LA Tofu Festival trip report

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

I got back from LA late last night and having fully

recovered, here's my scoop on the LA Tofu Festival

2003 (see http://www.tofufest.org for general

information)

 

First off, this was a cultural event sponsored by the

Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) and the Japanese

American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC). This

was not a veg*n or AR event. In fact, there was very

little, dare I say no representation from either

group.

 

The big focus was (obviously) tofu. There was lots of

yummy food. Most of it was vegetarian, and some of it

was even vegan. White Wave was there to give out free

samples of Silk. There was flavored dessert silken

tofu in mango, strawberry, and coffee flavors -- all

very tasty. I also had samples of tofu smoothie and a

live green drink (wheat grass, spirulina, or something

like that.) I'm sure there were more samples to be

had but I was hungry, impatient, and poor (parking was

$7, admission was $8). I bought six dollars worth of

food tickets which bought me two small portions (tofu

curry, spicy mint tofu stir-fry), a smoothie, and one

ticket ($1) to spare.

 

Once fed, I was able to see what the rest of the fest

was about. There was arts and crafts booths for the

kiddies, arts and crafts for sale for the adults

(drawings, paintings, beautiful Japanese fans, and

more), a couple of health booths, Iron Chef Morimoto

signing autographs and live musical entertainment --

Hiroshima, Taiko drummers, and more.

 

The health booths were disappointing. One promised

all the benefits of veggies and fruit in a delicious

pill. Gee! If it was only that easy, right? A

popular booth was the free spinal posture check where

they align these strings with key points on your

posture like shoulders, neck, etc. (I guess I

shouldn't have stopped my chiropractic.) There was

blood pressure screening and the FDA was there with a

wheel of food hazards. The guy with all the

information had stepped away so I didn't get the

rundown but it sounds like it was different bacterial

infections that can occur from different foods if

improperly handled or cooked.

 

This might have been a really fabulous event except

for one thing -- the heat! It had to have been in the

low to mid '90's and humid and there wasn't enough

shady areas. I walked around with a food tray and

nowhere to sit to eat because the one shaded eating

area was overpacked with hundreds of others trying to

get relief from the sweltering sun.

 

All in all, I came away from the Tofu Fest with two

conclusions:

 

1) Tofu Fest was probably a great event if I came

earlier in the day with more money for the food and

drink, and

 

2) Populating a desert was a really stupid idea.

 

At least I got some good family time in this weekend

and I'm looking forward to the Green Festival in SF in

November.

 

Cheers,

Matthew

 

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I want my country back!

http://www.deanforamerica.com

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