The Boston Local Food Festival was held Sept. 15 in the Rose Kennedy Greenway, highlighting various local restaurants and food-related businesses in the area and bringing together the Boston community for an exciting day of food, fun and learning experiences.
Over 80 vendors were in attendance from across New England with many hailing from the Greater Boston area. For Rachael Oluokun, owner of Mama O’s Bakery, the festival is a chance to connect with the community and continue to promote her business. When she attended the festival last year, her bakery launched meat and vegetable pies that have been fan favorites ever since.
“[The festival] encourages New Englanders to eat local and just come out and support the farmers or local businesses,” Oluokun said. “Supporting them means a lot because if you are back in your zone, you might not really get that much interest. When you come here, it’s like the whole of New England sees you and get to reach back out to you.”
In addition to restaurants and bakeries, farms also showed off their produce. Dmitriy Babenko, owner of Babenko Farms in Waltham, said he appreciated how the event gave him and other businesses more exposure.
“I think it’s great. It puts my name out there, and they should continue to do events like this,” Babenko said. “It creates jobs, drives the economy and it’s great for the people to get good produce.”
Attendees got to sample cuisines from all over the globe, from Burmese to German.
“I think it gives a good impression to kids who are coming here for college,” said attendee Zack Sheehan, who came from Salem for the festival. “They might be from somewhere [where] they have never seen foreign food, let alone different people, so it’s good exposure to being in a multicultural city.”
Although the focus of the festival was food, there was emphasis on environmental conservation.
The Trustees of Reservations, an environmental program based in Fall River that works to promote preservation of nature lands and getting out into nature, had two tents at the booth with games and educational activities for children.
“I love that the open spaces that [Boston has] are being collaboratively used,” said Dave Canizales, manager of mobile adventures for the Trustees. “We have a big focus on kids from underserved communities, so being able to have everybody be able to come out here with a shared focus on food and culture is awesome.”
The emphasis on sustainability was evident throughout the festival. Volunteers stood by disposal bins and helped attendees sort their waste into compost, garbage and recycling.
For many, the festival was a chance to grow a sense of community and spend time with family and friends as they shared food.
“It’s nice to just be able to spend some time together, spend some time in the warmth and experience new foods together,” said attendee Joanne Charles. “It’s just bringing Boston together, and it’s a good event to meet people from different parts [of Boston].”
The Ackermann family drove over three hours from Cabot, Vermont for their eighth festival appearance. Co-founder of Ackermann Farms Caitlin Ackermann said the festival helps grow their business and allows their children to learn more about the business world.
“The kids are really great at just hanging out and entertaining themselves,” Ackermann said. “They get to see how sales are made and everything, and it’s important for them to see that.”
Now in its 14th year, the Boston Local Food Festival has connected not just attendees and local business, but a wide variety of cultures together over a shared appreciation for food.
“Come to Boston and eat some food,” Sheehan said.
break
The Huntington News is dedicated to serving the Northeastern University community with original, professional reporting and creating an environment in which student journalists can learn from one another. Support an independent, free press at Northeastern University with your donation today.
