Texas and Oklahoma - 2nd Regional Newsletter 🌱

Dear Vegan Leader,

I’ve been reaching out to some of you to gauge interest in local vegan leaders’ networking. I have noticed:

We don’t have a great way to connect. With work schedules, we are burned out on emails and social media,

The ‘right kind’ of events for this group (= around 200 vegan corporate professionals in TX and OK) are needed,

This group is a moving target - people move out of state or change to a non-corporate job.

I prepared a quick preference poll. If you are reading this, please click below to respond. You’ll rank some event ideas as well as preferred means of interaction. (The test audience really liked it!)

Based on the responses, you can expect upcoming invitations to Vegan Leaders networking in your area. Thank you for submitting your answers!

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📣 Top Local Vegan News and Events 

What key vegan trends did we see in our two states in 2025? We’ve lost a few iconic vegan restaurants this year – sadly including Maiden, a famous upscale vegan tasting-menu restaurant in Ft. Worth which closed in July. But in general, the vegan options are ever-present across restaurants, grocery stores and many of our corporate cafeterias. Vegan milks seem to dominate coffee shops nowadays, and many steakhouses are getting on board. For example in Dallas, Al Biernat’s, SER Steaks & Spirits, JOEY, 3Eleven and Liam’s Steakhouse all have permanent vegan entrees on their menu.

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📍Oklahoma:

• Oklahoma City hosted a Vegan Chef Challenge for a month during August 2025. During the challenge, participating restaurants feature new attractive vegan dishes on their menus for their customers to try and vote on. The success often leads to the restaurants keeping the vegan dishes permanently.

📍Texas:

• SEED Food & Wine Festival, celebrated as ‘nation’s best plant-based food and wine event’, is held for the first time in Texas (Austin) during October 22-26, 2025: The 5-day lineup of events include a Texas taco throw-down, a 5k run and a Green table dinner.

• Vegan Vibez Fall Fest: This full-day outdoor Houston festival, celebrating plant-based and cruelty-free lifestyles, is scheduled for October 19, 2025. 

• University of North Texas: In March 2025, the University of North Texas pledged to make 60% of its campus dining plant-based by 2027. 

• FC Dallas launches a new plant-based menu for 2025 at Toyota Stadium

  Don’t forget that October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, beginning on World Vegetarian Day (October 1) and leading into World Vegan Day (November 1). If your offices send monthly newsletters with various themes for the month, nudge the organizers proactively about including these too.
   
  PS Don’t forget to answer the TX/OK preference poll mentioned above!
  

  Cheers,
  Darina Janovova

  Founder & President of VLCM