After almost three years, we are so excited to return to in-person conferences! Our Food for Thought Program Manager, Crystal Kozlak, and East Coast Coordinator, Tami Andrew, attended the HSUS Animal Care Expo in Orlando, FL. Crystal and Tami finally got the opportunity to speak with organization representatives face-to-face!
Our Booth
Everyone we spoke with was super friendly and supportive of Food for Thought’s mission. We made a lot of great connections. Many of the attendees work for organizations that do not have a vegan or vegetarian menu policy yet. Even if they aren’t vegan or vegetarian themselves, they agreed organizations should align their menu with their mission. Attendees were the most excited about our Vegan Event Grant. The vegan food served at the conference impressed them so much they want to host their own vegan event!
Vegan Food
The food at the conference was outstanding! It was 100% vegan because HSUS has a vegan menu policy. Some of the meals served included bagels and cream cheese, spaghetti and pesto pasta, Beyond Burger sliders, BBQ jackfruit or black bean burgers, potato salad, grilled corn, chili, and a taco bowl bar. The desserts were delightful too! They served delicious chocolate chip cookies, red velvet whoopie pies, tapioca pudding cups, strawberry and whip cream cups, and chocolate cupcakes dusted with gold glitter.
HSUS purposefully did not label any of the food vegan so that attendees could enjoy the food instead of making a presumption that it’ll be unappetizing just because it’s vegan. Attendees were so impressed with all the food at the conference and could hardly believe it was vegan. We were frequently asked if Food for Thought was responsible for it. We were proud to say that HSUS is one of our Policy Leaders!
Round Table Discussion
Crystal had the opportunity to host a round table discussion. They asked participants questions on the topic of hosting vegan or vegetarian events. All participants acknowledged that we’re in the same fight to help animals so we should be kind to all animals. They were all supportive of adopting a vegan or vegetarian menu policy. Participants believe it’s important to impress guests with a good meal, but not label it as a vegan. It worked for HSUS! We look forward to attending more conferences this year!