Renee is a vegan entrepreneur and influencer with a passion for plants. She is also one of the panellists for this year's Nourish Vegan Awards. Get to know her with our quickfire Q&A!
Renee Buckingham is the face and founder of the World Vegan Guides media brand and Instagram accounts, including the hugely popular @sydneyveganguide and @melbveganguide. Alongside this, she consults for restaurants and brands that are keen to grow their vegan range, writes for Nourish, and co-hosts the Do You Even Influence? podcast – all while working as a full time breakfast radio producer in Melbourne!
We chatted to Renee about her journey to becoming a vegan influencer and why she agreed to join the expert panel for the 2022 Nourish Vegan Awards.
Nourish: What initially motivated you to explore veganism/plant-based living?
RB: Social media. I went vego first, and someone online challenged me to give vegan a go. So I did: one month and that was it. Seven years later here I am – a vegan food blogger, dedicated to inspiring others to join me on this path. Having discovered veganism in this way myself, my aim is to have a similar impact on many other people in turn, both on and offline.
Nourish: How does your day-to-day work reflect your values?
RB: As someone who works multiple jobs, looking after my health is so important. My food choices not only make me feel better, fuel my day, and my workouts, but also allow me to sleep at night knowing I am making conscious choices each day for better health, the environment, the animals and – most importantly – the future flourishing of the planet and all living beings.
Nourish: What has changed in the vegan world since you started on this path?
RB: SO MUCH! I cannot believe how lucky, privileged and fortunate we are to experience a plant-based lifestyle today, especially if you live in a city like myself. I remember when I first started @sydneyveganguide and it would be a win if a cafe or restaurant had three options to choose from. Today we have full menus that are vegan, and a huge section at the big supermarkets too. It’s overwhelmingly beautiful to see this abundance of choice.
While there is still a long way to go, it’s been an honour to influence and notice the shift around the stigma of being vegan. I love that restaurants come to me now asking about how they can add more vegan options and do it better.
Nourish: Why did you choose to be part of the expert vegan panel for the 2022 Nourish Vegan Awards?
RB: I am known personally and professionally as the vegan girl, and am lucky enough to have a job that requires me to eat vegan food, critique it and promote it. As the founder and CEO of World Vegan Guides, myself and my team are on a mission to make plant based living more accessible and approachable around the world. It brings me so much joy to recommend good food, products, restaurants and experiences. I am very excited to be able to extend that to the Nourish Vegan Awards where I get to be on the panel and support producers, creators and businesses in this space.
Nourish: What impact do initiatives like the Nourish Vegan Awards have?
RB: HUGE! It normalises that vegan food is just food. It supports these incredible brands and producers that have for their own reasons created a product that is free of animal cruelty and promotes a better future. To reward and recognise these brands, it will help and hopefully push others to continue to do the same.
Nourish: What vegan product/option could you simply not live without?
RB: I have tried so many vegan products for work and worked with some of the best vegan brands but I would have to say NOOCH! It’s a staple in my life and if you don’t know what nutritional yeast is… you are going to need to change that.*
Nourish: What isn’t yet widely available that you’d love to see developed?
RB: You know whats so great? There isn’t anything that I miss from my non-vegan days. There is so much available on the market and tasty products too. I would love to see more Australian based vegan parmesans and grated cheddars! Pasta and cheese was my favourite.
Nourish: What’s next for you on your vegan journey?
RB: I will let you in on something here… I am in talks around developing my own product one day. I would love to continue to learn, educate and hopefully influence others to be more conscious of their food choices and the implications of what it means for the environment and the future.
One of my dreams is to partner with an airline or other international company to travel around the world and capture the vegan highlights of different cities globally. If anyone knows how to make that happen, you know where I am!
I have been fortunate enough to work with veg lovers like celebrity chef Simon Toohey, and I would love to continue to work and collaborate with vegan cooks, experts and other thought leaders to continue building the plant-based community both on and offline. Join me!
*Editor’s note: Readily available in supermarkets and bulk food stores, nooch has a wide array of uses in savoury plant-based cooking. Just put ‘nutritional yeast’ in the search at nourishmagazine.com.au/recipes to get inspired!
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The nominees for the Nourish Vegan Awards 2022 have been announced and voting is open until 17 July. Vote now to support your favourite brands, venues, and advocates, and for the chance to win from this year’s outstanding prize pool valued at over $12,000.
