Freya Smith Dinshah
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Freya Dinshah at an exhibit table at the Veggie Pride Parade, New York City in 2008
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| Born | 1941 (age 82–83) Epsom, England |
| Occupation | Advocacy |
| Genre | Cookbook |
| Subject | Veganism, ahimsa |
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| Notable awards | Vegetarian Hall of Fame, 1990[1] |
| Spouse | Jay Dinshah (1960–2000) |
| Children | 2 |
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Freya Smith Dinshah (born 1941) is the author of The Vegan Kitchen, president of the American Vegan SocietyinMalaga, New Jersey, and editor of American Vegan magazine (formerly Ahimsa).
Freya Smith was born in Epsom,[2] England in 1941 to Grace Smith, who was active in The Vegan Society. There, she attended the Rosebery School for Girls.[citation needed]
Dinshah cofounded the Epsom Animal's Friends and Epsom Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament groups.[2] Dinshah and her husband formed the American Vegan Society in 1960.[3][better source needed]
In 1961, Dinshah and her husband participated in the American Natural Hygiene Society Convention, held in Chicago.[2] The following year she and her husband moved the American Vegan Society from New Jersey to California.[2] Her The Vegan Kitchen (1965) was, according to food historian Karen Page, the first American book to use the word "vegan."[4]: 17
In 1974, Dinshah along with Jay Dinshah, Helen Nearing, Scott Nearing and others founded the North American Vegetarian Society in order to host the 23rd World Vegetarian Congress in Orono, Maine in 1975.[5]
Dinshah organized the vegan food for 1500 attendees at the World Vegetarian Congress, where her husband Jay Dinshah was elected president.[citation needed] She was in charge of catering and authored a vegan (then termed ‘total-vegetarian’) cookbook for the event.[citation needed] All food for the Congress was all-vegan, as is the base for many vegetarian and vegan conferences today,[citation needed] but in 1975, foodservice had separate, clearly-marked, small containers of milk and cheese for those who insisted on having them.[2][5]
In 2020, the Portland Press Herald printed a report about the history of the 1975 event and said Dinshah's use of fresh food at the event was unusual for the time: "In addition to being fresh and seasonal, the food at the congress was very simple with little seasoning in order to accommodate the needs of all the various vegetarians in attendance, some of whom eschewed salt, sugar, white flour or spices."[5]
In 1990, along with her husband, she was the first inductee in the North American Vegetarian Society's Vegetarian Hall of Fame.[1][better source needed]
After her husband died in 2000, Dinshah assumed leadership of American Vegan Society and became its president.[6][7] She edits American Vegan (formerly Ahimsa) magazine.[citation needed] She has been a frequent speaker at vegan and vegetarian conferences.[8][better source needed]
She met Jay Dinshah, who by 1957 had also become a vegan[11] and who had founded the American Vegan Society in 1960,[2] in England in February 1960. She married him in August of that year.[12][better source needed] The couple had two children. She was widowed in 2000.[11]
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