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Friends,
In 2012, I moved to Colorado Springs. A firm believer that when there’s something you wish to see in your community you can complain about it or you can do your part to create that which you seek. With that in mind I launched two signature events that I personally craved:

🌱 Colorado Springs Vegan Markets. I produced the first vegan market in 2013. We had 64 attendees and we were over the moon! The final event had over 50 vendors and 3,200 attendees. I passed the vegan market torch to my friend and colleague Jewels Burdick in 2021 and that event is now known as Springs Vegan Market.

🌱 Colorado Springs Vegan Restaurant Week. In 2017, I heard about a vegan restaurant week in Baltimore. I was inspired to see what we could do here in the Springs. Eight establishments participated in 2017; in 2022, we had 27 participating businesses! Vegan Restaurant Week will live on with a new organizer – Aaron Posey- in 2023!

During this time, I was also the vegan dining critic for The Gazette in Colorado Springs for nearly six years, and for the last year and a few months, I was the vegan food and drink writer for the Colorado Springs Independent (the Indy). This week the Indy laid off most of the newsroom as well as freelancers like me.

After ten years of organizing, I’m now delighted to sit back as a community member and simply enjoy a vegan scene that continues to grow and evolve.

Thanks for supporting my efforts over the years!
~JL Fields
March 18, 2023

COS Vegan Restaurant Week
​2017-2022