Brussels and Ghent on list of best vegetarian cities in the world

The Vegetarian Cities Index has ranked Ghent number 24 and Brussels number 34 on its list of the most vegetarian-friendly cities in the world. No other Belgian city made the list of 75.

Nestpick, a Berlin-based company that helps expats find accommodations, poured over data to come up with most vegetarian-friendly cities in the world. It looked at costs of local produce and plant-based proteins, the number of vegan or vegetarian-friendly restaurants per capita, the quality of fully vegan and vegetarian restaurants (according to reviews) and the presence of veggie events and festivals.

London tops the list, with a score of 100. UK cities, in fact, pop up a record three times in the top 10, with Glasgow and Bristol also appearing. Two German cities – Berlin and Munich – also make the top 10.

The highest ranking in Belgium is 24, with Ghent taking the honours. Long known as a vegetarian-friendly city, it was once rumoured to have more veggie restaurants per capita than any other city in Europe. It’s hard to know from this list if this is accurate since Nestpick designates ‘veggie-friendly’, not purely vegetarian, eateries.

Ghent, with a total score of 94.78, scored extremely well on affordability of fresh produce and plant-based protein - in fact it was at the top of that category. “When you factor in cost of living with purchasing power parity adjustment, fruits and vegetables are 35% cheaper than the median of the cities in the ranking," one of the researchers told The Bulletin, "making the consumption of these products the most accessible of all of the cities in the ranking."

Ghent also scored well on the price of meals in vegetarian restaurants. Interestingly, Brussels – with a total score of 93.55 – scored much more average when it came to supermarket prices but very well for prices in veggie-friendly restaurants.

Both cities scored high on the number of vegetarian-friendly restaurants per capita, with Brussels in the lead with a score of nearly 90 compared to Ghent’s 83.

Check out The Bulletin’s article on vegetarianism in Belgium and recommended restaurants

Photo courtesy Yummy Bowl