Farms to Forks Engine 2 Immersion and Austin VegFest

While in Austin, I had the pleasure if attending 2 incredible events on the same day! The first part of the day, I spent at Austin’s first VegFest, eating great vegan food, jammin’ out to awesome local bands and meeting lots of Texas veggies. My next stop was at a locl farm that was also hosting a first time event, the Farms to Forks Immersion event, hosted by none other than Rip Esselstyn. Both were fantastic and a damn cool way to spend a day in Texas!

I’ll start with the inaugural Texas VegFest! Held on a lovely Spring day at Fiesta Gardens, this first time event sure didn’t feel like one! Run smoothly by local vegans, the event was bustling with excited attendees from the moment the doors opened at 11am.

The event boasted some great live music, popular brands as well as some newbies in the vegan world. I was super honored to be asked to sign copies of my cookbook, The Healthy Voyager’s Global Kitchen at the Helen’s Kitchen booth. They were sampling their new vegan ground beef while I signed the day away. Not a bad gig for a hot day!

I did get to check out some of the other booths an saw that some of my faves were there like Daiya Cheese, Vitamix, Whole Foods, Mrs. Meyer’s Soap, Herbivore Clothing and Food For Lover’s Vegan Queso. But I also got to meet some new goodies like the guys of NadaMoo Vegan Ice Cream, Qrunch Quinoa Burgers, Purrfect Pineapple’s Vegan Lingerie, Smirking Chicks Vegan Baby Food and Capital City Bakery. And the biggest surprise was seeing Miami’s own vegan food truck, Mac’n Food, dishin’ up goodies for hungry Texans!

All in all, Texas VegFest was a big success and I know that it’s just going to keep getting bigger and better in the coming years!

On a different side of the spectrum, I was delighted to have been invited to get a sneak peek of an incredible new event called Farms to Forks. The folks that brought you Forks Over Knives and the incomparable Rip Esselstyn, the man behind the Engine 2 Diet and upcoming line of food, have joined forces to create this “immersion”. An intensive weekend, in a beautiful farm setting, where 200 strangers are brought together to learn all about the health benefits of a plant storing diet. From in depth cooking demos to hearing experts in their fields (Rip and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, T, Colin Campbell, Jeff Novick and more) talk about all aspects of a healthy, whole foods, plant based diet as well as dining in nature over beautiful plant based meals, it is an experience like no other.

I had the good fortune to pop in during dinner and had the chance to dine with Rip, his mother and one of my personal heroes, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. The meal was nutritious, delicious and served in idyllic setting. All I could see was a sea of faces dining happily on what would be a life changing meal. Truly a sight to behold and I was giddy as a school girl to be witnessing it.

Farms to Forks will be holding immersions just like the one I was able to experience all over the country and farm settings, 4 times a year. be sure to catch one at a city near you, you won’t regret it!

And that’s a wrap on Austin eats and it’s cool events…for now!