LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kristina Addington is embarking on a new adventure after the closing of her vegan restaurant, V-Grits. 

She has started a nonprofit, VegKentucky, to promote plant-based living.

What You Need To Know

  • V-Grits, a popular vegan restaurant, closed its doors and owner Kristina Addington has started a new nonproift 

  • VegKentucky was created to promote plant-based living

  • The nonprofit is launching several initiatives in Jan. 2025 such as a weekly meal service, community dinners and workshops

  • The Bluegrass VegFest's organizer is also involved with VegKentucky; the nonprofit is an extension of the yearly festival

Addington has been plant-based for about 20 years and opened V-Grits a decade ago.

“We started out as a food truck,” Addington said. “We had products in grocery stores. We did a meal service and a brick-and-mortar restaurant for about six years that closed down last week.”

Though the restaurant is now closed, Addington is not done bringing plant-based food options to the community. In fact, she’s doing quite the opposite with the start of VegKentucky.

“It’s a brand-new nonprofit,” Addington said. “Our mission is to promote plant-based living and encourage all Kentuckians to show them that it can be easy, accessible and affordable to eat plant-based.”

The nonprofit will launch several initiatives at the start of the new year.

“We’re going to have a weekly meal service, community dinners, all kinds of workshops mostly starting in Louisville, but I think we will quickly be able to expand, probably Lexington first and then throughout the state as well,” Addington said.

She, along with other VegKentucky staff members, set up Saturday at the Flea Off Market’s Indoor Holiday Bazaar. It was the nonprofit's first event. 

“We’re selling some gourmet, plant-based cheeses," Addington said. "We’ve got a blackberry, balsamic and brie panini, some take-home lasagna, holiday cookies, all kinds of really good stuff. We wanted to provide a variety so people can see how simple it can be to eat plant-based.”

VegKentucky will be at the event Sunday, Dec. 22 as well.

There are several reasons Addington wants to promote plant-based living through the nonprofit. She said it’s for health, sustainability and animal welfare.

“There (are) so many benefits to eating a plant-based diet, and we're going to encourage all of them,” Addington said.

Jenny Brown, organizer of the Bluegrass VegFest, is also part of VegKentucky as the board's president. The nonprofit is an extension of the annual festival, which will take place again in Sept. 2025.

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