If you live in New York City, you will soon have easier access to plant-based ingredients thanks to Plantega, an initiative bringing vegan foods to the city’s bodegas, corner shops, and convenience stores.
Your typical bodega is a small corner shop featuring processed snacks and packaged goods, but Plantega is installing fridges full of plant-based goods to make healthier vegan options more accessible, especially in areas of the city defined as food deserts.
Vegan food lovers Erick Castro and Nil Zacharias collaborated with graphic design studio Parfait Studio, and D.J. Cavem to start Plantega. Each fridge features 30 different plant-based staples from companies like Beyond Meat, Eat Just, Good Catch, Hälsa Foods, Tofurky, and more. Some of the items you can find include meatless meats, plant-based eggs, and vegan protein sources like nuts. Two of the participating bodegas will even include plant-based meats in their deli so customers can order fresh vegan sandwiches.
Each fridge will also come equipped with QR Codes to help customers find great vegan recipes to use the ingredients and learn more about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-focused diet.
An estimated 750,000 New Yorkers live in food deserts, meaning they have little or no access to affordable, nutritious food. For many, bodegas are a critical community resource, so placing plant-based options right around the corner has a big impact on what neighborhoods consume. Plantega is a great solution for boosting community health and encouraging more residents to embrace plant-based food options.
