Crisp fall air and falling leaves brought a different scene to the The New York State Fairgrounds. Instead of hot dogs and chicken tenders, the grounds hosted vegan mac and cheese and tofu sandwiches.

For the first time in nine years, Syracuse Vegfest celebrated all things vegan with fresh produce, cooking demonstrations and activism.

Jim Thompson, the vice president of Vegan CNY, said the event exceeded expectations. Before the doors opened at 10 a.m., there was a line of about 150 people waiting to get in.

The festival was held in two large rooms in the SI Hall. One room hosted vendors like SYRACHA’CUSE, social activism organizations like Food Empowerment Project and a stand for Vegfest’s organizers.

The other room held the rest of the vendors, the stage area and a reusable water station next to the bathrooms. One vendor, called Burning Books, sold titles about social justice issues. Toward the back of the space, a kids’ area offered a quieter space for visitors to sit.

There were also a few vegan-inspired games like “Feed the Herbivore,” where kids threw hacky sacks into the mouths of an elephant, a baby and a monkey. Many guests held snacks and smoothies as they strolled through the hall.

Thompson said one goal of Vegfest is to help people avoid animal products in their diets. The festival also aims to bring the vegan community together and support people who want to embrace a vegan lifestyle.

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Vegan CNY and Vegfest are trying to connect everyone in the community, not just the wealthy “stereotypical” vegan, Thompson said. To expand veganism beyond of affluent communities, Vegan CNY works with the food share in downtown Syracuse. Thompson said he’s met with people from all walks of life who want to try a plant-based diet.

Vendors came to the vegan festival offering plant-based food. Strong Hearts, one of the event’s sponsors, had a large booth offering select items from their menu.

Parlor City Vegan, a Binghamton-based eatery, has served its 100% vegan menu for three years. Owner Sara Liu said they started as a small farmers market pop-up and will be opening a full-scale restaurant on Wednesday.

Liu’s new cafe will offer traditional American comfort foods like a truffle mac and cheese and house-made vegan fried chicken. Parlor City Vegan also makes all of its own vegan cheeses which are used in its fried mozzarella sticks.

But the restaurant’s garbage plate burrito was its most popular item at Vegfest, Liu said. This dish is a burrito stuffed with truffle mac and cheese, homemade chili, greens, a special sauce and fried potatoes. Liu said she completely sold out of everything hours before the event ended.

Liu has been a vegetarian for 10 years and has been completely vegan for the past few years. She started Parlor City Vegan after her dad had a heart attack a few years ago.

“When he was recovering I brought him vegan food and he loved it,” Liu said. “I wanted to share that with other people who we could help.”

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Featured speakers and food demos were held throughout the day near farm stands that offered fresh produce. One of those speakers was lauren Ornelas, the founder and executive director for Food Empowerment Project.

Ornelas discussed food justice and the power of food choices. She highlighted the food justice work that her organization does and talked about how the issues are relevant to the Syracuse community.

Food Empowerment Project’s headquarters is in Northern California, but Erika Galera from its program said that the organization is nationwide. She added that Ornelas has done research on the farm workers that are in central New York.

“We advocate for the rights of farm workers, and do different work in that realm,” Ornelas said. “We know that in New York there’s been a lot of legislation for farm workers, so definitely encouraging people here to get involved in supporting their local farm workers.”

Galera said that the group promotes veganism to promote animal rights. The project also advocates for farm worker rights. Every year it does a school supply drive for the children of farm workers as well as work on the lack of access to healthy foods in black and brown communities, Galera and Ornelas said.

The Food Empowerment Project also encourages people to not buy chocolate that is sourced from child labor. The organization created a chocolate list that shows recommended companies based on the country of origin. This list can be accessed on the project’s free app.

Thompson said that Vegan CNY works with several groups, even groups that aren’t vegan-centric. He said that if its mission fits Vegan CNY’s overall mission, the group wants to join forces and help whoever possible.

“Our shirts say compassion for all, not just compassion for farm animals,” Thompson said. “That’s our mission. As is animals, but we want to connect that compassion across the board.”

Published on October 20, 2019 at 10:48 pm

Contact Allison: alweis@syr.edu