The Plant Based World Conference & Expo will be taking place June 7th and 8th at the Javitz Center in NYC. Enjoy two exciting days of Business to Business education, healthcare education, and an expo floor filled with the latest plant-based innovation. The event will also be opened to the public on the 8th.
The Philadephia VegFest will kick off on Saturday, June 8th. This free event will be the 2nd-year revival of Philadelphia's own celebration of vegan and whole-food-plant-based (wfpb) lifestyles. Bring your friends and family, vegan and non-vegan alike, to visit with vegan/wfpb vendors and exhibitors of food, art, culture and organizations supporting the vegan/wfpb lifestyle. Enjoy music, vegan/wfpb speakers, intriguing panel discussions, and fun throughout the day.
NJveg will be doing outreach at the Piscataway Street Fair on Saturday. They will be there, answering questions and providing free literature on the benefits of a plant-based diet. They need volunteers for this and other outreach (can be found on their events page). Come out for an hour, or the entire event. Help spread the word that a plant-based diet saves animals, protects the environment, and improves your health! No experience is necessary. We particularly need help setting up (at 10am) and packing up (to about 5:30pm). If you’re interested in joining NJveg’s outreach team, please contact them at njveg.org@gmail.com or 609-557-7077.
Ethos Farm will be hosting Gene Baur on Sunday, the 9th. The presentation topic is entitled Reforming the Food System. Gene has been hailed as “the conscience of the food movement” by Time magazine. Since the mid-1980s, he has traveled extensively, campaigning to raise awareness about the abuses of industrialized factory farming and our system of cheap food production. More information and registration can be found here; this event is free. You can see future events by visiting the Ethos Farm website.
Sunday also gives us the For The Animals Block Party and Fundraiser in Easton. Live music by •ITO• and Radio Zoo, DJ BFS and two amazing speakers Marianne Bessey and Tom Wramage (one of the organizers for the New Brunswick and Jersey City chapters of Anonymous for the Voiceless) who are both advocates for a more compassionate world. It's pet and kid friendly too - there will be a bouncy house and games to keep the little ones busy while you eat, drink and be merry!
Don't forget about our Sunday Vegan in NJ meetup at Crust & Crumble in Asbury Park! Crust & Crumble Pizzeria & Bakery has been working on some new menu items over the winter and they're making us a special menu to be able to try out some new things - ravioli, ice cream, fat cat sandwiches, pizzas, etc. You can find their regular vegan menu here.
Finally, the Jersey Shore chapter of Food Not Bombs will be feeding those in need at the Asbury Park Train Station between 5:00 and 6:00. If you want to donate something, contact them via their Facebook page or by emailing them at jerseyshorefoodnotbombs@yahoo.com. The Jersey City chapter meets at the Journal Square plaza at noon every Sunday. For donations, contact them via their Facebook page or at foodnotbombsjc@gmail.com.
Vegan in NJ events scheduled (*must be a member of the Facebook group to view private events):
7/13 Atlantic City Vegan Food Festival - we'll be at the Skylands table!
Vegan in NJ is raising money through Crowdrise for Skylands Animal Sanctuary. We also have some new team members that can be found on our Crowdrise. If you are interested in signing up for the 5k and donating/joining our team to fundraise, please send me an email for your discount code for the race and proof of donation/team sign up! Proceeds from our apparel, which are available with our official design (thanks Lisette!) are available on Teechip!
If you are hosting an event or know of an event happening that you do not see on our events page, please send an email to cherise@veganinnj.com and I'll add it to the page ASAP and include it in my weekly breakdown.
We have started a Patreon page and we would love it if you could donate any amount you could. We will be working on setting up the tiers with more as time goes on, but for right now, you will get access to our feed, where we will be working through ideas and events we plan to host in the future, early blog posts, discount codes for events, and random merch an whatever we've got that we can send you! This will be a great place for you to have your voice heard about how we can make NJ the most vegan friendly place it can be. Proceeds from our Patreon will be going to maintain the website, brand, and afford us to be able to hire on more awesome vegans to help us on our journey to make NJ a vegan wonderland!
Thank you to those who came here via the Try Vegan email blast! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can learn more about the Try Vegan empire via their meal delivery (use that link for a free meal!), their food truck, or their clothing line. They also now have an app in the App Store or on Google Play!