Those forums and original online directories sure are helpful for all of us, although seemed to be focused towards only one element, like restaurants, as per everyone’s favourite, HappyCow.com, So I started to create my own personal resource list, of where to find not just eateries, but products of all kinds, with the goal of eventually putting it out there for all. And thus, Veganeur.com was conceived.
Mission
Of course, veganism started to take off around 2014, and had somewhat of a big moment for a number of years after that, and now as we all know, it’s easier than ever before to find a plethora of animal-friendly options, from eateries to salons that only use animal-friendly products.
But Veganeur isn’t just about my personal journey; it’s also about building a community for like-minded individuals who are eager to support vegan businesses and reduce our collective mark on the planet. For you the vegan or ethically-minded customer, I want you to be able to find everything you need without having to look far. You deserve that! For vegan businesses, I want to support you and help you reach more and more customers.
However, my aims for this site go beyond being a mere directory. It’s about fostering a philosophy of life where we work collectively to minimize our negative impact on Earth and to end unnecessary animal and even human suffering. This is the heart of Veganeur’s mission. To this end, once the site gains enough traction, you’ll see a different featured animal charity every month, with a percentage of proceeds being donated to them. I believe this is a really simple way for us all to contribute that bit more, and I’m really enthused about getting it going.
In my opinion, one of the best parts of veganism is the community. Through it and Veganeur, I’ve had the privilege of connecting with countless individuals and companies who share this ethos. Share your journey or your favourite vegan products with all of us, and let’s make this planet a kinder place, one choice at a time.