Food festival to educate public about local eating possibilities

Slow Food Bloomington, the IU Office of Sustainability and the Indiana Memorial Union will have their first Big Red Eats Green festival from 3  to 6 p.m. today in Dunn Meadow.

More than a dozen local restaurants will sell snack-sized portions of food made with products from local growers that range in price from $1 to $3.

Busman’s Holiday will  perform a set, and Slow Food Bloomington, the Bloomington Food Policy Council and the Bloomington Community Farmer’s Market will have tables set up for students to come and ask questions.

The event was created to promote sustainable eating practices and for students to get in contact with Bloomington farmers.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for students to look at some of the (people) who are out farming in their community,” said event organizer Sara Minard, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology’s Food Studies Program. “I’d like them to debunk any myths they carry about who grows food.”

Happy Pig, a local food cart with lunch and late-night menus that change weekly, will sell BLT kabobs.

Nick’s English Hut will sell turkey and cucumber sandwiches made with turkey from a local poultry farm.

Lennie’s will have hot dogs made with pork from pigs at Loesche Farms.

“We’re subjected to billions and billions of dollars worth of advertising for conventional, industrial, commercial food,” Minard said. “This is a three-hour chance for students to come and start thinking about what else is out there.”

— Kate Thacker