ROCHESTER, Minn. — Buying unique local foods is a great way to amplify the holidays, and the FEAST! Local Food Marketplace makes it easy.
Starting now, you can browse the FEAST! Online Marketplace and order online anytime until midnight Dec. 9 for curbside pick-up at the Mayo Civic Center on Sat., Dec. 11. In addition, you’re invited to come in person for the eighth annual FEAST! Local Foods Marketplace festival, Dec. 11 from 10 am to 4 pm at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Find links to shop and buy festival tickets on the website at local-feast.org.
“This is much more than a farmers’ market—it’s like a farmers’ market on steroids,” says event co-host Tim Penny, President and CEO of Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. “The FEAST! Local Foods Marketplace offers dozens of items ranging from Caribbean and Southeast Asian sauces to regeneratively raised meats, and vendors ranging from beekeeping chocolatiers to artisan cheesemakers.”
With both the in-person event and the online shopping experience you can savor the taste of the Midwest and learn why local is best. “Buying regional food helps to build and support our local food system, from the families growing and crafting the foods all the way to your kitchen table,” says Brett Olson of Renewing the Countryside, the event’s co-host. “The hybrid event offering both the in-person festival and online ordering ensures customers can choose the option that suits them.”
“There are so many unique regional products at FEAST! that you really can’t get just anywhere, and I love being able to discover the passion these food businesses have for local, sustainably-grown ingredients,” said Beth Dooley, James Beard Award-winning cookbook author and tireless advocate of ecological eating. Dooley is presenting a “Holiday Hacks” Virtual Cooking Demo on Sat., Nov. 20 from 3 to 3:45 pm. Registered attendees will be entered in a drawing for a giveaway of local foods and a signed copy of her latest cookbook, The Perennial Kitchen.
FEAST! hosts dozens of regional food businesses each year, including national award-winners. Most utilize locally-grown ingredients to make foods such as jam, cheeses, specialty and ethnic sauces, as well as cider and wine. Many also carry certifications, including gluten-free, grass-fed and organic, and show leadership through business practices such as commitments to environmental sustainability, fair wages, community food access, and supporting social movements.
Regional food makers can learn more and register online at local-feast.org/registration2021.
FEAST! Local Foods Marketplace is co-hosted by non-profit organizations, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation and Renewing the Countryside, and sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. For more info, including COVID-related updates, visit www.local-feast.org and follow us on social media: @localfeastnetwork on Facebook, @Local_Feast on Twitter, localfeast on Instagram, and #localFEAST.
— FEAST! Local Foods Marketplace
