October 23rd, 2011
Ready for Plan B review of Texas State Veggie Fair
Our plans for October 23rd were getting set by our daughter after getting a good report card. We were going to go on a bike ride around White Rock Lake, go to her soccer game, and hit the State Fair of Texas later in the day. She was really excited for the bike ride because it would more than double her longest ride to date and she knew we’d stop a few times and have some yummy snacks and drinks.
We planned our ride so that we would catch the start of the Texas State Veggie Fair over at Winfrey Point right on White Rock Lake. The Veggie Fair was one day only, and we didn’t want to miss it!
When we arrived at the Veggie Fair, our first goal was to find something to drink. We cruised through a few of the food stands until we came up to the Denton Vegan Cooperative. We loved the creative names they had for their juice blends and decided to give the “Unicorn Blood” a shot.
Denton Vegan Cooperative
While we were waiting for them to make our drinks, we caught up on their successful launch of a vegan cafeteria at UNT Denton. That’s right, a vegan cafeteria at a public university in the heart of Texas. Well done!
Their passion for great food was evident as we watched them juice our carrots and strawberries to make our “Unicorn Blood.” It came out a bright red, making the ‘blood’ pretty dramatic for my little cycling buddy. It tasted wonderful and had us on way.
Denton Vegan Cooperative's "Unicorn Blood" juice
Spiral Diner & Bakery was a couple of booths down and their cupcakes looked amazing. We had dinner there a few nights before (the nachos were awesome) so I was able to persuade my buddy we should drink our juice and keep moving. We’ll have to try those cupcakes another time!
There were also food booths for some others that I am a fan of; Honest Tea, Tofurky and NadaMoo! with their coconut milk ice cream.
With our drink in hand and Plowboy starting to jam on the stage, we headed over to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. These are the guys most people know from the television show Whale Wars on the Animal Planet channel. The volunteers we spoke with filled us in on some of their current campaigns, from stopping the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan, to ramming and disabling pirate whalers worldwide.
Think about that for a second. You’re out in the middle of the ocean, in freezing cold waters, ramming a pirate ship and risking your own vessel and crew. You do this to enforce international law, protect the whales, and shut down pirate whaling fleets. These folks are the real deal.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
One Green company that caught my attention was Clean Air Lawn Care North Texas. A family owned lawn service that mows your lawn with electric equipment and treats your yard organically. Their mowers are charged via solar panels and their trucks run on biodiesel. I like cutting my yard, but I may have to check them out when I need some back-up.
Mercy for Animals was represented as well. Mercy for Animals investigates animal abuse and promotes vegetarian and vegan diets. Their undercover investigations of factory farms have sparked national outrage, inspired legislators to change laws, and have lead to arrests. For my non veg friends, these videos definitely fall in the “you may not be ready to confront this footage, but this is where your food comes from.” You have been warned!
A couple of local favorites that we said hello to before rolling out were the Texas Campaign for the Environment and Edible Dallas & Fort Worth. TCE always has the nicest folks going door to door and we love to hear what campaigns they’re working on. Edible DFW is a great local food magazine we try to grab over at Whole Foods.
Drink done, Veggie Fair explored, it was time for us to finish our ride. She was a natural, having no trouble with the distance and even taking a crack at the hill on Winsted.
The Veggie Fair was fantastic. We will look forward to spending more time there next year!