The Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
Posted on October 20, 2007 - Filed Under Food, Larabars, Low Fat, Organic, Products/Foods, Reviews, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
TGH and I attended this today. It was the 12th Annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. It was put together by volunteers of the Boston Vegetarian Society. I found out about it through Hannah at the Bittersweet Blog. Thanks, Hannah! * It was held at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center which was a great place, but not big enough, in my opinion. Some of my favorite new veggie exhibitors were there like Sunshine Burgers and LARABAR, Whole Foods Market Company, Moosewood, Cherrybrook Kitchen (known for their allergen-free foods) and Tom’s of Maine. There were a lot of foods to sample, like vegetarian and vegan jerky, cookies, ices, breads, granolas, dips, hummus, peanut butter, too much to mention. So I learned about some new places while I was there - Gak’s Snacks, Sound Earth (cleaning products), and Fiddler’s Green Farm were just a couple of them. Another that I was impressed with was NeuAura - a “Fashion-forward animal friendly footwear” company. The red shoes on the front page of their website were the ones I fell in love with at the festival. Melsie would have fought me for them. 
Anyway, keep an eye on their site - they are working on getting the online shopping up and running and they have some nice tracks to listen to while you shop.
I found out about some vegetarian restaurants in the area that I didn’t know about as well as some co-ops, and even a vegan inn (Sweet Onion Inn in the green mountains of Vermont) that TGH and I may try out some time in the near future. The gentleman we spoke to said if we alerted them ahead of time that we had a soy-sensitive person in our party they would arrange the meals for us accordingly when we stayed there. They provide breakfasts and dinners. He was himself allergic to soy so it was nice to chat with him.
There were presentations on Saving Animals and the Planet with Your Fork, The Latest in Human Nutrition, The Joy of Vegan Cooking and Baking, Fats, and Plant Based Diets. I’m sorry to say that TGH and I didn’t get to see/hear any of the presentations because it was just so darned crowded in there and it was hard to maneuver around in a timely manner. At one point when I was surrounded by people taller than me and all I could see was shoulders, I actually seriously hoped that there wouldn’t be a fire because if there was, I was a goner. I would have been trampled flatter than a Colorform and had no means of getting out of anyone’s way. So, because of that I didn’t get to visit the Sunshine Burger booth (I didn’t mind this so much since I have had them, know what they taste like and know I can buy them easily enough in my area) but it did kind of stink that there were other exhibitors who I couldn’t get close enough to in order to see what they had.
There was one exhibitor who had an interesting food concept there (I won’t mention names in this case) - it was a meat substitute roast that already had the stuffing rolled inside so all you had to do was roast and slice it. It sounded great and the gentleman who was trying to sell me on it was very nice but when I asked him whether it could be made without soy flour he checked with the person beside him and all she did was dismiss me with a sharp “NO.” So, needless to say I won’t be buying from them. I can take “No” for an answer as I understand that some things cannot be changed simply for MY benefit (or anyone else sensitive to certain foods) but I don’t need to be treated rudely, especially when I ask a simple and polite question. Also, one other bad thing happened, but I have to take half the blame for doing something stupid too - at one table of samples for olives, there were two identical bowls of little tiny plastic spoons. Honestly I couldn’t tell what the difference was and I took one to use to try an olive. After I got the olive in my mouth I realized that I had taken a spoon from the “used” pile. I then told the person behind the counter about it and how grossed out I was so he then took that as a hint to empty the “used” pile. Sorry - but the trash should not be left to sit out in front on the counter with the unused sample spoons. At least use a container that looks different than the one the unused ones are in. I mean, it was an olive for pete’s sake, it wasn’t like peanut butter where I could tell right off which pile was used and which wasn’t. Okay, sorry, I’m okay about it now. Just hoping that whoever’s spoon I used was at least as healthy/clean as I am.
Back to the positive stuff. TGH bought me two new cookbooks while we were there - I got the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook which I have wanted for a while now and also A Celebration of Wellness, which is a vegetarian cookbook full of low-fat, nonfat, no dairy and no cholesterol recipes. They were both on discount due to the Festival! I also scored a bunch of free mini LARABARs, and two free Vegetarian Journal magazines!
