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Long-term vegan, rapper and animal activist, RZA, has taken it upon himself to spread the vegan word and make healthy lifestyles more readily accessible and affordable to the public.

The founding father of the notorious Wu-Tang Clan has partnered with Violife to put together a new grant program called Plant Grants that will promote the consumption of plant-based products through funding, education and mentorship.

The pandemic hit the restaurant sector with the toughest restrictions of all, especially affecting black-owned businesses, with revenue in the New York City-area dropping by a staggering 70-80%!  Plant Grants will debut its first year with a focus on black-owned companies – the fastest-growing vegan demographic!

To receive the funding, the selected businesses must have done at least one of the following:

  • Introduce plant-based ingredients in their recipes
  • Add more plant-based dishes to their menus
  • Convert their dishes to plant-based versions of themselves

As well as the $20,000 of cash in hand each, the selected candidates will receive menu coaching from famous plant-based chefs Lemel Durrah and Laricia Chandler.

Any vegan will tell you that eating out is… a struggle. Making more vegan options available to this growing demographic and making the food tasty is a huge leap forward for the vegan community!

The Plant Grant scheme is now open to applicants and will close 31st July. The winners of the $20,000 will be chosen in September.

RZA Gives $100K to Black Vegan Businesses
Alice Magliano is a British-Italian copywriter and content-creator who, for the last 3 years, has travelled the world in search for the sunniest beaches to write from. She loves to learn and grow from the people she meets, learning about different cultures and lifestyles as she voyages across the globe. Fluent in three languages and with a background in business, fine art and vegan nutrition, her fields of interest and expertise are broad. Despite her Italian grandmother’s bewilderment, she is very happily vegan and enjoys sharing her plant-based creations and sustainability hacks with friends and family.