Philly Plantists

Plantists is a free social group for friendly folks who want to add more plants to their diet— to whatever degree— and who want to support others seeking to do likewise.Mostly, we want to chill over fun meals— which makes it easy to eat better, at least for that meal! We're not aiming at perfection... we're simply looking to take in more fiber and less cholesterol, or to lower our carbon footprint, or to boost our good karma.We meet at restaurants around the city, order herbivore food, and hang out a while. Sometimes we read something cool, other times we play games— always, we seek to connect meaningfully. Our gatherings are open to adults of all ages and they're lightly structured so that everyone will have a good time, no matter how fluent at small talk.We all have different motivations and goals, from helping the planet to living longer for our grandkids. We don't judge each other's reasons; we just support each other's journeys.Home in on your goals by dining with others a few times a month, where you can swap both tips and moral support. There's no such thing as perfect, but practice makes progress— and if ya do it right, it's downright enjoyable!

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Is this free?

Yep! You gotta pay the restaurant for your meal, of course, but Plantists is priceless. We're not a business, not even an officially incorporated nonprofit — just a bunch of low-ego people who appreciate having enjoyable company as we pursue our nutritional aspirations.

What's the mission here?

It's dang hard to improve alone. Who hasn't failed to live up to their hopes for themselves? The solution is social — solidarity has power. This is why fitness classes go for $30 a pop when you could often do the same exercises by yourself, alone. The same insight applies to eating better.A dining group where we can exchange recommendations and encouragement while building good habits together... It's far more enjoyable than spin class — and science hints may well have a bigger impact on our overall health.A slimmer waistline, reduced blood pressure, enhanced athletic recovery, whatever you're after — there are lots of benefits to consuming more plants. But it's hard to change without teammates. Subbing out standard American grub for plant-based fare even just a few meals per month gets us on the road to better. And the first steps are often the hardest... Good company makes them much, much easier.

How does it work?

If you're interested in attending a Plantist gathering or two to see if it's a good fit, register here. You'll then get emailed an invitation to an orientation meal.Availability information and location preferences submitted through the form inform the dates and restaurants selected for dinners each month. Our hope in making such careful arrangements is that everyone can attend at least one or two.Early on, we gather primarily on weeknights, but Philly's Plantist chapter is new as of autumn 2025 and as the chapter grows, we hope to schedule occasional larger gatherings on weekends.

Better You, Better World

People who eat diets high in animal protein are 4x as likely to die of cancer as those who eat diets low in animal protein. (Smokers are only 3x as likely to die of cancer as nonsmokers.)1.5 acres can make 375 pounds of meat or 37,000 pounds of plant-based food. It takes 50 to 100 times as much land to produce a kilocalorie of beef than a kilocalorie of plant protein.The vast majority of deforested rainforest land is used as grazing area for livestock. Over 80% of the world’s farmland goes to animal agriculture, and this land produces just 18% of our calories.Over 80% of starving children globally live in countries where food is fed to animals that go on to be eaten by Western countries. In the United States alone, the food fed to livestock could feed 800 million people.To produce a single gallon of milk, one thousand gallons of water are needed, the same amount of water used to shower for two months. A full third of all the fresh water humans use goes to livestock, 10x the amount that is used in homes.Meanwhile, waste from a farm of 2,500 cows equals the waste from a city of 400,000 people. Every minute, 7 million pounds of excrement are produced by livestock, going on to poison waterways.70% of the antibiotics produced globally are used for livestock, weakening the effectiveness of antibiotics to treat human diseases.Animal agriculture is the top contributor to the risk of zoonotic pandemics, with 75% of all emerging infectious diseases being zoonotic.14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from global livestock, more than the entire transportation sector combined.