Everyone has a right to options and information that can make them active participants in bettering their own lives, as well the lives of all: humans, non-humans and the planet.

About the Project

Please see our Mission Page.

About the Collaborators

The Happy Cart - now in it’s SIXTH Year (!) is a collaborative program founded by
the Institute for Animal Happiness , with support from NY Farm Animal Save and Lantern Publishing and Media, and with space provided by the wonderful people at historic Old Dutch Church in Kingston, NY. The Chef for the program is Gabrielle Grigoli of Gab’s Veg Table.

The Institute for Animal Happiness is a small but non-stop Animal Rescue and Intersectional Vegan Advocacy organization now based in Rhinebeck, NY. They have been caring for rescued chickens and ducks - many of them disabled or facing significant health challenges - since 2008. As part of their mission to create more awareness of vegan ethics in the Hudson Valley, they also produce Hudson Valley Vegfest, a vibrant festival in Kingston NY dedicated to issues of food justice. They also publish The Hudson Valley Vegan Guide as a local resource and promote compassion-based arts via Kingston Animalia. Friends donated a vintage hot dog cart to IFAH and in the process of rehabbing and refurbishing it, the Happy Cart program idea was born.

Chef Gabrielle Grigoli (of Gab’s Veg Table) (info to come)

Old Dutch Church (info to come)

NY Farm Animal Save was formed in the summer of 2013, and held their first peaceful “bearing witness” vigil in September of that year. They are an all-volunteer group whose mission is to promote the benefits of a vegan and compassionate lifestyle. They seek to educate the public through bearing witness, community outreach and education where the main issues are the suffering of “food” animals, animal experimentation, human health and environmental well-being. Their goals are to put glass walls on all exploitative businesses in New York State and contribute to the public debate about the place of animals in our society. Whether through one-on-one conversation, group action, or our billboard and sign campaigns, they are an inclusive group that welcomes all who wish to participate and hope you will want to “become the change you wish to see.”

The Happy Cart project marks an historic first-time collaboration of regional organizations that support both human and non-humans to produce a program that is strongly in support of both constituencies. In doing so, we acknowledge the interconnectedness of our well-being and collective futures, and we set out to forge bold new pathways rooted in compassion, wellness and support for everyone.

If you’d like to support this free vegan food mission with a donation, you can do so here:

And to reach a volunteer engaged with the project, click here.