Culinary Innovator & Plant-Based Advocate

Chef Ryan Jennings is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sweet Pea Plant-Based Kitchen, Rochester’s premier chef-prepared, whole food, plant-based meal delivery and co-packing company. With a culinary degree from The French Culinary Institute, Ryan has transitioned from leading fine dining establishments like Rio Bamba and Max Rochester to pioneering accessible, oil-free, and nutrient-dense meals for the community.

In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Chef Ryan hosts the cooking show Plant Powered with Chef Ryan on Eat This TV, where he showcases flavorful, health-conscious dishes. He also engages audiences through his podcast, Shelling Peas: A Plant-Powered Podcast with Chef Ryan Jennings, where he highlights stories from the plant-based movement—including conversations with local vegan entrepreneurs like Ali Lawrence of Spirit and Abundance and Keith McCullough of Junebar.

Chef Ryan’s commitment to plant-based nutrition and sustainable eating continues to inspire many, making him a prominent advocate for healthier lifestyles through culinary excellence.

Catch Chef Ryan Jennings at Rochester VegFest 2025

🍽️ 1:00–1:45 PM – Live Culinary Demo at the Food Demo Tent
🎤 3:30 PM – Moderator of the Rochester Vegan Entrepreneurs Panel at the Speaker Tent

Join Chef Ryan for a flavorful food demo and stick around as he moderates our panel of inspiring local vegan business owners—drawing on his podcast experience and firsthand knowledge as a plant-based innovator in the region.

For more information and to explore his culinary offerings, visit sweetpeaplantbased.com or follow him on Instagram at @plantpoweredwithchefryan.

Dr. Thomas M. Campbell II is a board-certified family physician and a certified diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. He serves as the founder and co-director of the UR Medicine/Highland Hospital Nutrition in Medicine Research Center, where he leads clinical trials examining the effects of comprehensive dietary changes, with a focus on plant-based nutrition, on various diseases.

Dr. Campbell is the co-author of the bestselling book The China Study, written with his father, T. Colin Campbell, PhD. He also authored The China Study Solution, a practical guide to implementing the findings from The China Study. He is a graduate of Cornell University and earned his medical degree from the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at the University of Rochester, Highland Hospital.

In addition to his clinical and research work, Dr. Campbell is the Medical Director of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, a nonprofit organization that promotes optimal nutrition through science-based education, advocacy, and research in partnership with eCornell, Cornell University’s online course provider.

Dr. Campbell regularly presents on topics of nutrition and health for both professional audiences and the public. He has published in various medical journals and CME publications. He is also an avid runner, having completed seven marathons.

Catch Dr. Campbell at Rochester VegFest 2025

Join Dr. Campbell for an in-depth talk on the connection between diet and chronic disease, and learn how plant-based nutrition can play a central role in transforming long-term health outcomes.

🕛 12:10–12:55 PM, August 24th
📍 Speaker Tent, Parcel 5 – Downtown Rochester

The Rochester VegFest is coming back for 2025! While details are still being finalized and vendors are signing up, you can expect incredible vegan food, merch, and more from local vendors, plus cooking demos from plant-based food and health experts as well as guest speakers.

• Date: Sunday, August 24th
• Time: 10am-4pm
• Location: Parcel 5, Downtown Rochester

Stay tuned for more! Interested in helping to coordinate or volunteer at the event? Reach out.

Take A Look…

Roc VegFest 2024 was a huge success! We are excited to build on that momentum and bring you another amazing event this summer.

Thank you to Chandler Grace Photography, Isaiah Thomas, and MetroPops for donating photos taken at last year’s event!

For more information about vegan events in and around the Rochester area, check out metropops.com/explore-events/.

Thank you for attending ROC VegFest 2024! We hope you had a fantastic time. Your feedback will help us create an even better event for next year!

We’ve already received some great suggestions, like adding signs to help locate bathrooms, offering kids’ size t-shirts, and choosing a venue with more shade. Do you agree with these ideas? Or maybe you have more to add? Let us know what you think!

Please take a moment to fill out our attendee feedback survey below. Your input is invaluable to us!

Thank you for helping us make ROC VegFest the best it can be!

After a 5 year hiatus, the Roc VegFest rocked the Roc! About 1,000+ people attended the festival on Saturday, August 24th on a hot, beautiful sunny day at Parcel 5 in downtown Rochester.

Vendors local and far came to Rochester offering vegan food, vegan goods and services, crafts, and information about going vegan. Speakers gave talks about the journey to veganism and attendees could also watch food demonstrations.

After competing in the Rochester triathlon the morning of the Vegfest, I couldn’t wait to get the VegFest to eat! I had the All Bahn Mi-self from Grassfed, a local vegan deli and butcher, it was a grilled lemongrass and coriander marinated tofu sandwich with cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, pickled diakon, and carrot, liquid aminos, vegan mayo, and scallion ginger oil on a Ciabatto roll with a vegan mac salad and it definitely didn’t disappoint!

