By Joshua Berman
Project Coordinator, SBN
As the Boston Local Food Festival approaches, we at the Sustainable Business Network wanted to give you a sneak preview of the big day! It’s been a great season from the fresh fiddlehead ferns to the sweet shelling peas, and now the pumpkins will soon turn ripe for picking. We’ve had long summer days full of sweet corn and beautiful caprese salads made with the most succulent heirloom tomatoes, tender local mozzarella, and fresh basil. Now it’s time to celebrate the end of the summer season and take advantage of the early fall harvest with the 2016 Boston Local Food Festival’s wide range of pantry stockers, fresh produce, locally sourced meats, and varied dairy.
First to-do, download the DoneGood app to learn more about the local businesses coming out to showcase their wares. DoneGood tracks local businesses on 8 metrics to let you know, for example, whether or not the business sources locally, or is minority or woman owned. DoneGood helps businesses highlight their commitment to certain causes so that they can connect to folks like us, the conscious consumers. Using the DoneGood app, you can navigate the Boston Local Food Festival and learn more about the vendors at the festival before you even step foot on the Greenway (hot tip: they all source locally).
Next, plan your route. Whether you go South-to-North or North-to-South is no problem. The Aquarium stop on the Blue Line and South Station on the Red Line bookend the festival, allowing you to hop off the T on one end, work your way through the festival, and hop right back on at the other end!
First things first, be sure to bring your reusable bags and reusable water bottle! There will be shopping galore with 100 plus local food vendors selling their wares! From fresh produce, humanely-raised meats, sustainable seafood, and delicious dairy, to maple syrup, honey, hot-sauce, ancient grains, and locally roasted coffee! The Boston Local Food Festival is the region’s largest one day farmers market.
This year the festival will feature the New England Village once again – The Village embodies FSNE’s vision for New Englan
d to produce 50% of its food by 2060 in a manner that is clean, just, fair, and accessible. Come to the village not only to shop, but also to learn more about how we can act to make a better food future a reality.
Make sure to check the schedule before you head over so you don’t miss a Chef Demo by your favorite local chefs or your favorite local band over at our music stage. And remember to book out some time to hang at the Family Fun Zone where the little tots can learn about Marine life with the New England Aquarium Touch Tank and can perform scientific experiments with the help of Cambridge Science Festival! But no matter which side you start on, you’ll want to head to the center of the festival over on Milk Street at 12:30pm sharp for our EPIC Seafood Throwdown – a battle of the chefs using local ingredients from around the festival and all centered aroun
d one beautiful piece of local seafood! The competition will be fierce but inevitably delicious! And a special shout-out is due to NAMA, our partner and mentor in all that is sustainable seafood, and the creator and lead sponsor of the Seafood Throwdown.
All in all, the day will be long and full of good food and fun celebration. Those of us with particular palates will leave pleasantly placated with full bellies and tight belts. The young ones will head out from the Family Fun Zone and its bountiful activities and experiences with their curiosities and culinary interests comfortably contented. On Sunday September 18th – from 11am-5pm – the air on the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway will rise sweet with scents of fresh vegetables and fruits, of a Summer well spent, and of a Fall duly welcomed.
See you soon!
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