The V Word: Eating Vegan in Worcester

You may have noticed that the V-word—VEGAN—has been finding its way into marketing campaigns, menus and the evening news as of late. According to some studies, the percentage of self-described vegans in the U.S. has jumped from 0.5% to 6% in recent years—that’s more than a 1,000% increase and likely the result of a collective concern for things like personal health, animal welfare and the environmental impacts from large-scale factory farming.

At first glance one might not believe that Worcester is home to a fairly distinct vegan community, but if you consider its unusual abundance of all-vegan eateries and the prevalence of veganism in the Worcester punk/college/art scene of the ’90s and early ’00s—which, in part, ultimately led to the creation of the New England VegFest that fills the DCU Center to capacity each spring—you’ll find that veganism has a formidable stronghold in the city.

What is it about Worcester that allows the city to harbor countercultures and fringe movements and allow them to cultivate and thrive here? Maybe it’s the profusion of diverse cultures and influences; perhaps it’s the concentration of higher education and a population of 36,000 students or the unique infrastructure that splinters the city into segments, allowing for micro-communities to manifest and flourish in their respective bubbles. Whatever it is, it has provided near-perfect conditions for the vegan culture to grow in Worcester and evolve with the expanding culinary scene.

Veganism is much more than a diet. A plant-based diet is a diet that consists entirely of plants: raw, cooked or processed. Veganism, however, is a multifaceted lifestyle where the philosophy of living life without exploitation extends further into people’s daily lives, choices and relationships. Vegans not only abstain from consuming animals or their products— including honey, eggs and dairy products—they also forego wearing leather or using products tested on animals. A vegan lifestyle requires commitment, creativity and ingenuity and spans the globe. Vegans are happy getting their nutrients from plants, which provide more than enough sustenance to live a healthy life.

Vegan food is for everyone. It can be really tasty. It can also be not so delicious. That is just the nature of food. It comes in many forms and can take you to some surprising places, so let’s take a look at the current vegan scene in Worcester.

NEW ENGLAND VEGFEST

The Worcester VegFest, now known as the New England VegFest, is an all-vegan food festival and community-centric organization that has been steadily expanding for the past decade. Many of the local vegan converts credit the VegFest for planting the initial seed that inspired them to change their daily eating habits and move away from animal products altogether. Coming from humble beginnings, and still being run by a significant amount of volunteer effort, the VegFest has evolved to convention-like proportions and now hosts over 150 veg-vendors from all over North America. The annual event held each April (postponed this year until June 28) at the DCU Center has become a compelling opportunity for many vegan businesses, food producers, animal-rights groups and others to connect with an audience of over 10,000 like-minded individuals who make the pilgrimage each year, many driving from well beyond the boundaries of New England.

BELMONT VEGETARIAN

Only those not yet acquainted with the aromatic, sun-soaked oasis that awaits would dare question if the treacherous ascent up Belmont Hill, which holds absolutely no promise of sound parking on its vertical grid of narrow side streets, would justify the effort. But for under $15, a sampling of the daily offerings packed into a colorful pinwheel of sweet, spicy and savory comfort food that could feed a small army, is definitely worth the trip.

Steve Jones, the owner and proprietor of Belmont Vegetarian, grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, and is now nationally recognized for his food. Belmont Veg isn’t just a haven for local herbivores but also a mandatory stop for many of the touring musicians, business folk and returning college graduates who pass through the city only so often. With food this good, it’s not surprising that a large portion of Steve’s customers aren’t vegan. Belmont Veg has certainly done its part in converting the curious and shaping and sustaining the vegan scene in Worcester for the last decade.

LOVING HUT

Loving Hut, touting its only two Massachusetts locations within the confines of Worcester, first opened its doors around the same time as Belmont Vegetarian and the dawning of theVegFest 10 years ago. Both locations are family-owned and offer extensive menus chock full of vegan versions of your favorite Asian-fusion dishes. If you happen to find yourself hungry and a tad veg-curious on the second Saturday of the month, the Chandler Street location pulls out all the stops for their all-you-can-eat vegan buffet.

PIG OUT!

Mandy Sherman, a local vegan and entrepreneur, launched her pop-up bakery Pig Out! at VegFest in 2018 and has been popping up all over Worcester ever since. What kind of desserts could one possibly eke out without the use of milk, butter or eggs? May I suggest a visit to one of Worcester’s coveted bakeries, The Queen’s Cups, where Mandy has recently become the in-house vegan baker. Since Mandy joined the team, the menu has expanded and so has their vegan customer base, which now consumes more than 300 of her cupcakes a week! Mandy’s only complaint: “My hands hurt!”

THE VEGAN NEST

The fourth and most recent addition to Worcester’s lineup of all-vegan restaurants also made its first appearance in Worcester by way of the VegFest. With a name that gets right to the point, The Vegan Nest is a family-run and mission- based café bringing something a little different to the table when it comes to vegan options. Nicole and Vic Broushet, who moved their family and business to Worcester from New York City, are deeply passionate about health and the philosophy that food is directly connected to our well-being. Crazy, right? The Vegan Nest makes all of the menu items from scratch, using whole foods, many of which are certified organic and locally sourced. On Sundays they serve a special brunch menu featuring dishes like sweet and savory crepes and biscuits and gravy. Nicole and Vic believe that healthy, plant-based food should be accessible to everyone, so much so that they can regularly be found educating the public through cooking classes and workshops on healthful living.

During my most recent visit to The Vegan Nest I met up with a friend and fellow vegan to talk about the early days of veganism in Worcester. Mike Benedetti, founding member of the VegFest and also a transplant from New York City, insists that although it’s gotten easier to find vegan alternatives, it still takes commitment and planning. Luckily Worcester has an abundance of produce markets and grocery stores (RIP Living Earth), with chains like Big Y and Shaw’s expanding further into plant-based offerings.

Joseph Gonzales-Dufresne, a local photographer and father who’s been living the vegan life for more than 20 years, has recently been impressed by the plant-based options at Ed Hyder’s, a family-run Mediterranean marketplace andfixture in Worcester for over four decades. Dufresne can still recall the dark days when hummus and falafel were not yet common menu or grocery items.

Those days seem to be over for the modern vegan. The growing number of little green-leaf icons appearing on menus all over the city signifies a lot of opportunities for Worcesterites (vegan or not) to eat plant-based foods. To find out where the other good vegan meals are hiding, readers should do some research on their own, or just play restaurant roulette and ask what’s vegan. Even a fruitless endeavor will let restaurateurs know that there is an interest and possibly result in some new menu items down the road.

As our society becomes more conscious of the repercussions of our ancestors’ and our own poor eating habits, one can only hope that more of us will choose the path towards a more compassionate, sustainable and verdant future for ourselves and the next generation. I am hopeful that Worcester will continue to embrace the creative folk who are making a vegan lifestyle accessible, enjoyable and delicious in our hilly little city.

belmontvegetarian.com
edhyders.com
lovinghut.us/Worcester
newenglandvegfest.com
@pigout_bakery

This story appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of Edible Worcester and was written before the outbreak of Covid-19 in the US.