When a Decatur resident thinks of Midwestern cuisine, they might picture horseshoes, Krekel’s hamburgers, or Casey’s pizza. Known by few is the increasing vegan influence.
Project Animal Freedom is a vegan and animal rights organization with their headquarters located in St. Louis, Missouri. Larger cities across the Midwest have established local chapters in an effort to create a local vegan culture. Barb Noon was instrumental in bringing an installment of Project Animal Freedom to Decatur, a town originally thought to be too small to have its own.
“I tried to get other people interested in leading it because I’m not typically a leader,” Noon said. “I kept thinking I’ve got to get someone else, but nobody else volunteered and I kept doing all the talking and bringing all the information. I had all the enthusiasm and I finally thought, it’s pretty obvious, I have to lead this thing.”
Noon convinced the organization that Decatur’s central proximity to surrounding cities like Champaign, Bloomington, and Springfield would make it worthwhile to have a chapter presence. Noon now holds the title of Chapter Coordinator for Decatur and last year she was awarded with Chapter Coordinator of the Year for her efforts. While Decatur’s installment may be the smallest, they have a mighty impact on the community.
“We put up two billboards in town, which nobody had ever thought about doing before and I got Springfield interested, and they put up a billboard,” Noon said. “I got a program started at the library, kind of an educational program.”
The group has also taken trips to wildlife preserves and is especially known for hosting vegan food meet-ups at local restaurants. Sometimes Noon is able to find restaurants with existing vegan menu options, but oftentimes she calls to see if the chefs would be willing to prepare a new dish for them. She aims to have three different options for participants to choose from. Many local restaurants are happy to accommodate.
“I call and I talk to people and most of the restaurant owners get really engaged. They get excited about us coming, sometimes they come out,” Noon said. “We take pictures with them. I mean they just really get into it, it’s been very fun that way.”
Vegan food meet-ups have become a very successful outreach mechanism for Project Animal Freedom. It forges relationships with local restaurants and connects the organization to the community through food. Some prior meet-ups have been held at Anna Thai, Smack’n Tacos, Donnie’s Homespun Pizza, Benny’s Grill, and Oh Beez Sweet Shop just to name a few.
“It’s just been nice to meet other people that are interested or eat that way,” Lea Cameron, a vegan group member, said. “Also, supporting those small businesses has been nice too and kind of learning about maybe some options I didn’t know about before.”
The vegan food meet-ups are open to anyone who wants to come, regardless of whether they are vegan or not. The group encourages everyone to give it a try and to just be open-minded.
“Anytime we can kind of share some knowledge, or just kind of introduce someone into vegan options and what that looks like, especially with eating out other places,” Cameron said. “We definitely welcome people to come and try it. We’re always happy to meet new people.”
For more information on local vegan events or food meet-ups visit Project Animal Freedom – Decatur, IL on Facebook. RSVPs are not required for the meet-ups, but are encouraged so that a rough headcount can be given to restaurants ahead of time.
“Just show up, that’s the main thing. I want to keep it very loose and relaxed and happy,” Noon said. “You know, with a restaurant, people usually are very quick to make accommodations for whoever shows up. So yeah, it’ll be fun.”
