Local is Best

The Boston Local Food Festival was something that Boston needs more of, fun, positive gatherings with an emphasis on supporting local businesses and protecting the environment. Sure it had a few glitches here and there, but overall I think it was a success, and judging by the crowds still there hanging out, eating, and listening to music at 4:00, lots of other people agree.

I started my day early as I was a festival blogger and volunteer. The festival could not have had a more perfect day, which started out cool with bright sun and blue skies, and by the end of the day was quite warm. I definitely got a fall sunburn!

Tents were set up all along the waterfront in the Fort Point area in front of the Boston Children’s Museum.

The festival was positively packed with delicious, fresh, local food and drinks, in addition to a variety of non profit organizations. The list of vendors can be found here.

There were plenty of farms represented at the festival, and their late season hauls were quite impressive. I expected apples, squash, and root vegetables, but there were still lots of tomatoes and peppers. It has been a good year for local produce!

Some of my favorite tables included Cabot Cheese, Haley House, Nella Pasta recent winners of Daily Candy’s “Start Small, Go Big” Contest!), Singh’s Roti, and Grillo’s Pickles.

I of course also enjoyed looking at the pumpkins and squash. Pumpkin and apple picking to come very soon!

I had a Dough Raise Me cookie for breakfast, and it was the perfect blend of oatmeal, Taza chocolate, and coconut in a crispy cookie with a slightly chewy center. The family selling the cookies was super nice, and as a result of this combination, we returned later in the day to buy more cookies.

Beauty was everywhere, from fresh pear tarts to fall flowers. . .

Baked goods were in abundance and hard to resist. . .

After volunteering and some wandering, we headed over to the front of the courthouse for the local beer tasting. This is the portion of the event that could use improvement. It was waaaaaaaay too crowded, and some of the vendors ran out of beer by the time my friends arrived at 3. The main problem was that people went in to the event, then parked themselves there even when they were done tasting their beer. Next year, a much bigger space would be helpful as would different tasting times to ensure that people don’t take advantage of having a place to sit and hang out.I feel like this portion was a waste of money; out of the 25 tickets I bought, we used maybe 7 and threw the rest away because we just couldn’t get to the tables. Do I need to teach a class on tasting etiquette? 🙂

For next year’s festival (and I really hope there will be one!), I would also hope that the volunteers are utilized a little more. I didn’t have much to do, and though I asked a few times, never really knew where I was supposed to be. When I volunteered at Taste of the South End, I was assigned 3 vendors to help which I think worked well because it avoided having 6 people in one spot while other vendors looked for help.

After all was said and done, the festival was an excellent way to spend the day. It was full of people of all ages learning about sustainability, farming, cooking, and local charities and of course, enjoying tastes of new and different foods. It was one of those days that offered something for everyone, and I think everyone who was there learned something. I felt really good spending my money to support local businesses and look forward to doing so more and more.

Did you attend the Boston Local Food Festival? What was your favorite part?

If you didn’t, what is your favorite local food where you live?