Appetite for vegan food growing in Cape Breton

The appetite for vegan food is growing in Cape Breton, and several new food entrepreneurs are tapping into the changing demand.

"I wanted to have something for the local vegans, or vegetarians or people that just wanted to try it, and see how delicious things can be when you open your mind to it,"said chef Joey Matheson.

Matheson works full time atSelkie'sNeighbourhood Diner in Sydney, chopping veggies for the dailyveganspecial.

But he's also the creator ofthe River Filly Vegan Dinner Pop Up a three-course meal he serves out of the space usually used by Selkie's and Doktor Luke's.

He started in September and does a dinner every third Sunday.

"I'm pretty sure the first dinner we did we sold out in just under an hour," said Matheson.

Matheson's dinners dovetail with the latest federal dietary suggestions.

Canada's Food Guide now recommends more fruit and veggies, less meat and dairy and more plant-based proteins.

"I couldn't believe it to actually see half a plate filled with vegetables and fruit and a quarter of it whole grains and then a quarter of protein," said Matheson of the new guide.

"And if you look at the protein on there, there's the nuts, there's the beans, there's just things that I don't think people really realized they can get their protein from."

Jamie Crane has eaten vegan for two years. Her choice to go vegan was prompted by a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

She said she is pleased with the new food guide and recommends it to others.

"I have MS, but I feel the healthiest I've ever felt," said Crane. "And it took getting sick to kind of wake me up and go, 'Okay, you've gotta make some changes.' And a huge one was my diet."

She's attended the River Filly Vegan Dinner Pop Up and said it made dining out worry-free.

"We didn't have to say to anybody, 'Here are my dietary restrictions,'" said Crane.

"We just knew that everything that came out of the kitchen from the starter to the dessert to the beer that we had that evening was all vegan. And it was really refreshing."

Matheson knows of at least two other businesses in the area that are making and selling exclusively vegan food options.

"It's just a phenomenal thing to see Cape Breton booming with veganism right now," said Matheson.