All in all, it was a good experience. I hope to see them get larger quarters in the future. Maybe they didn’t expect as large a turnout but it was a beautiful day and hey, there were free food samples. LOL. If anyone gets a chance to visit one of these vegetarian festivals in the future, I would highly recommend it. It’s always fun to try new things. Sure, you may not like all of them, but you never know until you try!
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*Hannah - I didn’t see Isa there but I did see someone who LOOKED like her - but she had a name tag of Amanda on so I just smiled at her for you. LOL.
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12 Responses to “The Boston Vegetarian Food Festival”
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Wow, sounds like quite an amazing experience! I very much like the sound of the food sampling bit … LOL
You have written a very interesting article and I enjoyed reading about the highs and lows of your experience, Teeni!
Thank you Hannah. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I have to include the good and the bad (in my opinion, anyway) just to keep it real.
Do they ever have vegetarian festivals where you are? Or any other type of festivals?
Don’t tell me you didn’t take pictures? It sounds like a blast.
Was that the owner? The person that was so rude? If not I would think about checking it out myself sometimes people that work for great companies can be jerks. Then again she might have had a very bad day of course that does not excuse her behavior but I try to think or reasons why people might act the way they do.
Even the nice gentleman at the Inn’s table at first looked at me with big eyes and said - “What a vegan who doesn’t eat soy?” I had to explain I was only mostly a vegetarian and the reason for my soy avoidance (that’s when he told me was was allergic himself). Guess I was just having one of those sensitive days. LOL. Anyway, I forgive the rude lady now. It just took me a few minutes to get to a point where I could. I’m only human, after all. 
Oops - and sorry no pics. It was tooo crowded. I would have gotten no good shots and/or had the camera jostled out of my hands and broken to bits. Yikes.
I’m not sure if that person was the owner or not, Opal. I was too shocked to try and find out. Of course you are right and she could have just been having a bad day - I myself don’t like crowds so I was probably already on edge myself. I usually do try and overlook a slight rudeness like that but I guess it just hit me wrong. I am already sensitive about not being able to have soy (I have to work up the courage to ask if it’s in there - normally I’d just check the ingredients myself) but sometimes I do like to ask because it makes the people who produce the food more aware of sensitivities. Sometimes it leads to an intelligent discussion. And other times it just hurts because everyone wants to feel like they belong - I know I go to the beat of my own drummer but once in a while it would be nice to fit into someone else’s club too.
Oh it sounds like so much fun… I wish I could have been there! And even if it wasn’t always the perfect situation, it sounds like you handled it well. I’m glad that you were able to make the best of it! (And thanks for looking for Isa for me!)
Yes, it WAS fun (obviously, apart from my minor dark spots). LOL. I think you would have really enjoyed it. I hope you are feeling better.
Yeah I really don’t like crowds which is why you will rarely see me sell my products there, lol. I have done it a few times and it got too much. Thankfully I did not lose it although I did have a few people that tried to take me there. I commend anyone that does it because it’s not easy. I had to go to a yelling corner after my experience. My “yelling corner” was an intense workout in the gym. Who know she might have gone to hers after the event if she was truly nice.
Pretty amazing that some veggies think you need to include soy in their diet to be healthy. Hmm, you might get me ranting on that on vegan momma again. I’ve ranted a few times but that was in my first year of blogging. I honestly believe soy in the way many is westernized cultures consume it is not good. Some people eat soy every freaking day. You won’t find too many soy based anything on my websites.
I think you need to go to an “I’m sorry I did not take pictures corner”. I’ll be sending you a video late today or tomorrow the regular video will be up this week. I have to send Beth a video also.
LOL. I’m honestly not trying to stir anything up. I really am not all down on soy or anything. I just want to raise awareness sometimes for those of us who can’t have it because it is so profusely embedded into our foodstream now. I believe you are right that our western diet have been consuming it way too much and in too many things. It doesn’t need to be in chocolate or many other products. It gets used for a filler and as feed for chickens and other animals. Which is another reason why I’ve cut out most meat and eggs. I just get concerned because when something gets that far ingrained into our foods, it’s hard to get it out and it makes me worry because when it is so prevalent that means it is getting farmed like crazy - at the expense of what other crops that may also be good for us? I just think a little more moderation is good. I’ll have to do a post about this too - like Rice Milk - the kind I buy is soy free but there are a bunch of them out there that have soy in them. I have to smack my head in wonder what the manufacturers were thinking. Um, if the person is buying Rice milk INSTEAD of the easier to find soy milk, maybe there is a reason for it like that they CAN’T HAVE SOY! D’oh! So why put something in there that doesn’t NEED to be in there? Grrr. THAT aggravates me. Okay, I’m going to the “no picture” corner and then the “cooling off” corner. LOL
You’re human I thought you were a goddess or something incapable of doing any wrong.
