Over the summer I joined the blogger network of the Boston Local Food Festival. As a member of the network I was a regular contributor to their site and had the opportunity to interview a handful of vendors who would be exhibiting at the food festival and its sister event, the Local Brewfest. You can check out my posts:
- "Take It Up A Notch With Notch Brewing"
- "Raise A Glass With Privateer Rum"
- "Shop Local With The Locals At City Feed"
- "Blue Tierra Chocolate Satisfies Boston's Sweet Tooth"
After weeks of anticipation the festival finally arrived! I headed down to the Greenway around 11:15am and though the festival had only kicked off a few minutes before it was already packed! The booths ran from the carousel at Christopher Columbus park all the way up to the Boston Harbor Hotel.
Camera in hand, I hit the booths! First up was my new Watertown neighbor, Sofra. There were four kind ladies manning the table who warmly welcomed me to the neighborhood and offered to let me get up close and personal with Sofra's bakery items. Had I not just eaten a huge brunch, I would have spent a fortune at their booth.
A few tables away was the crew from Nashoba Brook Bakery. The old ladies next to me could not get enough of their bread! They sampled a piece of every loaf on the table.
A few steps away was the Equal Exchange coffee cart. It's a mobile coffee cafe! If I drank coffee, I'd find a way to get these guys to peddle right over to my house.
The folks from American Flatbread also brought something incredible on wheels, a pizza oven! How would you like to ride alongside that thing on the highway?
Just before crossing the street onto the next block I stopped at the Ula Cafe table. Though I spend a ton of time in Jamaica Plain, I had never heard of this bakery. They attracted me with their macaroons!
I also loved their poster that showcased all of their local ingredients and which farms they come from all across Massachusetts.
In the next block the crew from the Seaport's 606 Congress was hard at work shucking oysters for the crowd. Quite an elaborate booth set up!
Next I wondered to the Blue Glass Cafe which had a smoker going, complete with firewood! They also had the most impressive drink station I saw all day.
Further up the row were my friends from City Feed. Their booth was totally mobbed!
The team from American Provisions was also tending to eager customers. They chatted away while sporting black t-shirts that said in white across the chest, "Buy Local."
Throughout the day the festival was putting on a series of live demos. I happened to catch the tail end of this demonstration on the proper way to butcher meat. The demonstration was so packed I actually took this picture my sticking my hand up over the heads of about 30 people and hoping for the best.
My absolute favorite discovery of the day was the mobile farmer's market from Enterprise Farm. The market team is based in Whately, MA (western MA) and they have a school bus they drive from community to community bringing their farmer's market on wheels to people who otherwise would have zero access to that kind of fresh food at such a low cost.
I think this idea is genius. The farmer's market rolls into town, you climb aboard the bus, you purchase affordable, healthy food for your family (they take food stamps too) and then the bus rolls on to deliver the same health and hope to the next community. I love it.
There were so many great booths today. Here are a few more snapshots of the deliciousness:
Congratulations to the Sustainable Business Network on a hugely successful day! It was my pleasure to play a small role in spreading the word.
Were you at the festival today? What was your best discovery?