The food is a big part of VegFest because this is when people can taste plant-based food and see how delicious plant-based meals (and desserts) can be without harming any animals. Attendees also saw food demonstrations from Ali from Spirit & Abundance, Ryan Jennings from Sweet Pea Kitchen, and committee members, Pearl and Bruce. Food demonstrations are a great way to see how easy plant-based cooking can be (and how you can still get your protein)! They also displayed and offered vegan cookbooks for viewing.

Other vegan restaurants in attendance included Sunshine Vegan Eats, a vegan restaurant from Buffalo; Hollycake House, a local vegan bakery, Fat Cake Baking, and Sweet Pea Kitchen, a local plant-based meal service.

Other vendors included the Rochester Area Vegan Society (RAVS), Ask a Vegan Booth, Mockingbird Farm, Monroe County Recycling, The Herbivore Next Door, Julia Jones, graphic designer – who designed our 2024 vegfest shirts!

Attendees learned about what it means to be vegan, how to eat plant-based, how to recycle, how to promote eating plants, as well as the volunteer and community opportunities to get involved with the vegan community. 

As for our speakers, we heard from Dr. Kerry Graff: Veg for Personal Health, Sarina Farb: Veg for the Animals, and Jim Hicks: Veg for the Planet. We learned how we can be vegan for personal health, for the animals, and for the planet.

We did it! Another successful Rochester VegFest is in the books, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our amazing community. We are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed their time, energy, and talents to make this event a success. Here’s a big shoutout to all the wonderful people who made VegFest 2024 happen! 💚

It all starts with our incredible Planning Team and Key Organizers, who have worked tirelessly throughout the year to bring this event to life. A huge thank you to Brandi for her outstanding leadership as our overall coordinator. Brandi, you stepped up in so many ways—from calculating tables and chairs to placing the final order with Anchor Tent Rental, buying a tent for the Kids Area just days before VegFest, and organizing and running meetings. You even secured a pro-bono Google account so our e-meetings wouldn’t keep getting cut short. Additionally, thank you for helping to acquire raffle donations, which added an exciting element to our event. Your ability to oversee all aspects of planning, manage countless details, and ensure seamless communication among the team was instrumental in bringing everything together. Your dedication to keeping everyone organized and on track truly made a huge difference.

Kim, you managed our finances with precision and kept the VegFest tent running seamlessly throughout the festival. Tina, your leadership guided us through every step, from planning to execution, pulling everything together with your experience and dedication. Bubbie, your guidance, upbeat spirit, and stellar news interview brought so much positivity to our team. And thank you to both Bubbie and Deb for storing the VegFest materials since at least 2019. Amber and Mockingbird Farm Sanctuary, thank you for storing the VegFest materials now.

A special thank you to Amber for pulling together our day-of volunteers! Rachel, the food demos you organized were a hit, drawing crowds and showcasing delicious plant-based options. Bruce, you wore many hats this year, from organizing our fantastic speakers to leading a food demo—your efforts truly shined! Ingrid, your delicious lunch wraps were a highlight for our volunteers, and your handling of all our purchasing needs was invaluable.

We can’t forget Pearl for sharing her marvelous mushroom risotto recipe at the demo tent, hosting the Treeline tasting, and representing VegFest incredibly in multiple media interviews. Darren, thank you for picking up the rental truck, loading it with our VegFest materials, unloading it at VegFest, and reversing the whole operation at the end. You were a blur at VegFest—every time we looked, you were somewhere new, setting something up, and you came prepared with tools!

Jami, your work on promotions—from social media and website updates to radio ads and print marketing materials—kept our community informed and engaged. Renee, your efforts in recruiting and managing all our vendors, creating a fantastic layout for VegFest, helping to acquire raffle donations, and coordinating an appearance on Good Day Rochester were key to our success!

Thank you to Carol Barnett for all your work throughout the planning process. Your dedication to organizing the RAVS and Ask-a-Vegan booths, providing the speaker tent equipment, and coordinating volunteers was instrumental to a successful festival. Carol and Ted Barnett also operated the Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute booth and hosted out-of-town guest speakers Sarina Farb and Jim Hicks at their home!

Thank you to Tina, Carol H, Elise, Bubbie, Dara, and Bob F for stepping up to table at the Animal Rights Rochester booth and offering valuable information about non-human animals to attendees. Your dedication helped make our message even stronger!

To all our amazing volunteers who helped make the event day run smoothly, we couldn’t have done it without you! A special thank you to Brian B. for your hard work during setup and teardown and for jumping in wherever needed. Graham, you were an outstanding volunteer, assisting with vendor layout and serving in various roles with such enthusiasm.  Ezekiel, thank you for being a fantastic vendor assistance volunteer in the morning and working closely with Graham to help with the setup. And to Daryl, who helped with the vendor layout on Friday night and spent all day Saturday volunteering with enthusiasm—thank you!

