Root Riot – A New Online Vegan Community Center

You all! Introducing Root Riot!

It’s long but ambitious ideas that sometimes need a little space. The CliffsNotes version? We’re building a new, totally unique but very necessary platform for vegans and the vegan-curious to have conversations, to have virtual get-togethers and more in a welcoming space that is free of trolls, fake accounts, spam and hate-speech. It’s called Root Riot and we could use your support to make this dream a reality.

The longer version?

As some of you might know, John Beske and Marla Rose created one of the first vegan websites, VeganStreet.com. Vegan Street has been operating since 1998. So let’s say we’re a little committed to building a more compassionate world.

We’ve got our cred, but the larger we – meaning the vegan and vegan-curious world – need something for today, a space for connecting, sharing, collaborating and learning more, but one without the toxicity of social media platforms and the algorithms that bolster conflict over conversation.

We have been working with our friend Stacy Owens on envisioning and creating this new space. We are calling the website Root Riot, because strong roots are essential to growth and “riot” (the lavish display usage as in an abundance of flourishing blooms). It’d also a play off “root rot,” which is not a good thing; a riot of carefully managed growth is so much better.

Our goal with Root Riot is not to supplant social media – though it certainly could be a replacement for many – but to build a robust alternative, one that is troll-free and spam-free, where an ethic of "we’re-all-in-this-together" underlies everything. In that kind of curated online environment, respectful disagreements as well as nuanced conversations can also take place.

Root Riot is going to be a platform where users of good faith can have supportive, exciting, productive and thoughtful conversations without needing to navigate the bad actors of social media who aim to sow division and disinformation. In addition, there will be no data mining or exploitative practices with regard to your privacy. In some ways, it’s like a returning to the best parts of the early days of the internet and without the worst parts of today: Not a perfect space but one where you can share, collaborate with and meet kindred souls without all the baggage of recent years.

In addition to being a space where people can come together and converse virtually, Root Riot will also host online classes, speaking engagements, book readings, open mics, networking opportunities, hang-outs and more, all in alignment with vegan values.

You can see more here: https://rootriot.org/

We know that people are hungry for community, a sense of meaning and honest communication. People are leaving social media every day because of the meanness of it and how it harms our mental health. People still crave online communities, connecting with friends and a sense of belonging, though. We believe that with the right guardrails, protections and understandings in place, we can achieve that again.

Free speech is important to us, of course, but our biggest priority with Root Riot is providing our members with a platform that is buttressed with an ethic of care. Root Riot will not be for everyone and it’s not intended to be for everyone; for people who want to troll, argue, spam, spread disinformation and/or bigotries, there are plenty of places on the big ol’ internet for that. It is just not Root Riot.

In order to keep Root Riot troll-free, we will be charging a small fee of $5.00 a month to subscribe in order to limit the presence of disingenuous people and we will have users agree to our codes of conduct in order to help us to maintain a friendly, welcoming space. This will all be finessed as we get a little closer to the official launch; for now, though, you can see what we’re planning and how it is beginning to take shape on our beta site.

Donations to Root Riot, which is a 501-c3 nonprofit through the generous umbrella of our friends at A Well-Fed World, will go toward getting professional support for building the unique facets on the website that will make it such a great space for hanging out, community building, learning and support.

Please consider donating and sharing this fundraiser to build an even stronger vegan worldwide community for the animals, the planet and humankind.

Here are our perks, in addition to the perk of this healthy platform existing in the world:

• People who donate $250 or more get a lifetime membership to Root Riot plus a Root Riot t-shirt and an assortment of five Root Riot and Vegan Street vinyl stickers.

• People who donate $100 get a free two-year membership to Root Riot plus an assortment of five Root Riot and Vegan Street vinyl stickers.

• People who donate $65.00 or more get a free one-year membership to Root Riot an assortment of three Root Riot and Vegan Street vinyl stickers.

• People who donate $35.00 get a free 6-month membership to Root Riot.

• People who donate $25.00 get a free 4-month membership to Root Riot.

• People who donate $15.00 will get a free 2-month membership to Root Riot.

Note: Memberships may be revoked for violations of our code of conduct.

We are so excited for 2024 and the realization of Root Riot!

Thank you for considering and helping us to build the next level of online vegan community and support for the modern era.