Twin Cities Veg Fest 2012

I woke up early to make sure I was one of the first in line for the special vegan treat in the 1st ever Twin Cities Veg Fest. When I arrived at 10 to 10am there were about thirty people in front of me.

By 10am, there was over 100 behind me. I got my cookie. It was good. It’s all about the food right?

Non-paper contents of my swag bag:

I ate a light breakfast too, and by light, I mean I drank a small cup of chai. I figured there would be plenty of tasty things to eat at Veg Fest. I was right. I hit the Primal Strips booth first. I’ve had them before, and I enjoy them. My wife absolutely loves them.

Next, I had to try the cruciferous chocolate chip cookie from Planted for Life. It was a decent cookie; the secret ingredient’s flavor was subtle but present. Any ideas? Did you peak? I guessed Brussels sprouts, but I then thought that was dumb as the cookies would be green. It was Cauliflower. 

Field Roast was in the next booth showing up their new Frankfurters.

They were generous with their samples giving over an inch bite of frank and bun. They were a very tasty treat. I went back several more times throughout the day. Their booth was always packed. Delicious.

Upton Naturals was next. They had several wraps to try. I had the vegan chipotle wrap. It was pretty good.

I met Ryan Dow. He had a comic of someone falling asleep while trying to meditate. I thought it was funny. I like this shot of him laughing like his logo.

Honee was just down the way. A bee free apple-based honey thus the name “Honee”. It was very sweet and slightly tart by itself. In the granola they had out, it was great.

Move2Veg had a lot of nice resources out to help veg*n’s with proper nutrition.

Mississippi Market had some samples from their bulk section. This is the asian style rice cracker mix. It was good, but a bit dry.

Some chocolate almond milk to the rescue! Very rich and tasty.

Lots of vegan, health, and green books and publications on sale.

A vegan pockets and made in Minnesota? I had to try it. I used to eat hotpockets many, many years ago. Thinking of eating one now makes me a bit nauseous. I’m happy to report these are much better.

I tried both the Chipotle and Root flavors. I found them to be dry and a smidge bland. There was too much pocket and not enough filling. They microwaved them in the booth, and they said they’d taste better in the oven.

Equal Exchange had a booth with some of their chocolate. I tried the Panama Extra Dark and the Dark with Almonds. The extra dark was a bit too dark for me; I liked the Dark with Almonds better.

My last food booth in the morning was the Tofurky booth. Tofurky is a favorite in our house. I love the roast, and my wife the sandwich meats.

With a full belly and a bag full of swag, it was time to venture up stairs to listen to the speakers.

The first speaker I listened to was Erica Meier from Compassion over Killing. She talked about the different reasons folks decide to eat vegetarian (health, compassion, environmental). She also talked about the advocacy of her organization and some of the progress they made to get more restaurants and companies to have tasty vegan food.

I liked this slide.

“Carnegie Mellon: we can do more for the planet by going vegetarian one day per week than by switching to a totally local diet.”

This one with the baby chic in the bun made the audience laugh quite a lot.

The next talk was from Shannon Kimball. He talked about the education he does with schools about health, nutrition, and factory farming. He shared some of his resources. I’m happy to say, I’ve read most of the books and visited all the sites already.

The last speaker I listened to was Suzanne Sorensen. She does nutrition counseling in Minneapolis. She discussed basic veg*n nutrition specifically focusing on which nutrients are commonly lacking such as B12 or D.

Some slides of hers that I liked.

Focus on concentrated protein sources like legumes.

How much protein do they recommend?

Active vs Inactive B12.

How much B12?

A trip to the food court had me drooling. There were several tasty items to sample.

I started with a Boston Cream Pie first. It was heavy on the coconut. It was not as good as I hoped.

The vegan tofu pesto from Seward Café made up for the pie. It was very tasty.

All the pictures I took, including the ones that didn’t make it into this post, are in this flickr album.

I enjoyed the first Twin Cities Veg Fest and am looking forward to the next one.