2020 started with high expectations. We secured a health festival in May with the Miami Marlins, planned a tri-county film festival, and intended to hold monthly community gatherings. Fast-forward to February and all of our plans were dashed out of the window. Luckily we were able to pivot with our first ever SoFlo Vegans EXPO in April. Thanks to sponsorships from PETA and Hodo Foods, we were able to host two days of speakers and panels representing the global vegan community.
Throughout the year, we spotlighted some amazing vegan businesses and communities through our video content. This included Inika Foods, Bomb Cookies, The New Vegan, Yello, Tunie’s, C4Eats, Blondie’s Bakery, The Bison Movement, Food for Health Foundation, Hungry Harvest, Jonny NoBones, Leaves & Roots, The Caribe Vegan, No Nut Vegan Sweets, and Jd’s Veg Mex.
The SoFlo Vegans podcast continued strong with episodes featuring Dr. Angie Sadeghi, Liz Jones, Sustainable Duo, Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, Geoff Palmer, Dr. Sailesh Rao, Dr. Joel Kahn, Mastering Diabetes, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Sam Rassoul, Bad Ass Vegan John Lewis, Karyn Calabrese, Dr. Will Bulsewicz, Peter Cervoni, Marco Antonio Regil, Damien Mander, Philip Anthony Mangan, Mic the Vegan, Jane Valez-Mitchell, Jayney Goddard, Keegan Kuhn, Shaun Monson, Marc Pierschel, Louie Psihoyos, Chris Burnam, Ingrid Newkirk, Grey, and Minh Tsai.
We relaunched our online community for both individuals and businesses looking to connect with the South Florida Vegan community.
Our directory also helped promote hundreds of local and national businesses by providing our community with quick access to vegan information and resources.
We still found a way to host in-person events while maintaining proper health and safety protocols. A big thank you to Leaves & Roots and The Caribe Vegan for helping us figure out a way to create a new normal.
Closing out the wrap-up, we launched some exciting programming that included a weekly news show called SoFlo Vegans Experience. We also kicked off a monthly LIVE program that showcased local businesses owners, and nonprofits, as well as other prominent voices in our community.
2020 was a somber year for most and it doesn’t feel appropriate celebrating given all of the pain and loss experienced by our community. We can continue to have hope and play our part to make sure we are doing our best to take care of our health, the environment, animals, and most importantly, loving ourselves and all living beings. This looks like practicing compassion on a daily basis.
Stay tuned for exciting developments as we gear up for a prosperous 2021.