I think if you keep telling TGH that he will eventually will believe that if he doesn’t already. 
I’m not sure why I was thinking you were in Virgina. I’ve always wanted to go to a veggie festival.
I think you would find it quite an experience, Ms.Opal. It is neat to see what is being offered out there for new foods and products. But I think all would benefit more if it isn’t too crowded either. Just my opinion but like MacBros, I’ll give it out for free. LOL.
You can stop laughing now!
LOL. I did have to laugh at that. I was wondering where that came from! I fixed your comment so as not to confuse anyone else who might be reading here. I’m gonna need to look into adding a statement like that to my site too.
Sounds like a fun-filled day, Teeni! I know nothing about vegetarianism, so I dont have much to say :]
I hope you didnt get any cooties from that used spoon.
Thanks, Ms. Red! I hope I didn’t either! LOL. Your comment made me laugh. I’m always glad when you stop by and comment. Vegetarianism is all new to me too and I’m not a true one anyway so you don’t need to worry about not knowing much about it! Everyone (nice) is welcome here.
SOunds VERY FUN
sounds like a great time! i wish we had a festival like that where I am. I love Tom’s of Maine; I always use their peppermint Whole Care toothpaste. Seems like a nice company. I also love Whole Foods. I wish they had one where I am. I usually stock up on non-perishables and shampoos when I go home to visit my mom. My dad is from Boston so we are frequently there. Last time I was up they had just built a brand new Whole Foods that was beautiful; I am so used to the “old style” facade. My hometown has one of the originals from when they expanded outside of Texas. You are going to have to let me know about the Uncheese cookbook. I always wanted to get it but you know when you are on a budget, cookbooks are kind of out of the question ($10+ I don’t think so). I would have totally freaked out about the used spoon (I guess that is just me being nuts). Being surrounded by college students, I am always on the “cootie alert.”
It’s great that you had such a good time and found some soy-free solutions.
You would have had fun there, Ariell! I will keep you posted on any recipes I try from the Uncheese Cookbook. Looks like lots of good stuff in there from just flipping through it. Yeah, the spoon thing did freak me out - I actually think I had a “chemo” fog brain moment when it happened because I remember staring at both bowls for a second before choosing a spoon and wondering why there were two bowls that looked the same. Of course it wasn’t until after I had it in my mouth that I realized why there were two and which one I had taken a spoon from. I wish my Whole Foods was closer too - it is far enough that we go once or twice a month and we bring an insulated cooler to keep things from going bad before we get home. But it is so worth it because there are things there I can’t get anywhere else. If your dad is still in Boston next year you should try and make it to the festival! The Boston Vegetarian Society probably promotes it on their website pretty early on.
i meant to add- - I absolutely love Almond milk; definitely a good choice when steering away from soy.
Oh, I love almond milk!!!
Mmm, free food. Yummy.
Sorry about the bad experiences though, but they do make for good posts:-)
LOL. You are right Kami! Too funny - I think it actually did cross my mind that posting about it would be funny. Slightly gross, but still funny. We humans are sick like that.
i’ve stayed @ the sweet onion inn–it was a really beautiful & wonderful place to stay! & super tasty foods. i highly recommend it.
i think i heard that they have new owners now, maybe? (i was there several years ago) i’m hopeful that it’s still as good as it was, b/c i would like to go back.
Oh, thank you, Angela! It’s always good to hear someone else’s opinion. I’m not sure if the owners are new - I didn’t really think to ask at the veggie festival. But if I do end up going in the near future I’ll try to find that out. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! Oh, by the way, welcome to the Vaguetarian Tea Room and please feel free to drop in and join in whenever something catches your eye here!