East End Food Co-op Winterfest 2012

Dec 15, 2012 · 3 minute read · Comments
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Abby and I went to the annual East End Food Co-op Winterfest again, as we have done with John for the third year now. It was held again at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.

People

There seemed to be more people than last year, possibly because of the very mild weather this December. I remember marching or driving in the snow in the past.

As usual, there were children of all ages, from a tiny baby to older kids running around.

Food

There was a relatively limited selection of vegetarian and vegan food. There was not as much food as last year, and not as much variety either. Some items (such as the tasty latkes) ran out quickly, so that when I went back for seconds, they were already gone. I guess it’s hard to calculate how much food is needed each year; last year there was so much left over that we were told to box up leftovers to take home.

We were surprised that there was no salad. There were many appetizer-type breaded foods and some generic-looking cheese cubes. Starved for more protein options, I tried to load up on a lentil-based spread, but quantities of that were limited. The food selection and allocation was strange this year.

In another twist, all rather than some of the desserts this year were apparently gluten-free. This was great for Abby, since she has discovered over the past year that she does well to minimize wheat in her diet. I have also noticed that I also do better without wheat.

Music

I was a little confused this year because the local live musical entertainment was not identified in the flyers or online. I asked on the event page and even asked on the Food Co-op’s Facebook page and Google+ page, but nobody responded. It seems that nobody is really engaging in conversations on these sites.

In any case, we went and there were three local guitarists who performed solo sets, one after another, while we were stuffing ourselves with food and hanging out, running into some people we knew.

Abby and I felt bad because the musical format didn’t seem to work so well. A solo guitarist speaking about his or her musical selections and then performing from the heart seems out of place at an event like this that is not quiet and intimate, where the musicians are just background entertainment. A bigger, louder group commands more attention and engagement, especially if playing uptempo dance-oriented music. Here, we could barely hear the solo guitarists talk and sing.

We left the Winterfest relatively early, after about two hours there (around 9:39 PM, so I don’t know if there were other musicians after the three we saw. We left slightly early because we were still tired from all we’d done over the week.

Conclusion

It was good to see so many people come to the Winterfest this year, but the format of the food and the musical entertainment was kind of strange. Nevertheless, I welcomed the annual opportunity to hang out and eat with other members and supporters of the East End Food Co-op.