Earth Friendly Dining
What You Eat Matters
Did you know that you can save hundreds of gallons of water by leaving meat off your plate for just one meal?
Or that you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions used to produce your meal by over 50% if you choose an entirely plant-based option?
When you dine out, consider contributing to the sustainability of life on Earth by simply limiting or avoiding animal products and choosing a veggielicious dining experience!
VEG OUT Santa Cruz!
VEG OUT Santa Cruz celebrates and recognizes current and additional restaurant venues which provide delicious earth-friendly VEGAN/Plant Forward cuisine to the health of ourselves and of our planet.
Here is something that YOU CAN DO…
VEG OUT in local Santa Cruz Restaurants that are being honored in our campaign (Click button below to find upcoming VEG OUT and other Eat for the Earth events). Help protect land and water use, animal welfare, fisheries. Eat to prevent climate change, wildlife extinction, deforestation, and to help prevent or reverse the current epidemics of chronic diseases.
SHOW UP on the appointed evenings. Invite family and friends to join you. ORDER A VEGAN MEAL and SUPPORT these restaurants that serve VEGAN/Plant Forward menu options. Meet (and thank) the owners and rally together as a community for these special recognition ceremonies.
Earth-Friendly Dining Establishments
Eat for the Earth and Santa Cruz VegFest recognize the following Santa Cruz County restaurants for prominently offering abundant, scrumptious, earth-friendly plant-based foods on their menus. Please support these establishments, and let them know that you appreciate their contributions to a habitable earth!
Serving 100% Plant-Based Menu Items:
- Café Gratitude
- Veg on the Edge
- Malabar Restaurant
- Hidden Peak Teahouse (Best Tea House1 )
Serving Plant-Based and Vegetarian Menu Items (some items include dairy products, eggs, and honey):
- Dharma’s (Best Vegetarian Cuisine1)
- Saturn Café (Best Late Night Eatery1)
Serving a clearly-stated array of Earth-Friendly, VEGAN/Plant-Based Options:
- Salsa’s Taco Bar
- Café El Palomar
- Habanero’s Bar & Grill
- Charlie Hong Kong (Best Cheap Eats1)
- Sawasdee Thai Cuisine (Best Thai Cuisine in SC1)
- Sawasdee By The Sea
- Ambrosia India Bistro (Best Indian Cuisine in SC1)
- Samba Rock Acai Café (Best Acai Bowl1)
- Real Thai Kitchen
- Pretty Good Advice
- Vivas Organic Mexican Restaurant
Restaurant Owners:
Do you have a restaurant that should be on this list?
Are you ready to transform your establishment to include more earth-friendly offerings?
Eat for the Earth and Santa Cruz VegFest are here to support you!
In addition to listing your restaurant as an earth-friendly establishment on this page, we will also:
● let our 5000+ list members know that you are committed to this cause
● include your establishment as an earth-friendly restaurant in future press releases
● organize a recognition event at your restaurant to celebrate your contribution
● provide you with a beautifully framed certificate of recognition
● continue to post favorable reviews about your restaurant
Additional Benefits
In addition to doing the right thing by the Earth and all her inhabitants, your restaurant will also benefit greatly by offering a comprehensive choice of healthy plant-based foods. Vegan and plant-based foods are growing very rapidly in the marketplace, with the sales of plant-based alternatives growing more than 8 times as much as the growth of all food sales. Plant-based foods are not just for vegans anymore; one study found that 14 percent of U.S. consumers (over 43 million people) “regularly use plant-based alternatives such as almond milk, tofu, and veggie burgers, and 86 percent of these consumers do not consider themselves vegan or vegetarian.”
Smart restaurant owners are capitalizing on this trend by including more plant-based options or converting their restaurants entirely. In fact, in restaurants that made the shift to fully plant-based menus, sales went up, social media exposure skyrocketed, and in many cases, costs went down, according to an article in Forbes magazine. For more information about the growing trend of featuring vegan and plant-based foods on restaurant menus, here is an excellent blog post from an industry group: https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/should-your-restaurant-add-vegan-menu-options.
Get on Board!
So, we encourage you to get on board with this trend that is taking the world by storm, improving human health, reducing environmental destruction, and helping animals!
Win, win, win!
i Santa Cruz Good Times 2019 Awards http://goodtimes.sc/cover-stories/best-santa-cruz-county-2019-food-drink-2/
ii https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/2018/plant-based-proteins-are-harvesting-year-over-year-growth-in-foodservice-market-and-broader-appeal/