American Vegan Society


The American Vegan Society is a 501 nonprofit organization that promotes veganism in the United States.
AVS was founded by 1960 by H. Jay Dinshah. The date of the earlier The Vegan Society 's founding, November 1, is now celebrated annually as World Vegan Day.

Activities

Prior to broad and widely-accessible search capabilities of the Internet, the American Vegan Society published networking and business resources which supported vegan lifestyle.

History

In 1960 at age 26 and only 3 years after becoming vegan the late H. Jay Dinshah founded the American Vegan Society. Later that year married the English-born Freya Smith. Freya, whose parents were active in The Vegan Society, contributed to the early growth of the American Vegan Society and is president of the American Vegan Society today. The American Vegan Society is headquartered at Malaga, New Jersey, on a parcel of land which is called "SunCrest", or "the SunCrest Educreational Center." During Dinshah's life, the American Vegan Society was characterized by vegan publishing and outreach, annual vegan conferences, vegan archiving, spiritual inspiration, providing people with an experience of vegan living, vegan food-preparation demonstrations, maintenance of a small veganic garden, and extensive networking. Dinshah served the American Vegan Society as its president and as editor of its publication, Ahimsa magazine. In 2000, Dinshah died of a heart attack at age 66, after a life of promoting veganism
Ahimsa magazine was a quarterly publication that explored compassionate living as a philosophy, practical aspects of vegan living, and personal and cultural resources for vegans. Ahimsa included vegan menus and recipes, and news about food. The American Vegan Society continues to publish a quarterly periodical, now titled American Vegan, with the motto "Ahimsa lights the way." The American Vegan Society is now led and managed by its president, Freya Dinshah and advised by the AVS Council of Trustees, all of whom are vegans, and operated by a team of staff and volunteers.
The American Vegan Society "promotes, supports, and explores a compassionate, healthful, and sustainable lifestyle. The diet is plant-sourced, varied, and abundant. For ethical, health, environmental, and other reasons, reject all animal products in food, clothing, and commodities, and the exploitation of animals for sport or entertainment. AVS is guided by the doctrines of Ahimsa and Reverence for Life, and provides community and friendship to those following and learning about this way of living."
Donald Watson in England coined the term 'vegan' in 1944; it referred to an entirely plant-based diet. American Vegan Society used the term vegan to mean dynamic harmlessness and successfully developed a broad social base of practicing vegans who committed themselves to that meaning and practice.
Catherine Nimmo and Rubin Abramowitz formed a vegan society in California, and they both joined the American Vegan Society when Dinshah founded it in 1960.
Annual Conferences were held since 1960.
Alternate conferences and conventions were held, largely in the northeastern US but also earlier in California, then later in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, often sharing logistical responsibilities with local and regional vegetarian societies. For a number of years, beginning in 1989, convention proceedings were videotaped.
The Dinshahs conducted weekend workshops, cooking classes, and other educational programs at SunCrest in Malaga, as early as 1969, when their first building was donated.
In 1995, the AVS cohosted the 8th International Vegan Festival in San Diego California, with VUNA and Vegans International.
Incomplete List of American Vegan Society conventions:
Some of these conferences were:
- Some annual conferences were in California during the 1960s
Additional Workshops