To Robbie S., who traveled all the way from Rhinebeck in the Hudson Valley to staff the Ask-A-Vegan Booth, and to everyone who volunteered at the Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute, Ask-A-Vegan, and Rochester Area Vegan Society booths: Barbara S., Bob F., Brian B., Cema C., Claire L., Daryl O., Dave D., Deb K., Jane D., Janet G-W., Jill B., Linda K., Marge R., Phyllis F., Kayla S., Kerry G., Lori V., Rebecca K., Ren V., Sandy R., Scrub C., Sherrill O., Susan B., and Susan S.—your dedication to educating and engaging with our attendees was inspiring.

Special thank you to Cheryl, who surprised us with three beautiful gift baskets for the raffle table. Your generosity added a special touch to our event! And to the other volunteers who managed the water and raffle area—John Bunce, Maryellen Bunce, and their cute dog, Frankie—thank you for rolling with our lack of organization in this zone and getting things running smoothly in no time. Your help and patience as we figured things out on the fly were greatly appreciated!

Thank you to our vegan screener, Mike, for ensuring our event remained true to its values. And to everyone working the VegFest table—Brenda, Lori, Beth, and Sirena—your efforts in engaging with attendees and sharing information were fantastic!

A huge thank you to the morning vendor setup volunteers who moved those heavy tables around Parcel 5—your tireless efforts did not go unnoticed! And to Tina, and the rest of the cleanup crew for sorting through garbage at the end of the event and ensuring everything was clean and green. Jane, thank you for being a valuable part of the tear down crew! Kayla, thank you for your help with the cleanup and for putting together a fantastic VegFest recap write-up—these contributions were a huge help!

Thank you to the volunteers who staffed the Kids Area—Joan, Rita, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Manning—for keeping our younger attendees entertained and engaged throughout the day.

Thank you to our raffle ticket sellers—Janet, Maria, Zyriana, Joelle, Marge, and Graham—your efforts were crucial in making the raffle a success! A special shoutout to Zyriana, who not only sold raffle tickets but also stayed past her shift to help with some setup projects!

Thank you to our traffic assistance volunteers, Daryl and Jill, for managing the flow and ensuring everything ran smoothly. Your coordination was crucial in keeping things organized and safe for everyone!

We also want to extend our thanks to all the vendor assistance volunteers: Brian, Ezekiel, Graham, Hannah, Pam B, Pamela W, and Susan. Your support in helping vendors set up and providing assistance throughout the event was incredibly helpful.

A special thank you to Stefanie and Jason of MetroPops for their blog and social media posts, the wonderful video assets they created for us, and the amazing photos and videos they captured on the day of the event.

And a big thank you to Chandler Grace and Isaiah Thomas, our volunteer photographers, who generously provided pro-bono services and shared so many great photos that we can use for promotional materials in years to come.

We are also grateful to Rob at PanoGFX and Mike at Tiny Fish Printing for handling all our printing needs with such efficiency and care. And to Rob R. of StackFLX, thank you for designing our programs and being a hands-on volunteer throughout the day of the event!

Our gratitude extends to Ali of Spirit and Abundance and Ryan of Sweet Pea Plant-Based Kitchen for their expert cooking demos, and to all demoers who provided their own ingredients and donated the food they prepared. Your creativity and culinary skills showed everyone just how delicious plant-based cooking can be! Thank you also to Treeline Cheese for donating the cashew cheeses that were sampled during Pearl’s demo!

Thank you to our speakers, Dr. Kerry Graff, Sarina Farb, and Jim Hicks, for sharing their knowledge and passion with our attendees. Your presentations were both inspiring and informative, contributing greatly to the success of our event.

Shoutout to Adrianna Noone & Anthony Siciliano for their fantastic musical performances, which added vibrance and energy to our event.

And thank you to Ray at the Local Sound Collaborative for connecting us with these talented musicians.

Anchor Tent Rental was exceptionally accommodating, setting up early and taking down right after the festival. Tent companies usually leave the tents for days, but they cheerfully agreed to help us out right away.

A heartfelt thank you to Julia, who designed our VegFest T-shirt. Your creative design was a huge hit, and having your design for the T-shirts helped us stand out and connect with our attendees and volunteers in a fun way. Thank you for bringing your unique touch to VegFest!

Finally, we want to thank all the vendors, sponsors, donors, and attendees who came out to support Rochester VegFest. Your enthusiasm and participation make this event possible, and we are so grateful to have such a vibrant community.

Rochester VegFest 2024 simply would not have been possible without each and every one of you. Thank you all for your incredible dedication and hard work! We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!