Landlord seeks to start a vegan discount trend.
Most progressive landlord ever? Possibly! We have a big cheer for a Seattle-based landlord who will be offering tenants a $200 monthly discount if they stick to a vegan or vegetarian diet. Jinesh Varia doesn’t eat meat and told a local news station recently that he believes that plant-based diets are the right way to go “ethically and morally.” Check out his full interview below. 
Varia and his family are members of the Vegetarians of Washington, and they want to encourage future tenants to do the same.
“I really believe, just like the no smoking policy that all landlords have today, that we can promote this as a way to spread awareness. See if I can create a trend,” he told the station.
Varia said he’ll be relying on the honor system…so no, he won’t be digging through tenants trash to make sure they’re following the rule, but he’s hoping that they’ll respect the agreement enough to leave their animal products at the door.
With skyrocketing rents in Washington state, a discount like that could be significant to new renters…especially when paired with a luxury townhouse like the one Varia is renting. We’re happy to see this type of vegan activism taking place and hope that the trend catches on!
We have always advocated for a vegan lifestyle and offer two vegan cookbooks, a vegan starter guide and vegan restaurant guides for NYC and San Francisco, all of which are available on our website! We have also recently released an entirely plant-based dog treat cookbook called “For the Love of Dog Biscuits” so your four-legged friends can join in the veg lifestyle too! Check it out right here.
When the Dinner Bell Meat processing facility shuttered its doors years ago, we would have hoped they would never be opened again. Which is why we have a huge jeer to Seven Hills Food company which plans to reopen the plant later this month and turn it into one of the largest “beef and pork processing operations in the state of Virginia”. 
Seven Hills Food Owner, Ryan Ford, explained in an interview last year that he feels as though “the baton has been passed”, but we think the baton should have been buried with the failure of the previous slaughterhouse and never passed on at all.
Seven Hills announced their plans last year and has even set a sickening goal of purchasing 12,000 cows and pigs for slaughter in the next three years. The plant opening is also being heralded as an economic “game-changer” for Virginia when in fact the plant is essentially only employing around 40 people who will be servicing a dying industry.
We think it’s absurd for the Governor of the state and other state officials to applaud the opening of this factory and they should instead be putting their efforts into creating a sustainable, plant-based, environmentally friendly food industry. In fact, the 40,000-square-foot property could be turned into land that could provide enough food for almost triple the amount of people than a horrific meat-processing plant.
Take Action
1. You can take action by leaving a message on Seven Hills Food’s Facebook page about their destructive plan to re-open the meat processing plant this month and tell them they should be working towards sustainable, plant-based food options if they want to be successful.
2. Protest the “ribbon-cutting ceremony” at the plant on October 19th. Get more details here.
3. Help spread the veg message by sharing our Vegan Starter Guide with friends and family, available here for free on our website!