I hope everybody had a wonderful long weekend – I know I did! We had some relatives visiting from out of town, and we had a good time showing them some popular Chicago landmarks (ahem, Navy Pier!). And of course, I had to make some new dishes for them to try: namely, stuffed grape leaves! They turned out delicious! I will be posting the recipe in a day or two, but first, I’d like to share some pictures and information about the Green Festival that Sherif and I attended the weekend before with some friends (I like to work in chronological order, haha…)

When I heard about this festival through a facebook group, I was definitely intrigued:

Celebrating what’s working in our communities, the Chicago Green Festival™, a joint project of Global Exchange and Green America, showcases more than 350 diverse local and national green businesses. More than 150 renowned speakers appear for insightful panel discussions and presentations.You’ll also enjoy great how-to workshops, green films, a Fair Trade pavilion, yoga classes, kids’ activities, delicious organic beer, wine and cuisine, and live music (Facebook Group).

So, last Saturday, we brought along our friend Theresa from out of town and some other Chicagoan friends to the festival. There was much to do for free (acupuncture, sampling local and organic food and drinks, and listening to how-to tutorials and informational sessions- to name a few things). Also, there were some great fair-trade jewelry stands that (of course) attracted Theresa’s and my attention very quickly. Here are some pictures from the event and my take on the festival to follow…

We found a stand for the Traditional Medicinals brand of tea (pictured below). If you’ve never tried it, you should! Sherif and I buy the Eater’s Digest regularly – a peppermint-based blend of herbs which is great for promoting healthy digestion – in bulk from Amazon. We’ve also tried the Organic Chamomile, Breathe Easy, Organic Cran-Aid (for Urinary Tract Health), and the Organic Nighty Night (a great relaxing blend to sip on before bed). We highly recommend this brand of tea – very tasty and natural…

I’ve been introduced to the all-raw diet mainly through other bloggers (the first raw blogger I encountered in the blog-world is Gena of Choosing Raw). While I don’t currently eat an all-raw diet, I do find it intriguing and I’d love to learn more about it. I looked online for a few all-raw restaurants in Chicago one time and came across Cousin’s Incredible Vitality Restaurant over and over again. I haven’t been there yet, and have not sampled any of the food, but I am planning to do so soon. They too had a stand at the green festival.

Below (the vegan raw falafel wrap) is an example of an item on Cousin’s IV restaurant menu. I took a picture, but didn’t sample because I wasn’t hungry at the time. The raw food diet, if you’re not familiar with it, is what it sounds like: you eat all raw food (defined as meals made of uncooked vegetables or cooked under 104 °F – the purpose of which is to keep all the nutrients intact).

These natural oak wood baskets, wine bottle holders and vases looked amazing – but they were more than we wanted to spend so we didn’t get one…

And… here comes the jewelry: fair-trade, handmade, and colorful. Aren’t these bracelets lovely?

And here are the earrings: good fashion, good karma.

They also sold handmade shawls and wraps spanning all the colors of the rainbow:

The festival included quite a bit about locally grown produce. This stand (pictured below) promoted the use of CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), which are organizations that allow you, the consumer, to buy local, seasonal (and sometimes organic) produce directly from a local farmer in your neighborhood/area. Here is some information from localharvest.org:

Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. In brief…

Advantages for farmers:

• Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
• Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
• Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for consumers:

• Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
• Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
• Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
• Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
• Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

And, more jewelry: handmade funky rings for those carefree summer days:

Check out the fun necklaces and snazzy brass bracelets…

Overall, this festival was fun and pretty informative. Needless to say, there was a lot of marketing: the sellers were there to promote their products and services, but for the most part, they were sellers that followed a green ideology. In my next post, I will comment on a recent debate that aired on NPR about whether the organic farming movement is “marketing hype”. It was an interesting debate and I can’t wait to discuss it with you all.

The summer is festival season in Chicago, and Sherif and I can’t wait to check out some of these nice outdoor events ( the Green Festival was indoors, but that’s ok :-p ).

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