About us

Who are we?

The Vegetarian Society is an educational charity working to support, represent and increase the number of vegetarians in the UK. We work constructively with businesses, government agencies, policy makers and professionals, whilst always remaining independent. We rely on membership subscriptions and donations to carry out this vital work. Established in 1847, we are the oldest vegetarian organisation in the world. Our headquarters, housing the Cordon Vert cookery school as well as our small staff team, are in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.

Why are we needed?

Vegetarians come from all walks of life. Some are confident in what they eat but others need support and guidance. Many shoppers find it difficult to tell which food and drinks are produced using animal products. Cafes and restaurants often expect vegetarian customers to eat
fish. Health professionals receive little or no training in vegetarian nutrition. Hospitals rarely provide nutritious vegetarian meals for patients. Parents are often nervous of allowing their children to follow
a vegetarian diet.

The Vegetarian Society is here to support and represent all vegetarians.

What do we do?

So much of what we do is led by the many issues vegetarians and vegans face everyday. Here is just a sample of our work:

• Through our free advice and information service we support families, individuals, health professionals, caterers and many others.
  
  
• Our Youth Education team bring vegetarianism into the classroom as well as directly supporting young people and their families.
  
  
• We teach professional chefs and ordinary people to cook extraordinary vegetarian food in our Cordon Vert cookery school, as well as training hospital caterers and others how to provide nutritious meals without meat.
  
  
• Our Vegetarian Society Approved trademark accredits good practice and allows vegetarians to shop and eat out with confidence.
  
  
• We run National Vegetarian Week each year to raise the profile of vegetarian issues, alongside campaigns like Butcher’s Cat and Silent but Deadly.
  
  
• Our press office keeps vegetarianism in the news, feeding the real facts and representing vegetarians across the UK media.

We give vegetarians and vegans from all walks of life a louder, stronger, better-informed voice.