The American Vegetarian Association (AVA) is a group based in East Hanover, New Jersey which promotes vegetarianism.
AVA provides certification of food products as vegetarian/vegan which enables vegetarian-minded people to make accurate food choices.
An annual convention of an earlier body with the same name was reported on by The New York Times in 1856.
Another meeting was reported on by the Hartford Courant in 1853.
References
American Vegetarian Association Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA