On November 4, AnimalFreedom, a local animal rights and vegan advocacy organization, hosted the Pittsburgh Vegan Dessert Fest ’07 at the Amani International Coffeehouse and Café.
A crowd of more than 100 people patiently lined up to taste over 25 animal-free desserts submitted by participants. Professional vegan bakers My Goodies, Emma Rehm, Vegan Goddess and Whipped Bakery were also on hand with samples of their treats, and Shadyside ice cream shop Oh Yeah fed the crowd vegan ice cream cones.
Funds raised through the Pittsburgh Vegan Dessert Fest will go toward a Pittsburgh vegetarian festival.
The event honored World Vegan Day, which marks the November 1944 coining of the word “vegan” (pronounced vee-guhn) by Donald Watson, an English conscientious objector. The term is derived from the beginning and ending of the term vegetarian, and represents taking vegetarianism to its logical conclusion. At the launch of the vegan movement, Watson wrote, “We need a name that suggests what we do eat, and if possible one that conveys the idea that even with all animal foods taboo, Nature still offers us a bewildering assortment from which to choose.”
The “bewildering assortment” of cookies, cakes, pies, dairy-free ice creams and other treats at the Fest well illustrated the abundance of animal-free choices.
Veganism as a movement advocates abolishing animal exploitation on both personal and societal levels for the benefit of people, other animals and the environment. In place of traditional exploitive practices, veganism encourages the production and use of alternatives that are non-exploitive of animals, including humans.
While vegetarianism has a variety of motives, such as health, veganism was founded as and remains an ethical stance directed at eliminating all exploitation of animals. Veganism extends beyond diet and includes eliminating practices such as wearing leather, wool and silk, testing cosmetics and other products on animals, animal circuses, zoos, hunting and the pet trade.
AnimalFreedom is dedicated to supporting nonhuman animals in their efforts to achieve freedom from human domination. The organization seeks to challenge speciesism and human supremacy in the context of working to end other interconnected systems of oppression based on sex, gender, race, class, sexuality, age, ability, religion, nationality and ethnicity. For more information visit www.animalfreedom.info.
(First published in The NewPeople, December 2007)
