Israel has been showing up the rest of the planet the past few months when it comes to vegan-friendly culture. First, the Israeli Domino’s Pizza chain became the first in the world to offer a soy-cheese option. Now, Omri Paz, founder of Vegan-Friendly Israel and the man behind the Domino’s vegan pizza, is expecting more than 600 people at the country’s first-ever Vegan Congress on March 7 in Tel Aviv.

“The concept is to take all the activities and projects that different organizations are doing and connect them to people out there looking to be more active, and talk about the situation in Israel so that every year we can meet and talk about changes that have taken place and what we can do in the future,” Paz said to ISRAEL21c.

After discussing matters at the Congress, members of the Vegan-Friendly group plan to drive a “Vegan-Mobile” around the country. They’ll park at a different major city each month to screen videos about veganism and offer various activities for people to learn about the health, environmental, and animal-welfare benefits of maintaining a plant-based diet.

Also, the group plans to have a vegan barbecue (or mangal) on Israel Independence Day, as well as a Shavout festival without cheese. Israelis came out in droves for the last festival: about 10,000 strong.

Paz and his Vegan-Friendly Israel group are fantastic role models for the United States in pioneering similar vegan initiatives like vegan fast-food menu options and public vegan barbecues. Perhaps this is because the Vegan Friendly mission is to publicize the positive side of veganism and avoid anything bloody or negative.

“That’s how we got into the mainstream so easily … Israel is probably the country where it’s easiest to be vegan in the whole world,” said Patz to ISRAEL21c.

Image Source: Baked Falafel Salad