Farm fun
Charlottesville City Market is a Saturday morning tradition as throngs of locals flood the Water Street parking lot downtown to peruse meats, fruits, veggies and more. On Labor Day, Monday, September 1, those crowds have the chance to see where those yummy local treats come from and meet the folks who grow them. The annual Meet Yer Eats Farm Tour opens 12 local farms to visitors for a $15 day pass. The variety of participating farms means a wide range of products, according to event organizer Nan Janney, program director of Market Central, the organization that supports City Market. In addition to more traditional meat and veggie fare, there will be mushrooms and medicinal herbs, beekeeping, weaving and spinning demos and several workshops. For tickets and a map of participating farms, visit meetyereats.wordpress.com or pick up info and tickets at City Market before the event.
Lettuce celebrate
Festivals and public events can be tough for a vegetarian, what with the plethora of sliders, corn dogs, and chicken tenders, without a fresh vegetable or hunk of tofu anywhere in the vicinity. But on Saturday, September 27, veggie lovers will unite for the annual Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival. Located in Lee Park, the event will be supported by the Tofurky company and will include tons of food, live music, and cooking demos from local food enthusiasts. As of last week, organizers were still searching for volunteers to lead 45-minute demos, so if you’re interested in sharing your favorite meat-free dish with your fellow vegetarians, mark your calendar and visit the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival’s Facebook page for more information.
Food for thought
Has everything we’ve ever learned about food and exercise been completely wrong? The makers of Fed Up, the “film the food industry doesn’t want you to see,” think so. UVA alum Katie Couric executive produced the documentary along with Laurie David, the producer of An Inconvenient Truth, and she’ll return to Charlottesville this fall to present a special screening of the film at the annual Virginia Film Festival.
Fed Up, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of this year, addresses the epidemic of obesity in the U.S. through a combination of interviews with food and nutrition experts and firsthand accounts from overweight young people. The film focuses on sugar, calling it an addictive substance that’s present in more than 80 percent of American food products. It claims that “the government is subsidizing the obesity epidemic” by putting private profit over public health, which is at the root of “one of the great public health epidemics of our time.” It predicts that 95 percent of all Americans will be overweight or obese in two decades, and that one in three people will have diabetes by the year 2050.
The film festival will take place November 6-9, and a schedule will be announced on Tuesday, October 7. For more information about Fed Up visit www.fedupmovie.com.
We’re always keeping an eye out for the latest news on Charlottesville’s food and drink scene, so pick up a paper and check c-ville.com/living each week for the latest Small Bites. Have a scoop for Small Bites? E-mail us at bites@c-ville.com.