As much as many of us would love to stay in our vegan bubbles, we need to be social and experience the world. In that world, we’re met with scenarios that may test our commitment to veganism. The monthly staff lunch, your friends’ wedding, planning a vacation or moving to a new town can bring up a bit of anxiety in some of us.
“WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT?!?!?!”
“WHERE CAN I FIND <fill in the blank>?”
To get the answers, a number of us go to our communities: peers, local area residents, social media, etc.
What if you could get the answer right at our fingertips? Well, if you have a Smartphone, you can!
Here are 5 mobile apps to help get you on your way. Some are free. Some are paid. Decide what works for you!
VeganXpress (iOS) – Paid $1.99 – Invaluable! Vegan Xpress is a comprehensive guide to dining out or grocery shopping. Highly recommend the investment. Sorry, not yet available for Android devices.
VeganXpress lists vegan menu items at many of the popular restaurant and fast food chains in the country. It provides information on food items, which is great while grocery shopping. For those who have been yearning for a vegan drinks app, VeganXpress now has vegan wine, beer and liquor lists.
Is It Vegan? (Android / iOS) – Free w/ Paid Ad-Free Option – Can’t find “vegan” on the label? Don’t quite trust that brand? There’s an app to the rescue!
Is It Vegan? is a database of products and ingredients. Search by brand, product or ingredient and learn if that item can be considered vegan. It includes a bar scanner to make the search quicker.
It goes into detail showing why an item would be considered vegan. There’s a meter to show how “safe” an item is to be vegan. Added feature: You can set the app to consider sugar as a vegan ingredient.
In-R-Food – (Android / iOS) – Free w/ Paid Premium Option – We all should know what’s in our food, right? There’s an app that tells us what’s going on the grocery shelf. Note: This is not a vegan app, but gives a lot of great information we all can use.
In-R-Food breaks down food products by their ingredients, noting what to avoid, consume in moderation or be deemed “safe.” It gives details on nutritional information and just what those unpronounceable ingredients are.
If you want more information, you can upgrade to Inroad Premium app for cooking tips, shelf life and more special features.
Cruelty-Free (Android /iOS) – Free – Take Leaping Bunny on the road! Whether you’re shopping for cosmetics or need to pick up some dishwashing detergent, find out if your favorite products are not being tested on animals.
Cruelty-Free is developed on the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC)’s database of companies and products on who does or does not currently test on animals. While cruelty-free does not mean the same as vegan, it contains useful information to help you make the best conscious decision on where your money is spent.
V Cards: Vegan Abroad (iOS) – Free – If you’re traveling abroad and don’t speak the language, you’ll want this in your “back pocket.” Sorry, not yet available for Android devices.
V-Cards is a series of virtual cards, available in over 70 languages. Each card has a statement explaining that you’re vegan and what you will/won’t eat. No need to muddle through words, flip through travel dictionaries. Just open the app, select the language and present to your server.
These are just a few apps to get you started. There are so many more out there, including Happy Cow (Android) 21-Day Vegan Kickstart (iOS) or Vegan Life (Android)
Are there any other apps you can recommend? Let us know!
Carmella Lanni-Giardina, VLCE is an e-commerce specialist and marketer, who just happens to be VEGAN! She’s a savvy social media enthusiast, blogger and co-host of the weekly #VeganFoodChat and #Luv4Social Twitter chats, and uses her voice to spread the messages of compassionate living and community building. Carmella lives in NYC with her husband Carlo (soon to attend Main Street Vegan Academy and earh his VLCE certification) and two cats, Connie & Mozzer. Want to learn more about Carmella? Her About.me page is quite telling!
Thanks so much for this! I love the V Cards app! It will really come in handy on my trip to Ecuador. My Spanish is a little too rusty to get my point across. 🙂