Week of May 21 - 27

Big week for advocacy and a goodbye to a Toronto original.

May 21, 2026

@Planta Queen

The photo above is one of the first I ever posted on Instagram from Planta, taken back in January 2020, when that dining room on Queen Street still felt like one of the most exciting places to eat in the city. I'm sharing it again this week because, as you'll read further down in this edition, there's some genuinely sad news about that place and what it meant to Toronto's vegan scene.

But we'll get to that. This week also happens to be one of the more meaningful ones on the advocacy calendar with the Animal & Vegan Advocacy Summit underway at the Sheraton Centre, and Sunday's Toronto Animal Rights March that is open to everyone and well worth showing up for.

There's also good news from around the world, a product worth knowing about, and a note from me about where I'd love to see this newsletter go.

A lot in this one, thanks for reading.

This Week:

📅 Sunday, May 24
🕒 Gathering at 2:30 p.m., march steps off at 3:30 p.m.
📍 Queen St W, across from the Sheraton Hotel (123 Queen St W)
🎟️ Free, open to all

An annual march through downtown Toronto, this year serving as the closing event of the AVA Summit. The route is expected to take no more than two hours. Open to everyone — no registration required.

📅 Thursday, May 21 – Sunday, May 24
🕒 Multi-day; specific daily session times not listed publicly
📍 Sheraton Centre Toronto, 123 Queen St W
🎟️ Ticketed (registration required)

The AVA Summit arrives in Toronto for the first time this year, bringing together advocates, campaigners, researchers, funders, and nonprofit teams from across Canada and beyond to focus on high-impact strategies for farmed animals. Programming covers campaign strategy, cross-sector collaboration, philanthropy, and movement alignment. This is a professional conference — not a casual public event — but for anyone working in or seriously involved in animal advocacy, it's a significant gathering.


(Event details are accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of publishing. Events are intended to be vegan, but details may change, please confirm directly with the organizer if you have specific concerns.)

Product of the Week

Each week, I share a vegan product I personally use or trust. Some links are affiliate links, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I genuinely stand behind.

⭐ Spotlight: Beyond Yourself Creatine Monohydrate is a straightforward, unflavoured creatine monohydrate from a Canadian brand.

Creatine is one of the most researched supplements in existence, and for good reason, it supports strength, power output, and muscle recovery, and emerging research suggests it may also have benefits for cognitive function and energy levels.

Beyond Yourself is a Canadian company making a no-frills product that does exactly what it's supposed to.

Worth Noting:

It's a sad end to a chapter that meant a great deal to me and Toronto's vegan community. Planta, the plant-based restaurant that helped redefine what vegan dining could look like in this city, has permanently closed both of its Toronto locations as of May 19. This is of course following the chain's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in May 2025 and a court-approved liquidation in March 2026.

When Planta opened, it was genuinely unlike anything Toronto had seen, chef David Lee's kitchen turned carrots into hot dogs and watermelon into tuna, and in doing so raised the bar for plant-based cuisine across the country. Planta eventually expanded to Florida, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and D.C., with Toronto serving as the incubator for the entire concept. Despite that legacy, the company confirmed that Canadian operations were no longer financially feasible, while its U.S. restaurants continue to operate. For a restaurant that started here and grew into something far bigger, it's a painful loss for the city that made it possible, and I for one will greatly miss it but very thankful that it existed.

Good News for Animals Around the World

Now for some better news, there's encouraging progress on the global advocacy front this week. Brazil's Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill banning the production and sale of foie gras and if signed by the President, it would make Brazil the first country in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw it nationally. In Europe, the EU has approved a €615 million scheme helping Dutch dairy farmers voluntarily reduce herd sizes to cut emissions and scale back intensive animal agriculture. In Northern Ireland, a new fox hunting ban bill has been introduced with Sinn Féin's backing for the first time which significantly improving its chances of passing. And in Zambia, a collaboration between conservation group Panthera and the Lozi community has seen 90% of royal ceremony paddlers switch to synthetic leopard skins, representing a 74% drop in demand for poached pelts since 2022.

Help This Newsletter Grow

I wanted to take a moment here to ask for your help. If you've been enjoying the Toronto Vegan Insider, the single best thing you can do is share it with someone who might find it useful, a friend, a coworker, a family member who's vegan-curious, or anyone who cares about what's happening in this city. The goal is to build something bigger than a weekly email: a genuine community hub for Toronto's vegan scene, with the capacity to one day organize our own events, meetups, and gatherings. That only happens if more people know we exist. Forward this email, share the sign-up link on your social media, or drop it in a group chat, every new reader helps. You can sign up and share at torontovegan.ca.

And for those that have been doing this all along, I see you and I truly appreciate it!

📣 Looking for a vegan meal delivery service?

Check out our list of all the different options in Toronto.

On The Horizon:

*(more info will come closer to the dates)

  • Climate Week Kickoff Happy Hour

    📅 Monday, June 1, 2026
    🕒 6:00–8:00 p.m.
    📍 Wishbone Animal Rights Lab – The Lab Vegutainment Centre, 108 Dundas St W
    🎟️ Suggested donation $5 (pay what you can)

    A mocktail happy hour hosted by VegTO to kick off Toronto Climate Week, featuring sustainable bites from Sau Bake (Brazilian street food) and So Daam (Korean-inspired dishes), plus an all-Canadian sober bar with drinks priced at $5. Hosted at Wishbone's Vegutainment Centre; optional dress code for fun — come as your favourite season.

  • Do West Fest

    📅 Friday–Sunday, June 5–7, 2026
    📍 Dundas St W, from Shaw St to Lansdowne Ave (Little Portugal)
    🎟️ Free admission

    Toronto's unofficial start to summer — 16 blocks of Dundas West go car-free for a weekend of live music, local food vendors, art, and community programming. Good Rebel has confirmed they will be bringing their vegan grill to the fest, serving up BBQ vegan chicken legs with their signature ranch drizzle.

  • Vegan Night Market

    📅 June 18 (with additional dates July 16, Aug 13, Sept 10)

    📍 Balmy Beach

    More details expected closer to the date.

Do you have a business or event that you think should be listed? Email us at [email protected] to submit a request.