Surette had posted a photo of her dangling from the sky in an aerial lyra hoop in front of a deep blue oceanβand Stevenson loved her smile. The secret to their effortless connection? Sharing a plant-based lifestyle, they say. In fact, they met on Grazer , a swanky-looking dating app for vegan singles.
Today, vegan- and vegetarian-only dating spaces are thriving, especially online. Since it launched in June , the Vegan Dating Lounge Discord βwhich only accepts users after they fill out a questionnaire about their feelings on issues like honey and horse ridingβhas steadily climbed to more than 2, members.
Grazer, which hit the app store in , doubled its user base after rebranding in November and daily active users have increased tenfold. Meanwhile Vegpal , a vegan dating and friendship app launched in the summer of , has grown its user base sevenfold in the last year alone. Still, the growth of online dating spaces for plant-based people is clear. Dahlia Eisenberg, the year-old founder of Vegpal who lives in Boston, agrees. Plant-based diets are divisive. Judging by various reports , plenty of vegans face criticism from omnivores for their food choicesβ and vice versa.
But for most people, the desire to meet another vegan ran far deeper than wanting to avoid squabbles in the grocery aisle. Many felt more understood and respected by their partners, more ease around making big decisions such as how to raise children , and a greater sense of play and satisfaction in the kitchen.
Veganism seems to deepen the connection between two partnersβjust like backing the same baseball team might. Joey Malicki, a year-old radiation therapist, and Angela Yu, a year-old research lab technician, met on the Vegan Dating Lounge Discord in the fall last year. Malicki has since moved from Illinois to Seattle to live with Yu. While some push back on the way veganism is likened to a religion, others say that there are notable parallels. For Renuka Varigonda, a year-old research scientist in Brooklyn who now uses Vegpal to find like-minded friends, dating her plant-based partner has been inspired a passionate set of values.
